We arrived in Hiroshima via shinkansen. In the morning we took a ferry out to see Miyajima, a Shinto shrine on the island of Itsukushima. On the island there is a large population of ‘wild’ deer, but they’ve become so accustomed to being around people that they just hang around the tourist shops. Miyajima means “shrine-island” in Japanese. The shrine is known worldwide for its “floating torii gate”. The shrine and its torii gate are unique for being built over water, seemingly floating in the sea during high tide. The shrine complex consists of multiple buildings, including a prayer hall, main hall and a noh theater stage, which are connected with each other by boardwalks and are all supported by pillars above the sea. Miyajima has been considered a holy place for most of Japanese history. In the past, women were not allowed on the island and old people were shipped elsewhere to die, so that the ritual purity of the site would not be spoiled. Retaining the purity of the shrine is so important that since 1878, no deaths or births were permitted. To this day, burials on the island are still forbidden.
Tips:
*Miyajima is a Shinto shrine on the small island Itsukushima in Hiroshima Bay, western Japan
*Miyajima means “shrine island”
*It is famous for it’s floating shrine and 54.5 ft torii gate on the water
*Also known for the sacred deer that roam freely
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Shop Photography Prints:
As far as delicacies go, Miyajima is famous for their fresh grilled oysters. In fact, every February there’s the Miyajima Oyster Festival which attracts huge crowds looking to buy cheap and delicious bivalves. This friendly vendor grills them all throughout the year:
From Miyajima, we took the local train back to Hiroshima to sit down for lunch before visiting the museum. Cole found us a fantastic okonomiyaki place above the train station. If you ever find yourself in Hiroshima, you have to taste okonomiyaki. Wikipedia describes okonomiyaki (お好み焼き) as a Japanese savoury pancake containing a variety of ingredients. The name is derived from the word okonomi, meaning “what you like” or “what you want”, and yaki meaning “grilled” or “cooked”. Okonomiyaki is mainly associated with Kansai or Hiroshima areas of Japan, but is widely available throughout the country. Toppings and batters tend to vary according to region. In Hiroshima, the ingredients are layered rather than mixed together. The layers are typically batter, cabbage, pork, and optional items such as squid, octopus, and cheese. Noodles (yakisoba, udon) are also used as a topping with fried egg and a generous amount of okonomiyaki sauce. The amount of cabbage used is usually three to four times the amount used in the more common Osaka style. It starts out piled very high and is pushed down as the cabbage cooks. People from Hiroshima claim that this is the correct way to make okonomiyaki. This style is also called Hiroshima-yaki or Hiroshima-okonomi.
The okonomiyaki were ginormous! We ate them right off our teppanyaki table-top grill. I thought there was no way we could eat it all, but they were so good that we didn’t leave a bite!
The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum was an incredibly moving and enlightening experience. Wikipedia describes the museum exhibit as presenting the facts of the atomic bombing, with the aims of contributing to the abolition of nuclear weapons throughout the world, and of promoting world peace. According to the introduction in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum’s English guide: “The Peace Memorial Museum collects and displays belongings left by the victims, photos, and other materials that convey the horror of that event, supplemented by exhibits that describe Hiroshima before and after the bombings and others that present the current status of the nuclear age. Each of the items displayed embodies the grief, anger, or pain of real people. Having now recovered from the A-bomb calamity, Hiroshima’s deepest wish is the elimination of all nuclear weapons and the realization of a genuinely peaceful international community.”
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park (広島平和記念公園):
The Children’s Peace Monument:
The A-Bomb Dome is the skeletal ruins of the former Industrial Promotion Hall. It is the building closest to the hypocenter of the nuclear bomb that remained at least partially standing. It was left how it was after the bombing in memory of the casualties.
