Month: July 2015

Hiroshima Voyage [Day 3] Miyajima Pt. 1

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As you can tell from the title, I saved the third day of the journey for Miyajima, which is a quick 30-minute train ride down from Hiroshima itself. Once again, I could tell from the clouds that this would be another drizzly rainy day, but there was no helping it! I was determined to go to Miyajima because I was to go home the next day.

2014-04-05 10.21.25The train was pretty full because it was the weekend, so once I got down to Miyajima-guchi Station, I anticipated a mass exodus to the ferry (and there was), so I shot out of the train and straight to the ferry area. I recommend just buying your round trip tickets at this time – it takes just as much time to get through the line and it might save you time later if you’re in a rush to make the ferry back.  The ride only takes about 10 minutes from the Miyajima-guchi pier, so you’ll be there before you know it! And you’ll have a lot of good views of the World Heritage Site as you’re approaching the area. Choose a good place to sit/stand early on though (probably on the starboard side of the boat), as many photographing travellers will jump to the fore upon approach!

The first bit of time I spent there was simply wandering around the area. 2014-04-05 10.33.08I took a short jaunt to the left once exiting the ferry, just to see what was there, and that’s where I came upon the small torii gate pictured above, looking out onto the water. I found a cute little deer over there as well, which led me to wander some of the streets a bit, guiding me to a local little park area with a couple more deer wandering around. 2014-04-05 10.40.30Then I decided to head back to my main destinations. It’s a really peaceful place, I think. Being in and around nature is very calming for me, so if you find yourself desirous of a little outdoor adventure, I think Miyajima is a good place.

So I started my walk over to Itsukushima Shrine, wandering the narrow streets and shopping alleys, while stopping in at another shrine on the way. An interesting aspect of Miyajima Island is that there are many little deer running around, very intent on food. They’re very sweet for the most part though. On my walk over to Itsukushima I got distracted by a lovely pagoda to my left, uphill, so I decided to head up there first before going into the temple complex. The shrine I stumbled upon was called Hokokujinjahonden (豊国神社ほんでん). It was a pretty vast temple, bigger in scale than most I had been in before. Just the inner halls and the wooden structures looked larger than I had seen before!

The sakura were blooming beautifully throughout the whole area, even with all the rain, so the island was a beautiful spring vision to behold. I’m a big fan of pagoda structures… I think I’ll dream to have one someday, even if it’s quite small… :)

So I headed down again to the main courtyard preceding Itsukushima. This particular shrine is one of the largest continuous ones I’ve been in. I think they also get a good amount of money in through tourism to keep the place updated and looking fresh; I noticed as I walked through that renovations were being done in some of the smaller areas of the complex. If you get a chance, you can get in a canoe of some sort and ride through The Great Torii. I didn’t get a chance to do it, but I wasn’t too fussed. If I go again, I’ll definitely try to do it though, as it’s a blessing of some sort. It’s a great place to have marked off of my travel list (which I very highly recommend) but my true favorite place will be in the next post: Miyajima ~part 2~! Until then, here’s a preview of the area to come, which was an easy 10-minute walk from the exit of Itsukushima. It’s a foresty walk, featuring some of my favorite deer friends! :)

Hiroshima Voyage [Day 2]

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My second day in Hiroshima continued by getting out early and having a nice walk over to Hiroshima Castle. The sun was coming out and a nice breeze was blowing, so I popped on my headphones and set out. It’s a really nice walk to the castle, no matter the route you find yourself on. There had just been a couple of spring showers, so it was cool and gave me ample time for reflection.

After my brief walk and revisitation of Hiroshima Castle and the surrounding areas, it was about late morning, so II set myself on a course to another sight on my must-visit list: Shukkeien.When I had been researching the city, I tried to find a nice variety of things that I could enjoy, and being keen on nature I found Shukkeien appealing. It fit right into the grain of my day, and it’s only a brief jaunt from the castle. As stated on the website, Shukkeien literally means “shrink-scenery garden”. The basic idea behind it is to take an entire garden of mass proportion and shrink it down, so that no matter which direction you look in, there will be a beautiful landscape view. This is quite eloquently described in their online English brochure, which also states that the garden is modelled on Xihu, aka West Lake, in Hangzhou, China. It’s a wonderful experience that I highly recommend, especially if you think you need a break from the hustle and bustle of more touristy locations toward the city center. I’d like to preview a few photos from Shukkeien here, and then I plan to post a special gallery featuring more photos later because I liked it so much. Perhaps you’ll see why! :)

The sakura were beautiful right upon walking in the entry. And on the left hand side of the entrance is a tea and coffee shop, serving sets with a little snack. I had been craving some matcha, so I went over there after completing my trek around the grounds and sat down to matcha paired with a local specialty, momiji-shaped snack.

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It was a nice environment to sit and have a tasty snack while enjoying your surroundings. :)

As the day moved on, I seemed to be retracing my steps from the day previous. I headed back to the A-Dome so I could take better photos than the day before, this time with the intent of actually visiting the museum and surrounding park area as well. Though I enjoyed myself regardless, I remember thinking the Hiroshima Museum was a teensy bit more grim than that its Nagasaki counterpart. I was walking about inside of the museum and once you leave the room with a general timeline and chronicle, there are some wax models of burnt children still in mid-stand. The general tone of the language was convinced of Japan’s post-war role as victim and not aggressor… a little displeasing because we all know in most wars, there were of course mistakes and blames being placed on both sides. Don’t misunderstand me – I think that everything about atomic bombs is wrong. My only problem is that as with most wars, hindsight is and should be 20/20… as many know or have heard in passing, Japan has blocked some aspects of that time out of their minds, not to mention textbooks. With all the recent developments having to do with Article 8 here in Japan – having to do with the Self Defense Forces and actual remilitarization of the country – people are having to consider these sorts of things again very seriously. It brings a lot of feelings to the table pro or anti, but that’s another, and far lengthier, conversation. My aside aside, it was basically what I expected from an atomic bomb museum having already been to the Nagasaki one twice. Similar to the Nagasaki Peace Museum and Memorials, there is a lot of garden space outside with dedicated sculptures accumulated over time. It was a peaceful walk after the crowded and abbreviated history lesson.

After visiting the museum and park, I had worked up an appetite for a quick bit of shopping. Then I stopped by an Irish bar in the area and helped myself to foods and beers I had developed quite a hankering for. :) Though I was alone, I met a few people who were quite willing to chat. It was nice! I hope to meet them again at some point on my travels.

That’s Day 2 brought to an end. My apologies for the delay in posting! I went on a quick trip to Tokyo and Matsumoto just last weekend and came back to an unfinished post, so I’ve put it up ASAP! Day 3 will be soon to follow!

Hiroshima Voyage [Day 1]

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During the spring of my first year here, I ventured to Hiroshima on my own to scope out the city and enjoy many of its sights and sounds (not to mention foods). :) My initial impulse was to see a lot of sakura for my first spring season in Japan, and I definitely accomplished that, but I encountered much more than that on the journey. There were tasty treats, awesome visages, crazy weather days, and there was definitely a lot of walking. Here I’ll cover my first day in Hiroshima, which started with taking the shinkansen up from Kumamoto. It is a pretty easy 3-hour journey if you catch a speedier train that continues running after Hakata Station. You get on, sit down, and you can do whatever you like until you reach your destination! It’s pretty convenient, especially if you’ve got a book you’ve been meaning to read.

2014-04-03 14.17.56Once I was off the train I had to find my hotel to check in. Though I was a little confused initially by the massive subterranean walkways, I made it pretty easily. It was a bit of a jaunt, but it was nice as it provided with with my first impressions of the city. Hiroshima has several rivers and offshoot waterways running through it, which gives it a really peaceful feeling. I also immediately thought that the city was quite clean on average, which impressed me. A lot of people were biking peacefully along the side road I travelled, and I spotted a small shrine and torii gate, which I snapped a picture of impulsively (this describes the method behind my picture-taking on the whole).

My next stop after the hotel was to head out to the closest, most renowned landmark in the area, which was Hiroshima Castle and what are the remaining buildings of Ninomaru, the second circle of defense. Visitors pass through Ninomaru first, and come into the main grounds of the shrine. There are some ruins and also a shrine on the grounds following. I liked Hiroshima Castle’s outside viewing area. It was a little scary, but it made me feel like a part of the history, being able to see all around the city. Though the castle is mostly complete reconstruction, I enjoyed it quite a bit and I believe it’s worth a visit. I’ll leave it to your judgment though! :)

This was one of my first treks all on my own in Japan, so my actual first visit to this area was only the Ninomaru area and the Shrine, because I met a couple of nice ladies at Ninomaru who offered to guide me to the famous ruins from the atomic bomb. Here’s more of the castle that I actually saw on Day 2. The castle grounds were quite beautiful for sakura viewing. And the ruins created an interesting atmosphere as I walked over that next morning.

My first day in Hiroshima was quite cloudy and a bit drizzly. I lucked out the next day getting fair weather, with a nice bit of sun to take photos and get outside for a bit. But the first day was very drizzly. I had to stop and buy an umbrella on the way to the A-bomb Dome. As you can see, it was indeed a dreary day, so I didn’t bother to take too many photos.

After viewing the dome, I walked on to a little bit of shopping and to grab a bite at well-renowned Okonimimura, the okonomiyaki village! If you’re looking for it there’s a large sign (see below) – you can’t miss it. Okonomiyaki is a well-known dish in Japan, and several areas have their own special varieties. 2014-04-03 17.46.54At it’s most basic level it’s a pancake with veggies and meat in it, but that’s simplifying – you can really put anything in it you want! It’s really delicious. Hiroshima’s specialty is okonomiyaki with yakisoba in it – basically like a mashup of the two meals together! The first time I ordered though I went for normal okonomiyaki just because I wasn’t sure I could eat two meals in one as some Japanese people can. Because of the high standard of okonomiyaki here, most of it is delicious! So if you’re not sure where to go, you could pick one of the stalls in Okonomimura at random and I think you’d be alright. :)

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That just about wraps up Day 1 (with a small inclusion from Day 2), with days 2, 3, and 4 to follow! It’s a long one but I really enjoyed Hiroshima. Thinking about it now makes me want to venture back…. Until next time.

Shimoda Onsen Matsuri [Onna Mikoshi Oyu Kake] 下田温泉祭-女みこしお湯かけ-

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I very recently participated in the Shimoda Onsen Matsuri in the Women’s Portable Shrine Carrying event. This event was last Sunday, and was a rare, interesting, off-putting, yet all-around valuable experience for those of us involved as foreigners.

2015-06-07 08.53.30 HDRThe day began earlier than usual, with us meeting up at 6:30 am to get to the venue at 7:30 am to get our hair prepared and get into our loaned costumes. There was a bit of confusion initially because the name of the meeting place building changed and the flyer wasn’t updated to show the new name.

When we arrived, we stepped into our strange diaper wrap pants, our nurse’s scrub tops, and our taiko aprons and we were looking pretty interesting if I say so myself. The pants were definitely odd; they gave us all a strange breezy feeling, which is appreciated in summer but not so much for the built-in holes in the crotch and bum areas. It results in a rather constant paranoia that your private areas are being revealed. But for events like this, this is pretty traditional wear, so I was happy to put it on and look as Japanese as is possible for someone who already stands out like a sore thumb.

2015-06-07 08.31.28After getting into costume, we all received some interesting hair-do’s; mine resembling a small fluffy animal pinned on the back of my head at an odd angle, with 2 cornrow like twists on the left upper side of my head, a braided row on the bottom right side. We thought the hairstyle was going to be an elaborate affair, or at least I did, so I was pretty surprised to see the results.

Once this stage was complete, we had quite a lot of time to spare with our early arrival, so we went to roam around the main festival street. Festival food is pretty nostalgic for me, so I always pick up something, and that day I grabbed an iced coffee and a crepe. It was a pretty good start to the morning. We then talked at length with another ALT’s studentss, some of whom were veterans of the Onna Mikoshi event, and advised us to go acquire our pink towels to put on our shoulders due to the weight of the mikoshi. It was pretty helpful and worth it, because as we all realized later, that mikoshi is heavier than it looks! On quite another point though, a reality I’ve found from being foreign here: I will say that although I know it’s daunting to be a foreigner here at times, I still think people should ask before taking photos of us walking around. Photos while we are doing the event are great, by all means, but while we’re just walking about trying to live life it’s rather exhausting. Just because people can see that we’re different doesn’t mean they have the right to ask personal questions like where we live or take pictures of us willy nilly. [Soapbox over.]

2015-06-07 08.34.17The first leg of the carry involved a very steep learning curve: with the height differential it’s tough to carry for tall people. Plus there was a lot of stepping on other people’s feet and everyone received many steppings-on. So it was lucky that the water wasn’t being thrown for the first half of our effort. After we took a break and got going for the second leg though, the hot onsen water-throwing commenced. It was quite warm at first, and a nice sensation, but as we walked on it inevitably cooled and felt less sensational. It occurred to me that only in Japan would you give a group of people a heavy item to carry, then throw hot water on them to make the situation more precarious and dangerous. And no liability waiver was required! ^__^

Considering all the ups and downs, it was a valuable experience and I really enjoyed myself. I think it’s pretty rare that women get to carry the mikoshi, so to be involved and experience it, though challenging, was well worth the time invested.

Please check out the Asahi Shimbun article if you have a moment! It’s all in Japanese, but they have a better quality photo of us as we participated in the event. Most of us have our eyes closed because tons of water was coming our way and hitting us in the eyes and mouth and ears. It was still a really fun experience though. :)