Adventures in Japan

Day Ten: Miyajima and Hiroshima

You may recall that we have been to Hiroshima before. Back when Nate and Trev and Kim were visiting. We went to the Peace museum. And Miyajima. Except Carla had to work, so she didn't make it to Miyajima. We righted that wrong today.


Today was another beautiful, sunny day. We have the grotesquely pink skin to prove it. But still hazy.

We went mainly to take pictures of Itsukushima Shrine and the giant Tori in the water. One of the three most beautiful views in Japan. (Japan likes quantifying things) The shrine and the Tori were constructed so that it looks like they are floating on the water when the tide is in. At this time of year, the illusion is not quite complete but it is still a wonderful place to wander around. Unless you don't like deer.


Carla is not the biggest fan of deers, which is why there are no pictures of deers. But plenty of pictures of the shrine.

And some pictures of the 5 story pagoda.


And this scary wood face.


When the tide is out it is possible to walk nearly all the way out to the Tori. Sometimes deer like to wander around on the wet sand.


Wait. Carla did take a picture of a deer. A picture of a drawing of a deer.


This sign is warning you not to give kanchos to deers. A kancho is an ancient Japanese tradition where you ball your hands together, with your pointer fingers (and your ring fingers as well if you're feeling saucy) extended and then you jam your fingers into some unsuspecting person's butt. Yeah, I don't get it either. Kanchos and giant ropes.


We went shopping when we got back into Hiroshima. More like window shopping, I suppose. On our way home from that, we ran into Big Steve. Big Steve is a fellah with whom we sometimes drink at Captain Kangaroos. On Fridays. This was a Friday. We decided to go for drinks.

After okonomiyaki. Carla and I wanted some okonomiyaki. Big Steve did not, but he told us a great place to get okonomiyaki at. Second best place in the city. No one can agree on number one, but everyone agrees that Michan's is pretty dang good. It was pretty good. Don't know about the dang. The best part was the sauce. Still prefer Osaka style okonomiyaki, but we were smart enough not to say so out loud. Almost weren't smart enough to find the restaurant. The building it was in was laid out in such a way that you had to take the escalator from the first floor to the third floor and then wander around on the third floor until you found a different escalator to take you down to the second floor.

One more thing to mention about Hiroshima: it has a great English map. Helpful, well laid out, well written. The map made me want to stay in Hiroshima longer so I could use it more.