Miyajima - my Favourite

Our next adventure brought us to the picturesque island of Itsukushima, off the coast of Hiroshima. Itsukushima, known colloquially as Miyajima, is known as the “island where People and Gods live together”. Boasting numerous temples of varied sizes and belief systems, Miyajima is known most notably for Itsukushima shrine and the Great Torii. Miyajima is also host to a primeval forest which sprawls across Mount Misen, a popular mountain which offers several hiking routes with various animal and flora sightseeing paths.

Our journey starts with a ferry ride across Hiroshima Bay. A short trip which quickly brings the island, and the famous Torii, in to view. Upon disembarking you have many options of temples to visit, and like many, we chose to visit Itsukushima shrine and the Floating Torii. Itsukushima jinja, a Shinto shrine, was initially built in the 6^th century CE, however, the ‘floating’ design was established much later, in 1168 CE. This floating architecture was utilised to create a purity, separating holy structures from the approach of pious pilgrims. Much like Torii gates found on land, those who approach the shrine would steer their boats through the Floating Torii as a kind of blessing.

Itsukushima shrine

Today you can walk through most of Itsukushima shrine, including a small prayer temple, and even approach the Floating Torii when the tide moves out.

After a standard lunch of ramen and tamago-don(buri), we set out to see the many Gods and temples spread throughout the island.

Daishoin temple, located at the foot of Mt. Misen, is a Shingon Buddhist temple in-charge of the Buddhist priests across Miyajima. 

Found within Daishoin is the Henjokutsu Cave – a large cavern which houses icons of the 88 Buddhist temples from the Shikoku Buddhist pilgrimage. Entering this cave endows one with the same blessings as if one completed the entire pilgrimage.

Jizo Bosatsu statues – small stone effigies of Buddhist monks - are scattered around the temples, and are used by parents who have lost a child. The statues are taken care of by parents and are often blessed with children’s bibs and hats.

Jizo Bosatsu

Jizo Bosatsu

Tengu

Daruma, a caricaturised statue of Bodhidharma – the founder of Zen Buddhism – is a symbol of perseverance and good luck.

Daruma

Tanuki priest statue – a representation of the Asian racoon dog – is a supernatural animal, master of disguise, which represents a jolly and mischievous symbolism, governing all things in nature.

 

Tanuki

Shamoji shrine – a shrine to the wooden rice spoon, which was purportedly invented on the island of Miyajima.

Shamoji

Tsunami warnings

After a thorough visit through the many shrines and temples of Itsukushima, we decide to climb Mt. Misen! There are 3 hiking trails up Misen – we chose the ‘Daisho trail’ which apparently offers the most scenic views. On a sweltering 34°C afternoon with the sun blazing straight down without the hindrance of a single cloud – it was a hot, sweaty climb. But it was absolutely stunning.

We begin the ascent

Never ending stairs

Up and up we go, through beautiful verdant countryside

Floating Torii at low tide

Wild deer roam freely on Miyajima

Climbing higher

I'm sure this was in Indiana Jones

Reaching the summit

After about 2 hours of hiking we reach the summit with a sigh of cool relief.

Atop the mountain is an eternal flame, Kiezu no Hi, which was lit 1200 years ago by the priest Kobo Daishi – and is used today as the pilot light for the “Flame of Peace” in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.

Further up from the flame is an observation deck, which offered stunning views of Miyajima and Hiroshima Bay.

Luckily, we caught the very last ropeway carriage down – otherwise we would have had a less than stunning walk back down the mountain in the dark.

We were fortunate to have visited Miyajima the weekend of the Kangen-sai festival. Originating from the 12^th century, the Kangen-sai festival celebrates ‘Kangen’ music – songs played on traditional string instruments, with flutes and drums, on boats circling the Miyajima shrines.

Hostesses

We light paper lanterns and line along the shore to signal the approaching boats. 

We are serenaded by ethereal music dancing across the still waters as hundreds of lantern holders sway to the melody. It was a confusing (we didn’t really know what was going on) but beautiful experience.

Kangen-sai

Finally, we call it a night at our ryokan – traditional Japanese inn – where, during the day while you’re out, the hotel staff transform your ‘living room’ into the bedroom.

Ryokan

Tune in to our next city adventure – where we take in the sombre sights of Hiroshima!

From Solitary to Surrounded - Sokendai

Shinjuku Hyatt Regency

My second night in Tokyo was just as relaxing as the first. Even though my king-size suite was smaller than most outside of Japan, the polish and detail was absolutely grand. I’ve actually bought Hyatt linens before, but these were something else. I was like a kitten rolling around a bed made of clouds. Anyway… My third day quickly rolls on, leading me to a local Shinjuku temple, where I get my first glimpse of monks (I was too shy to take a picture at this point) doing whatever it is that monks do on a Tuesday morning. I felt like I was intruding, but I’m sure they would have graciously invited me in to view their pious rituals.

Temple in Shinjuku

Sokendai introductions

The following week was a whirlwind of activity including, introductions, Japanese language lessons, scientific talks, and poster presentations. I won’t bore my readers with in-depth details, but 115 scientists from across the globe were gathered at the Graduate Centre at Sokendai. A beautiful campus, located on a peninsula south of Tokyo, Sokendai gave us all the opportunity to bond and network with like-minded individuals with a keen interest in research, and an even greater interest in adventure. We all made some lasting relationships during that week and I would go on to travel to several parts of Japan with many of those research fellows.

View from Sokendai with Mt. Fuji-san in the background

Tea ceremony during orientations

During our week at Sokendai we all stayed a weekend with a host family and I was fortunate to have stayed with a lovely couple who showed me around Yokohama and Kamakura. Yokohama was a cool little city south of Tokyo, where I got to try my first izakaya, essentially a Japanese bar restaurant that serves food tapas style. Serving all sorts of foods, grilled chicken skin, gizzard, octopus balls (takoyaki), German sausages (they all seem to serve German sausage…), salads, beef skewers (kushiyaki), various fish… there’s something for everyone. Then of course, there’s the drinks. Starting off with a few Japanese beers (Kirin, Sapporo, Asahi…), which are generally light and refreshing, we then moved on to shōchū, which is a distilled (in this case) rice liquor at roughly 25% ABV. It can be drank multiple ways, I had mine on the rocks, while my host had his chūhai, or mixed with a fruit juice and soda. Both were delicious. My host mother was on the chūhai all night, until I gave them an omiyage, or gift, for hosting me, which included a bottle of Jura Superstition whisky. Let’s just say waking up early for a day of touring Kamakura wasn’t easy.

The city of Kamakura is located about 50 km south west of Tokyo (closer to Sokendai) in the Kanagawa prefecture. Famous for establishing the shogunate, or rule by military dictator, Kamakura is known as the city of the samurai, who were warrior-nobles sworn to protect their lord. The kamakura period, 1185-1333, was the emergence of the shogunate – who controlled the samurai – using military might to control the populace. The kamakura period ended when confidence in the shogun failed and the emperor re-established imperial rule (for a short while). 

Visiting the Tsurugaoka Hachimangū Shinto shrine, I got another chance to practice my cleansing technique. This time, I nailed it, no inner purification for me. 

We were lucky enough to have arrived right when a traditional Japanese wedding ceremony was being held in the maiden pavilion.

Surrounding this building is the typical sake and beer offerings the temples make to their Gods.

Representing Brock University

Kamakura is also famous for its giant bronze daibutsu, or great Buddha, which was built during the kamakura period. Originally, a wooden Buddha was erected, however, seemingly like all things in Japan, it was destroyed in a storm. This bronze Buddha, built 10 years later in 1252, has stood the test of time, even withstanding a tsunami in 1498. The Buddha statue is hollow, allowing tourists to enter the venerable effigy with the following words of insight inscribed at the entrance: ‘Stranger, whosoever thou art and whatsoever be thy creed, when thou enterest this sanctuary remember thou treadest upon ground hallowed by the worship of ages. This is the Temple of Bhudda and the gate of the eternal, and should therefore be entered with reverence’. Inside the Buddha was, well, nothing but a large, extremely hot, metal shell. Still very cool.

Inside Diabutsu

We finished our weekend with a trip to the ramen museum, a kind of retro-styled indoor market for noodle-chefs to ship their wares. My goodness was it delicious. We each had two small ramen dishes from different parts of the country, but it was so darn filling I was full after the first, but they wanted to keep going! Two was my limit much to the chagrin of my host father. Another time he says.

Tonkatsu ramen

Sapporo miso ramen

We take the train back to Yokohama, where I notice that some of the cars are labelled ‘women only’ during certain times of the day. I was shocked at how progressive that was for Japan, a seemingly male-dominated country which holds on to archaic values of yesteryear. Needless to say I was pleased to see this progressive attitude.

Thanks for reading today’s story and hang tight, as next will be about my move into Kobe, where I will be based for the next 3 months. Cheers!