Japan: Day #22 (October 12, 2008 Sunday) Miyajima

It was another beautiful day for sightseeing in Japan. We arrived in Miyajima last evening from Hiroshima and are staying at the Coral Hotel which is less than a minute walk from the ferry to Itsukushima Island. Itsukushima also has deer and the Itsukushima shrine which is just beautiful. It's very frustrating to not be able to show you what we saw.

We arrived during high tide when the torii looked like it was floating on the water and got to see it at low tide when the water flowed back into the ocean. It was magnificent!

Tomorrow (Day #23) we'll be headed back to Hiroshima to meet Art's relatives for the first time. Unfortunately he's the only member of our group who does not understand Japanese very much at all. However, he will be able to see where his family's roots sprang from decades ago. My mother will be busy translating.

We'll be staying with them one night and then return to Hawaii the following morning. It will be a very tiring day of travel. We'll take the train from Kabe to Hiroshima to Himeji to Tokyo and then catch our flight to Hawaii. Phew! Here's hoping all our connections work out. I'll be writing my next post from Hawaii.

Until then, peace and love to all of you. It has been such a pleasure to share this journey with all of you. My mother and brother said that at the start of the trip it felt like we had all the time in the world but now it's gone by in a flash and so much of it are impressions that are hard to organize in our heads. Thank goodness we all kept a journal and took lots of photos to remember and relive the fun and beautiful moments we shared.




The deer at Miyajima were not being given food to eat. They tried to eat the map right out of my pocket. Good grief! They were completely unafraid of tourists as you can see.



Itsukushima Island with its torii is one of the top three magnificent sights of Japan. Here, the torii looks like it's floating on the water.



The Itsukushima Shrine was just gorgeous! Apparently a typhoon had damaged parts of it but I couldn't tell. It had been expertly repaired.



And here we all are. Dennis brought a tripod so he could get a photo of all of us but it was much easier to ask someone to take it. We've found that no matter where you go around the world, there's someone who will gladly take your photo for you and then more often than not, ask you to take one of them also.



We decided to take the hike up Mt. Misen. Mom and I decided to go up a bit to see how far we could get.



This wasp was HUGE and beautiful. I was going right up with my macro lens before Art cautioned me that it might be pretty but it did have a sting!



We THOUGHT we went half way up the mountain before my mom and I turned back but Art says we actually went only a third of the way.



Art, Dennis and I gave mom a bit of a helping hand, pull, push up the mountain. She got a huge laugh out of it.



Low tide! Art checked out the tide schedule before we left for Itsukushima Island. I was so glad he did because we were able to see the magic of the tides.



Mom was a bit hesitant about going down onto the ocean floor but was surprised to find the sandy bottom very firm and easy to walk on. There were people there digging for clams while the tide was out.



It was such a wonderful day!

Japan: Day #21 (October 11, 2008 Saturday)

We were up at 5:45 AM and heard the patter of raindrops falling on the roof. We figured our weather luck had run out. We grabbed a quick pastry and tea breakfast in our room and was out the door by 7:30 to catch the train for Hiroshima. We said good bye to our Kyoto hostel and my mom looked forward to a bigger room with amenities. I reminded her of what she used to tell my brother and me when we were growing up, "You have to know pain to appreciate just how many blessings you have." The Kyoto Tour Club was not painful, just spartan.

When we stepped out the door the rain had stopped. There were a few puddles on the ground but only enough to let us know that our luck was still with us. My mom said her late friend must be on this trip with us and watching over us with her parents.

I just tried to upload some photos and something is not allowing me to do it. Therefore I'll just have to do this post with only text.

We took the train to Hiroshima and went to the Genbaku Dome (Atomic Bomb Dome). My mother wanted to come to this memorial but I wanted to shield her from the pain here as much as I could.

My mother's loyalty and home is America but her heart belongs to Japan although she was born in Hawaii and is an American citizen. She was raised in Japan while I am 100% American and proud of it.
There I was, sitting at the Hiroshima Peace Museum and awash with emotions of pain, horror, guilt, anger and sorrow. My mother's last image of Hiroshima was through a train window when she went past just a year or two after the blast on her way to Hawaii leaving her family and all she'd known toward an uncertain future.

Today she walked through the museum and could only say, "War, all war is bad. The innocent suffer."

After leaving the museum and monuments, we stopped at the train station and my mother mentioned that Hiroshima is known for its okonomiyaki. The book calls it an egg based savory pancake with soba noodles, vegetables and other fillings. We decided to give it a try were glad we did. It was something different to enjoy after a rather solemn day.

Our hotel tonight is quite lovely and we're all enjoying it. Tomorrow will be a full day of sight seeing at Itsukushima Island in Miyajima.



Here is our Hiroshima tram to the Genbaku Dome.



The Children's Peace Monument was inspired by the Sadako's tragic struggle to survive the Atomic Bomb disease.



We then visited the Peace Dome and the Memorial. Going through the Hiroshima Peace Museum was very difficult. My mother commented that although one bomb did horrendous damage other cities were also bombed and many lives were lost in other places.



After such a challenging day, our next challenge of finding a place to eat was a delight.



My mother told us that okonomiyaki was a Hiroshima favorite so we had fun watching this cook prepare it before our hungry eyes.



The okonomiyaki was quite tasty. I wish we could have it here in Hawaii, too.

Japan: Day #20 (October 10, 2008 Friday) Nara

After a morning of rest yesterday, Mom was raring to see Nara today. Her stomach had settled and she was determined to see as much as she could.



We took the JR Shinkansen train at 8:08 AM for the hour ride to Nara. Looking out the window Art took this photo of kids getting ready for an excursion to Nara. Mom explained that fall is a big season for school excursions. We loved seeing the different colored caps.



Dennis and I had fun stamping our journals (we're all keeping one). Many of the important sights have stamps of their special area and people collect them to show they were there. I think for school kids, it's proof to their teacher that they were there.



Good grief! I forgot the name of this temple. I'd ask mom but she fell asleep. She fell asleep before 8:00 tonight!



Nara was bright and sunny and exceedingly warm. We refuse to complain because we're just so grateful that it didn't rain! So far we feel like we've made it from Chicago to our home in Evanston in Illinois without hitting any red lights. Besides that we got to enjoy another soft serve. We had melon and mango this time. There's only a few days left to try the other flavors.



Here we are walking to the Todaiji temple where the Daibutsu resides (Great Buddha). You can see how much Mom walked today.



You could buy snack crackers to feed the deer. Here's a family that started to feed them and encouraged their daughter to do the same. The deer overwhelmed them and they had to escape before the little one got too frightened. We opted NOT to feed the deer.



Art donated some money to this monk who very gratefully gave Art his blessings.



We've taken a million photos of deer! We just couldn't stop. They were everywhere.



I spent a moment in prayer to thank my mother's friend who passed away earlier this year and provided us with some funds because one of her dying wishes was that my mother should thoroughly enjoy this trip to Japan.



Here we are at Todaiji temple which houses the Daibutsu.



The Daibutsu was absolutely awesome! Huuuuge!



This was the Nigatsudo temple. It was huge with a great view at the top.



The only problem was the climb. Mom hesitated just for a moment but when Art said there was a good view of Nara she turned herself around and went right up!



Here is the Bonsho or Bell. It was built in 752 A.D. and is a national treasure.



The Kasuga Taisha Shinto Shrine has a thousand lanterns and is just beautiful.



We loved seeing all the different stone lanterns.



As we were walking through the forest I saw my first snake in the wild. It seemed huge. My mother said it was a shima hebi (striped snake). We took a whole lot of photos of this fine specimen as well. I can't believe Dennis was able to spot it as we walked.



We ate at the same restaurant as last night because the food was wonderful and so was the price. The restaurant is at the train station. Train stations in Japan have fabulous reasonably priced food!

Tomorrow morning we leave bright and early for Hiroshima.

Japan: Day #19 (October 9, 2008 Thursday) Kyoto

Mom got up with a queasy stomach so she said she would prefer staying at the hostel to rest while we braved a heavy day of walking to see the Kiyomizu area.

Armed with our Lonely Planet guide book we headed out the door after setting mom up with tea, bread and the Japanese TV. She was happy as a clam.


We caught the 8:16 #206 bus to Kiyomizu-dera. It was nice to get an uncrowded bus.



We see so many unusual flowers but we don't know what their English names are. We thought this looked almost like a hibiscus.



And here's a purple flower that intrigued us.



Here's the gate to the Kiyomizu-dera (clean water temple).



Kiyomizu-dera



More Kiyomizu-dera



The school kids on a field trip were having a great time purifying their hands and mouths before entering the shrine. Ooops! Art just told me that actually...drinking from the waterfall is supposed to insure that your prayer for a purified soul would be answered.



After leaving the shrine area we came to the Sannenzaka stairs. It's said that if you trip and fall on these stairs you would die within 2 years. We were extremely careful to make sure we got down safely.



I especially liked this sign. It made me pause to think.



Art said I sure didn't need to post these pigeon photos but I just had to. They were sitting on the branches at Maruyama Koen (Maruyama Park)and didn't bother to move even when people (me) sat close by. Art said nobody is interested in what Chicagoans regard as feathered rats.



We also saw this stork...ummmm... is it a stork? We thought it was quite beautiful.



Here's a Japanese crow. I was very interested in him because it's quite different from the Chicago crow. The beak is bigger and fatter and the head shape is a little different, too.



This is the Yasaka Jinja (Yasaka Shrine) in the famous Gion area. The Gion area is known for Geishas.



Art took this photo of the Maikos (Geishas in training) as they passed by. It's sweltering here in Kyoto. We stopped at a restaurant to have lunch and the waiter told us that it rained the day before we came but it's been unseasonably sunny and hot for our stay. I wonder what the weather will be in Nara for our deer watch. Nara is very famous for their bowing deer. No kidding. I remember how they pester you like crazy also because they are protected there.



Art had to take this photo for our fire fighter son also.

When we returned to the hostel mom was sitting there quite cheerful saying she had recovered perfectly and was now ready for whatever we were planning to do. Great! Nara does require a bit of walking. Hopefully, things will go well. If it starts raining from this day forward, we have been extraordinarily lucky and will count our blessings. Blessings to all of you who have kept me company on this journey.