Adam and I had been perusing the literature that we recieved when Megan made arrangements for our trip to Hiroshima. Included was a day long pass to ride the Trolley Car in town to get around. We picked up a light breakfast at the 7-11 near the Hotel and walked down to the front of the train station to have our breakfast and coffee. We sat on the cement bench near a reflective dual fountain and discussed our plans for the day. The trolley station was down on the corner, so we decided to ride it to the Atom Bomb Dome and Peace Memorial Park. Different trolley cars would come and go, but with the help of an attendant at the outdoor station we determined which car could take us to the Dome. Entering the car, you would insert your ticket into a machine and it would spit it out the other side, but fortunately there was an attendant there in case there were any problems. We were able to get seats, due to my Multiple Sclerosis, and having my cane with me. The trolley was a bit of a rough ride, but sure beats walking when you have a rough time walking to begin with. We rode for quite a few blocks, with some stops put in to pick up other riders. An older Japanese woman sat across the aisle from me. Up above the door was a sign about the A-Bomb Dome. I looked over at the woman again, estimating that she must be in her eighties, and the thought occurred to me that since the atom bomb was unleashed against Hiroshima sixty five years ago, that undoubtedly she was a young woman when this occurred, and wondered what her thoughts and experiences were.
We rode the trolley for about a half hour when we arrived at a stop. Looking out the window, we found ourselves staring at the Atom Bomb Dome! It was only about 100 feet from us! It was a little surreal. I had seen many pictures of it before, but there it was, looking very stark and haunting. Since the Dome was only about a thirty minute ride on the trolley, we decided to continue riding the car until we reached the ferry terminal. We had a full day in Hiroshima that day, and only until late afternoon the next, so we reasoned that going to Miyajima to visit the island shrine would make more sense today, and catch the A-Bomb Dome tomorrow.
We arrived at the ferry terminal a short while later, and the ferry was sitting there ready to load. We bought our tickets and got on the medium sized ferry, finding a bench outside to sit on. It was another hot day, and the salt air felt good as we sailed the ten minute ride to the island. When we were almost there, I spotted the O torii gate apparently rising out of the water a short distance from the island. I snapped a few pictures, zooming in to hopefully get a better look at the tall red gate when I arrived back at the Hotel.
The ferry docked and we departed to the island. There were so many gates and shrines and things unfamiliar to me that I just stared in wonder, not having the slightest clue what I was looking at. I was really ill prepared to fully appreciate what I was experiencing. Deer were everywhere. Apparently on the island they have no natural predators, so they had no fear of all of the sightseers that wandered among them. Adam and I walked for a while entering through various gate and observing shrines, when I looked out and saw the O torii gate that I spotted from the ferry. It IS in the water...or should I say would be in the water except for the fact that the tide was out! Cool! Let's walk down to it! Many other people had the same idea, so it was quite an experience and an excellent photo opportunity. The tide appeared to be coming in, so we snapped some pictures and proceeded back to the island.
We walked up to the entrance of the Itsukushima shrine, which is painted the same bright orange/red as the O torii gate, and paid several hundred yen to enter the shrine. At the time that I was in Japan, the dollar to yen exchange rate had nosedived to a fifteen year low of 82 cents equaling 100 yen. It was a bit easier to figure when it was close to one dollar equaling 100 yen. We wandered around the buidings and walkways where the monks lived and worked, when it dawned on me that not only does the O torii gate end up surrounded by water, but so did the buildings and walkways that we were touring. At one point we saw these large white containers with writing on them. "What are those?" I asked Adam. "That's Sake the monks have made." "Oh", the Sake is the rice wine that is common in Japan. We wandered some more among the many buildings that were on the shrine island, and encountered some with the monks in the middle of their worship. We didn't take any photos because that just seemed wrong and we didn't want to disturb their worshipping. It was really hard to get the concept that some of these structures were over 1,400 years old. They have been meticulously maintained by the monks and were in extraordinary condition.
We traversed some wide cement stairs and approached an entrance gate which had two life sized scary statues on either side. They were apparently the guardians of the temples further up the hill. The Guardians were carved, but had very realistic eyes. It was a bit creepy. Beyond the guardians was a large bell with a pole hung by a rope next to it. I took Adam's picture as he stood next to it, and then it was my turn. I took the pole and let it swing into the bell several times, making a beautiful gong sound.
We continued our trek and came to the foot of a long stone stairwell going up to lower Mount Misen. Adam looked over at me and asked if I was up to it, due to the extreme heat and my having MS. I looked at the stairs and was determined not to let them get the better of me, so I said "I'll be fine" and grabbed the stair rail and determinedly led the way to the top, only stopping to take a few pictures of the hundreds of little Buddha statues below the stairs on the left of us. The sun was so bright that I couldn't make out the large LCD viewfinder on the back of my camera, so I just guessed at where to aim and clicked the shutter. I have been asked why I didn't use the optical viewfinder, and here is the answer: Because there wasn't one. The camera only had the digital display on the back. I had considered bringing my large Nikon digital SLR on this trip, but opted not to due to the bulkiness of the camera body and lens, so I had decided to bring my smaller but still wonderful 10 megapixel Panasonic instead. I shrugged, took the picture and proceeded up the stairs. Reaching the top felt good and gave us a chance to look around at more little Buddha's with small red bibs tied to some of them. Also at the top was a "cave" filled with hanging lamps, and other stone markers. Of course in this darkened environment I stll couldn't see my viewfinder, and it wasn't until we entered the daylight again that I discovered the real reason I couldn't see my viewfinder. It no longer functioned. I had no idea if the camera itself was even functioning! With no other options I just decided to guess at what I was aiming at and how much to zoom. The extreme heat and direct sunlight must have been too much for the electronics. Hoping that the camera at least still functioned I blindly shot away and hoped for the best. I got pretty creative with camera angles as I figured that I had nothing to lose at this point. I finally determined that I had invented a new form of self-expression: Shooting pictures blindly having no idea what you would come up with.
We continued further up the hill to a temple where the Shinto monks were praying and chanting. We quietly passed by. Only later did I discover that the large bell that we stood at would call the monks to prayer when rung....OOPS. Hopefully nobody saw that.
I discovered later that there are monkeys on the mountain, but I never encountered any. I was getting pretty tired, so we decided to walk down another long set of stairs that had cylindrical wheels covered with writing that were suspended from a rail that was going down the length of the stairs. The spinning wheels of Sutra.
Finally we took a walk through a street lined with shops. It was a primitive, crowded street just like you would stereotypically see on a television program. We stopped and had dinner at a small restaurant and caught the ferry back to the mainland. After the trolley ride back towards the Hotel, we stopped at the McDonald's and then crashed for the night. The screen on the TV brought up the weather report, and while we didn't understand the speech, the screen distinctly displayed 40 C. That converts to 104 degrees fahrenheit. Tomorrow, The Atomic Bomb Dome.
For more information on Miyajima, take a look at this website:
http://www.miyajima-wch.jp/index_e.html
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