Day 4 - Miyajima Island

On our last day we checked out of the hotel early, stored our luggage, hopped on a train and caught a ferry bound for Miyajima Island. Miyajima is considered sacred and pure in the Shinto religion. It was built to worship the island as a Goddess. Apparently there are 3 rules to respect when visiting to the island: 1. No cutting down trees, 2. No giving birth, and 3. No dying.

We wanted as much time to explore as possible. We spend about 6 1/2 hours on the island before we had to head back and get our luggage at the hotel and head back to the bullet train. I would have to say Miyajima was probably the highlight of our trip. It was a beautiful day (we should've packed shorts). It was just so peaceful. Our only regret was that the monkey's weren't out that day. They were all out in the forrest eating. It was absolutely breathtaking. The kids had a quick cocoa while we grabbed a coffee on the ferry...We snapped a few quick photos from the ferry then we were off... We arrived on the island and immediately the kids were excited when they saw the deer just roaming freely. They were friendly enough, but if they get hungry apparently they will eat whatever you have insight (we were warned ahead of time).

Here is the five-storied pagoda. We came at a beautiful time a year with the cherry blossoms blooming perfectly.

The Otorri gate standing in the sea leading to the Itsukushima shrine, is the symbol of Miyajima Island. This is the eighth Otorri gate constructed since the Heian period (794-1192). It was built in 1875 with the wood of camphor trees. It is 16 meters tall, the roof is 24 meters long, and the main pillars are made from single trees, 10 meters in circumference.

Walking along the Itsukushima shrine

Getting ready to go up the ropeway to Mt. Misen...

Mt. Misen is the highest point of Miyajima Island at 530 meters (1739 feet). It was a nice walk and very hot and a little humid. I wasn't sure at times whether we would ever get there but we did and it was worth it. We took some pictures of the scenery on the way back down... The coolest thing had to be when we came back down Mt. Misen was the fact that the tide was out. We didn't know this would happen. We got to see the shrine and the Otorri gate and actually go out and walk out on the beach to each of them. It was also cool because the deer come right down on the beach when the tide goes out. It was such a warm day to go out on the beach. We even picked a piece of sea glass for our collection. It was an awesome day and an awesome end to our vacation.

The world's largest spatula...

It wouldn't be Japan without a picture with Hello Kitty...

Day 3 - Kyoto/Hiroshima

Day 3 we awoke and ate breakfast in the hotel. We decided to fuel for the day, since we would again be travelling today. We had a few hours left in Tokyo after we ate breakfast so we toured a couple small temples and the Kyoto Tower. Here are some pics we took. Kyle had one of his many bloody noses again... They were doing construction on one of the temples. They were also doing cleaning that morning and we weren't sure if these people were paid or volunteers. We are guessing they are volunteers, because of the sash they are wearing. Look how they are sweeping the pepples on the grounds of the temple.

Thought this was cool at the entrance of the temple, it looks like a face with eyeballs staring at you. Kind of like someone watching you...Cool statue...
The Kyoto Tower... Checking out the view... Having fun with the "Tower" mascots... Next, we got back on the bullet train to Hiroshima. This was our second favorite spot on our vacation. It was very beautiful. The weather was perfect. It was very peaceful, hence we are at the "Peace Park".

This is the Statue of Sadako (The Children's Monument). It stands in the center of Hiroshima's Peace Park surrounded by millions of paper cranes sent by people around the world. It was built in 1958 with donations from Japanese school children who when to school with Sadako Sasaki. She died from Leukemia as a result of the A-bomb dropped on Hiroshima. She didn't develop the Leukemia until 10 years later. Her friend told her of the old Japanese legend that the Japanese crane lives to be 1,000 years old and that if Sadako folded 1,000 paper cranes her wish to be well would be granted. Sadako only made it to 644 cranes before she died. Her friends finished folding the remaining 354 cranes and raised money to erect this statue in her honor. At this monument reads:

This is our cry.

This is our prayer.

Peace in the world.

The museum was very interesting. I came back and checked out the book on Sadako. There were so many sad stories. We spent all most 2 hours there. Even Kyle enjoyed it thanks to the ear piece listening device we rented for 300 Yen. I think the most fascinating moment was when I was looking at a picture on the 2nd floor of a picture of a girl and her sister and the red cross hospital looking at someone being examined. An older Japanese lady was standing behind me and pointed to the picture and started talking to me. She told me that the girl in the middle was her at 11-years old and the girl standing next to her was her sister. She said that they were both in perfect health and had no health problems since from the bombing. She was very pleasant to talk to and had no hostility. She had moved away to Hakata, Japan. Her sister remained in Hiroshima. She had not been back in over 30 years and was only back to bury her parents. I asked how she was from that day and she said she boxed all the memories and put them away. She didn't talk to no one else and just walked around the museum. I told her thank you for talking to me and I was glad she was in good health. It was quite a moving moment.