Miyajima Island

We took the bullet train from Kyoto to Hiroshima, and then took a ferry out to Miyajima Island, which is in Hiroshima harbor. The island is known for its huge Tori Gate that is situated out in the water. If you want to go to the island to worship at the shrine, you can only go at high tide, when the water is deep enough for your boat to pass through the gate. Otherwise, the gate is on dry land and you are unable to worship properly.
Melissa, Alisha, and Katrina rented bikes and rode along the waterfront, while Mom , Grandma and I wandered around.
We stopped at a Gaki Yaki stand and had delicious grilled oysters.



Then we walked down towards the shrine.

We got lucky - there was a whole wedding ceremony going on at the shrine. The monks in the background are all playing instruments, while the monk in orange dances in front of the bride and groom.
I was just able to get a picture of the bride from behind. She is wearing the full silk ceremonial kimono, with a wig and headpiece. The wedding party wasn't very big. Because the shrine was open to the public, you could get as close to the wedding as you wanted - depending on how conspicuous you were willing to be!
You can see the big Tori Gate again in the distance. Miyajima is beautiful. It would be fun to come back and stay on the island for a couple of days. There are lots of hiking trails and shrines, and MAP had a lot of fun on the bikes.
After the island, we went to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial and Museum.

Lane's Preschool Openhouse and Graduation

Lane has spent the last 2 years going to preschool with Miss Heidi. Lane loves Miss Heidi and will miss her alot but she is ready for Kindergarten. Here are a couple of photos.

Nara and Kiyomizu

On our second day with our drivers, they took us all the way out to Nara, which is about an hour from Kyoto in another prefecture. Nara was the capital of Japan from 710 - 784.
We stopped first at a small, rural Buddhist temple.

Then, we went into Nara itself. At the next stop, they had deer that you could feed. Our drivers bought us some deer food, and we suddenly became very popular. The deer are gentle, but pushy. If you don't feed them quickly, they'll nibble at the back of your shirt.
Todai-ji temple in Nara is the largest wood building in the world. It was built in the 8th century, but it has burned down twice since then. This latest building was completed in the 1700s. Look at how huge it is compared to the people; even still, the original building was 33% wider than the one that stands there today. Inside is an enormous statue of Buddha that fills the entire center of the temple.
There were lots of school children on field trips. The kindergarteners were super cute. We were minor celebrities; all of the older kids stopped to take pictures with us and speak English. At a lot of the temples and shrines we have visited, we have met with school kids who have assignments to speak with foreigners.
Mr. Sato found us a yummy place for lunch. We sat on tatami mats on the floor.
This is the gate to Kiyomizu temple.
A lot of older high school girls and college aged girls will rent fancy kiminos, or where their own when they come to visit Kyoto. It's sort of like dressing up for the prom - or in your pioneer clothes - except much prettier. These girls spoke a little English. One of them will be studying at UC Irvine in the next year.
In Japan, when you're goind to do something great or brave, you'll say you are "going to leap from Kiyomizu Tower". It's sort of like saying you're "going to take the plunge" I guess.
We have had two fantastic days! But now I'm going to bed.

Golden Pavilion, Sanjusangendo, Gion District

Grandma Michiko's friend from Sasebo has a friend in Osaka who arranged for us to have private drivers while we were in Kyoto. This is now the only way I'll travel! They took us first to Kinkaju-ji, The Golden Pavilion.It is covered in seven coats of gold leaf. Next, we went to Sanjunsangendo, which is a Buddhist temple that holds 1,100 statues of Buddha. I've studied several of the statues from this temple in my art history classes, so it was fun to see them.

Then we went to Fuhimi Inari Shrine, which is famous for thousands of Torii gates that lead all the way up the mountain. Usually, a Shinto Shrine has one Torii gate at the entrance.

Our drivers took us through the Gion district, which is where the Meiko-san and Geiko-san live and train. They showed us the shrines where the Meiko-san usually pray, and the most famous schools.

At the end of the day, Sato-san (on of our drivers) got us a reservation at a very fancy traditional Japanese restaurant. We had a private room on the second floor overlooking the river. The restaurant was also on the famous Pontocho Street, which is an old street lined with lanterns. We saw a few Geiko-san dining in the restaurant below.
I thought the food was delicious. Some of the things were a little different, but I enjoyed the variety and how pretty everything looked. The one thing that was a little rough was the fish below. I was able to nibble a bit from the middle, but I couldn't bring myself to pop it all in my mouth.

Aoi Festival, Akasayama, Tenryuji Temple, Tacoyaki

Aoi Festival




Tenruji Temple

Tacoyaki

Osaka - Tsutenkaku, Shinsaibashi and Dotonbori

We took the bullet train (shinkansen) from Tokyo to Osaka. It can go as fast as 170 MPH. I couldn't look out the windows for too long - it made me sick seeing all of the building fly by.

After we checked into our hotel in Osaka, grandma Michiko's friend's friend's daughter picked us up and took us to the Tsutenkaku (Osaka Tower). We too the elevator up to the top where we coudl get a view of the whole city.
Here is Yuka. She is 19 and is in cosmetology school. She used to study Japanese dance. She is going to take us to Kyoto on Sunday to see a huge festival and parade.

Here is a view of one of the markets near Shinsaibashi. Katrina and I split an taiyaki maker, so we can make our own fish-shaped bean cakes at home!I tower over everyone in our group.

Shinsaibashi and Dotonbori are both near the river, and the markets surround both sides of the bridges.
Dotonbori is known for it's crazy signs. Here is one especially for Hana.



This is the sign for a fugu (pufferfish) restaurant. If you ate fugu that has been prepared correctly, there is a good chance you would die.

Osaka is famous for tacoyaki (little octopus balls, sort of like Japanese aebelskivers). There are octopus signs like this all over.
Osaka is also famous for it's okonomiyaki. They're pancakes made with egg, cabbage, and whatever meat you choose. You can also add noodles. We went to Fugetsu, where we could watch them make our okonomiyaki right at our table.

We were supposed to spend another day in Osaka, but we are going to the festival in Kyoto instead. If we make it back in time tonight, we might stop by Osaka Castle and then get some delicious takoyaki.