First I’d like to make a comment on the fantastic weather we’ve been having in Japan. Except for one of the first evenings, we haven’t seen any rain, and the temperature has been in the 70s every day with sunny skies. While we’ve missed the cherry blossoms, the azaleas and irises have been beautiful, and many of the maple trees are red. Our guide says that the Japanese have 20,000 shades of green, and we can see it in the trees and landscapes as we drive along. It’s really a gorgeous trip.
Miyajima is an island in Hiroshima Bay and is known for its forests and ancient temples and shrines. There is a giant Grand Torii Gate (53’ high) that is built on stilts and appears to float in the water at high tide. The gate is at the entrance to the Itsukushima Shrine (built in 6th century, but expanded in 12th century). There are many local deer, sacred in the Shinto religion, that are happy to see visitors with food. Because Miyajima does not have a deep port, the ship anchored offshore and groups of ten passengers at a time were taken on zodiac boats to land on the beach.
After the shrine, some people continued up the hill to the five-story pagoda, Goju-no-to (1407). Next to the pagoda is the Senjokaku, or “Pavilion of the Thousand Tatami Mats” (1587). At the base of Mount Misen is the Daisho-in (also Daishou-in) Temple of the Shingon Buddhist sect. There are around 10,000 bundles of paper cranes offered each year to the Children’s Peace Monument in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, and they contain prayers, wishes, and dreams for peace. These paper cranes are then burned at this temple. Tom was there when they were burning these and was able to join in. The ashes are then processed to make new paper cranes that are called “Cranes of Prayer”.
Many passengers also enjoyed the long shopping district and restaurants. Tom had a lunch of okanomiyaki, which is kind of a Japanese omelet.
After returning to the ship, Professor Michelle Damian gave us a great slide lecture on “Ports, Pirates, and Peril: Medieval Seafaring on the Seto Inland Sea”. (I chose to take the day off since I’ve seen the shrine and we’ve been traveling for two weeks. I enjoyed every minute of it!)
These first photos are of the zodiac and the walk to and through the shrine:
These photos are of the other temples and shrines up the hill, followed by two slides of our fish specialty for dinner, Tai (kind of a snapper):
Tom and Cheryl Travels 
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