Taking the Big Break

Miyajima Torii Gate

Miyajima is known for one of the quintessential images of Japan… the floating torii gate.   While the torri gate does not actually float in the water, the iconic image of the torii gate surrounded by its own reflections in the water below has captured the heart of many photographers.   

Floating Torii Gate

Miyajima is a 20 minute train ride and a 10 minute ferry from the city of Hiroshima where we are staying.   The train winds through countryside, and the ferry affords great views of Hiroshima’s famous Oyster Farms as well as a fantastic view of the torii gate from the sea. 

We went yesterday to explore the island and we liked it so much, we returned again today.   Here are a couple photos.  

Fawn on Miyajima

After arriving on the island, we started with the park surrounding Miyajima’s Itsukushima shrine.   Here you can see deer wandering the streets, stealing food from unsuspecting tourists.   They are not tame, yet they don’t seem to mind if you get close.   Often, they will boldly try to eat paper and other food a tourist might be carrying.   In our case, we set down our bags to take a photo and came back to a bite out of our map.  Whoops.

Don’t leave your map on the ground when you take a photo.

After making our way through the beautiful shrine and all the cameras, we came out the other end hot and ready for something cool.   We found a wonderfully satisfying treat of frozen strawberries, ice and sweet and condensed milk.   Sooo good!

From there, we made our way to the only beach we will probably go to in Japan, Tsutsumigaura.   It was just what a group of hot travelers needed!   And, as it turned out, we had the beach practically to ourselves.  Turns out that Japanese have a July and August rule about going to the beach.   When September hits, they all claim it is too cold to go.   I beg to differ.   The water was perfectly refreshing and after a hot few hours of walking through the town and the temples, it was just what we needed.   Here are a couple photos. 

We had the beach to ourselves!

The boys swimming!

We had so much fun swimming at this beautiful beach!  So today, we went back with lunches and did it again!   A relaxing end to our week in Hiroshima.   Tomorrow… it is on to Kyoto!