Miyajima (5/6/2008)

today kenji-san (kosuke's dad) drove us out to see miyajima. we drove down to hiroshima, then took the streetcar out to the ferry. after a short trip across the channel (or some form of body of water) we were in miyajima. the island is a japanese national park, and includes several temples, and many incredible views. the mountains literally drop right down into the sea. very impressive.

the place is a big tourist destination, and as a result there are countless shops and vendors, and deer. the deer are everywhere. if you have food, they will follow you around in packs trying to get it. it seems funny, until you are trying to eat. terrible.

the area more than makes up for the deer though. the main attraction includes a temple, with a gate of sorts out in the sea. the tide was down, so we could have walked out to the gate, but when the tide is up, the temple appears to be out in the sea, with the gate further removed from the land. very cool. included is a pic with high water to show you what it looks like. this is not my picture.

even with the water down, it was very cool. it's hard to say for sure, but this may have been my favorite place in japan (at least at this point). The picture below is probably my favorite of the entire trip.

during the drive down, kenji-san proposed one, of what promises to be many, 'Japan Challenge' (one of many we anticipate throughout the course of the trip). the challenge was to find our way back to kurashiki on the shinkansen (using the ever-handy japan rail pass). chris and i obliged, loving both challenges and the opportunity to really experience japan. we also took it a step further by electing to make our way to the shinkansen via local trains, instead of being driven to the station (it's all free with the rail pass, so why not? besides getting hopelessly lost and being incapable of communicating with anyone).

aside from the love of a challenge, it also provided us with a great opportunity we didn't realize until we made it onto the local train...