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Hiroshima, Sake Matsuri, & Miyajima 10/7-9
With a three day weekend on our horizon, and the last weeks of fall beginning to pass by, Jenn and I decided to head West to Hiroshima, the island of Miyajima off it's coast, and a day of drinking all the sake we could handle.
After an evening of harvest moon viewing at Okayama-shi's Korakuen Garden, Jenn and I awoke bright and early to catch a local train to Hiroshima City. After the three hour train, ride we booked a hotel room and headed for the Peace Museum and A-Bomb Dome. Fascinating and depressing at the same time, if you are ever near Hiroshima the museum is a must see. On Sunday, after an early evening on Saturday, Jenn and I met a couple friends in the small suburb of Saijo for the annual Sake Matsuri (sake festival). There were the standard festival booths selling meats on sticks, seafoods of various kinds in batters of various kinds, Japanese sweets like Taiyaki (sweet bean paste in a fried dough shaped like a fish), and useless toys for the kids. But the centerpiece of the day was the park full of sake micro- and macro-brews from every region of Japan. After paying your $12 USD to get in, sake cup included, you belly up to the regional booth of your choice and choose from a list of 50 some sakes. Each booth had 7-8 lists, and there were about 5 booths total. So there was a lot of different sake. After 6 shots or so we really couldn't tell the difference between Hokkaido sake and Kanto or Chugoku sake. But it was fun! Monday, a national holiday in Japan, we took a 30 minute train ride to Miyajimaguchi, on the Seto coast, and ferried over to Miyajima island. Besides being a lovely island, Miyajima is also home to Itsukushima-jinja, one of Japan's 3 most revered national monuments. It's a shrine that was built on the beach of the island in such a way that when the tide is in the shrine appears to float on the water. When the tide is out you are able to walk out and touch the giant red Torii that sits on the seafloor (no anchoring needed due to it's immense weight) before the shrine. It's a beautiful site, and the island has several other points of interest and beauty to keep one busy all day there. We took scads of pictures, especially of the torii. So be prepared to see it from every angle and in every light we could find. Being one of Japan's three most scenic locales (have you noticed how the Japanese rank everything in their country?), we felt justified in snapping picture after picture, as did the local tourists. Plus we had just purchased a 256mb memory card for the camera. So our photo capacity went from 46 to 300. Enjoy! 
(141 photos in total)
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