An early morning run to the neighboring Family Mart for umbrellas prepared us for the lengthy day that awaited us at Miyajima Island. Our buddies were ready to accompany us for a fun filled day representative of the culture of Hiroshima. Our eventful day finished out with some final shopping stops before we got ready to close out our last full day of the trip. It has been an incredible journey for all of us, and we are so grateful for the kind hospitality of the Kokutaiji School who helped guide us through most of our events on this trip!
Miyajima Island:
Miyajima was our look at Japan for all the history and culture that makes it what it is today. After a short bus ride and a ferry trip, we arrived at Miyajima Island. Our first stop as a group was a woodworking shop where we all made our own custom ladles! The symbols we could decorate with represented a lot of what to expect for the rest of our time there, maple leaves, deer, torii gates, deer, and deer. A fun experience to start marked our first of many souvenirs from Miyajima!
Moving forwards past the busy market street filled with deer, we headed off to the Itsukushima shrine that faced the Grand Torii Gate. A sacred place representing the importance of peace and good for the island; Miyajima literally means “shrine island” in Japanese, as stemmed from this important site. Here, we each went with our buddies at our own paces to appreciate the various options available in the shrine.
Inside, we threw in a coin to first make a wish. As we continued, there were grand views of the Grand Torii Gate facing forwards from the boardwalk. In this area, they sold amulets/talismans for certain cases. They included things like protection in traffic/public transport, protection in delivery, good fortune, good matchmaking, and good studies (which we should have brought in bulk back to BCA). Nonetheless, we made our picks and also checked our fortune. Reports of good fortune are taken with you outside the shrine, but for moderate to bad fortune, the slips are tied to a rope along the wall to improve it. Inside the shrine there is a priest who wards off evil and blesses people with prosperity and luck. The shrine is a place of peace for many, and our experience there highlighted such an integral part not only to Hiroshima, but to Japan as well.
Rain begins to drop on us as we make our way for lunch at the highly anticipated Les Clos, a fine dining Italian restaurant. Deers scatter for cover under restaurant awnings as we pull up our umbrellas for the rest of our time there. Les Clos was nothing short of delicious, and an incredibly generous lunch with options of pasta, fish, or meat.
After lunch, we are set free for an hour and a half with our buddies to help us get the full experience of Miyajima. Miyajima would not be the same without the Momiji Manju they serve at every other store in the marketplaces there. Momiji Manju is a maple leaf shaped pastry with a select filling inside like lemon, custard, chocolate, matcha, and others. This was a popular first stop for many since it is such a staple! The overall experience in our free time consisted of lots of souvenir shopping, trying out oysters which were another staple, deer, and finding as many photo opportunities as possible in the rain. There is so much more to be seen in Miyajima, a place full of many other incredible opportunities like climbing the high mountains or visiting the popular aquarium. However, we were all sad to see the time approach the time that our ferry was arriving for the trip back.
Shopping and Dinner:
Back at the Kokutaiji School, we said our true final goodbyes to our buddies as we parted ways. But the day was not done, as many students still desired to get some final shopping in.
After a stop at the hotel to replace soaked socks and shoes, we headed off to Sanrio. Lots of goods were purchased as a memory of Japan for ourselves and for friends and family! Before we would have dinner, we split off between the Sunmall and Animate store for some quick grabs.
Before we knew it, it was time for dinner and it was a unique experience for many of us, it being our first time having conveyor belt sushi! An entertaining experience grabbing or ordering the sushi that is flying by, and seeing the number of plates count up before you realize. We are once again very grateful for such a generous dinner!
With more shopping still desired from the brief time we had before dinner, most of us headed to the Sunmall. The Sunmall has many floors filled with food markets, Daiso, clothes, figurines, and most importantly: Pokemon Cards. Nothing was more exciting than the little shiny pieces of paper as we watched our final Yen coins get depleted by the card vending machine. The dozens of boxes were all left in the back of a certain someone's mind when he finally saw that rainbow Cynthia card. It was all worth it, for sure! Yet the addiction was too much and the only thing that could stop us was the machine itself, when it finally ran out of cards to give.
Adrenaline and energy still in us, we headed off to a popular thrift store in the outdoor mall area, Second Street. There were floors of clothes ranging from designer to casual attire where a couple found something to take back home.
Finally, it was time to close out the tiring day. A rainy walk home and laughs all the way remind us of how great of a time we had all throughout the trip. We could not imagine a better experience than the one we had, meeting all our new friends and experiencing such an amazing culture firsthand.
