The beauty of Miyajima Island continues

Our day on Miyajima Island continues. 

Here is a small stream going through town, and people are wading in it again.  Remember how I said Japan needs pools... take a hint!!

It was a nice relaxing scene throughout town, though. 

And since it was well into the 90's, I stopped a few times to cool my feet off, too!

Even the deer liked to lay in the shade by the stream.

Another video of a deer.  This one has a slight injury.  Maybe a rowdy tourist hurt it?!  Yeah, right, that kind of stuff doesn't happen in Japan! 

Souvenir shopping on the streets of Miyajima. 

I love that this town was not crowded like the rest of the country!!

Quite possibly the crappiest souvenir shop ever... 

How do you go from the initials K.F. to K.H.?!  They lost out on a sale from this K.G.!!

Next sight on the island is taking a ropeway ride to the top of Mt. Misen.

Tarynn climbs into our private car that takes us halfway up the mountain.

And we're off!!

This is the ONLY way to climb a mountain in my opinion.  I love it!

(If the car had been air conditioned, it would have been a bonus, but it's still much better than climbing uphill for 2-3 hours!!)

View from the ropeway.

Long way up!

We made it to the halfway point, and now there is a circulating ropeway with one gondola on each side to reach the summit.

This time we'll have to share the cabin car with up to 28 other people!

Made it to the peak of the mountain, and here is the sign we are greeted with:

As if wild deer aren't bad enough, they also have wild monkeys on the top of this mountain that like to steal your personal belongings or attack you for looking at them directly.

Thank goodness we didn't run into any wild monkeys.  I don't even like them behind cages in zoos.  Yuck!

View from the peak of Mt. Misen.

KG is Queen of the World (or at least Japan)!

Tarynn loved this place.  She said it was the most beautiful place she has seen in all of Japan.  So I guess she agrees with the "Top 3 Scenic spots of Japan" rating.  I thought it was nice, but I have truly seen many beautiful places here.

Going d-o-w-n on the ropeway... it was like a steep roller coaster!!

Just to prove we were in Miyajima!

Anyone hungry?  Here's the world's largest rice spoon!

More deer along the bank of the stream. 

Here is Tarynn with a cute fawn. 

Yes, the fawns are cute.  But for the most part, I was totally over the wild deer after about 15 minutes.  They roam around and beg for food like a pack of stray dogs.  One literally tried to climb into my lap while I was eating a snow cone.  I lifted my arm up with the hand holding the food, and she thought it was a signal for her to go higher, too...  Ugh, and then another deer was sniffing around Tarynn's bag getting deer snot all over it.  Not exactly charming and serene as they seem from a distance!!

Marine Day holiday

Monday, July 19, 2010 was Marine Day (observed), so Tarynn and I thought it deserved a trip to an island.  Marine Day is the newest public holiday, first celebrated with a day off work on 1996.  The purpose of Marine Day is to show gratitude for the blessings from the oceans and the hope for economic prosperity of maritime Japan since the entire country is made up of 6,852 islands!  Marine activities are vitally important to Japan but critics of this holiday claim it was instituted only because there were no other holidays in June, July, or August for hard working businessmen. 

Either way, I made sure to appreciate the beautiful sea on the 20-minute ferry ride to the sacred island of Miyajima.  Known as "Shrine Island", Miyajima is one of the 3 most scenic places in Japan.  (The Nihon Sankei were selected over 4 centuries ago.)

Miyajima Island is thought to be one of the most enchanting places on earth.  It's 12 square miles, has a sense of serenity & magic, and is known as a diamond in the Sea of Japan.  Because the island is thought to be sacred like a god, it was not inhabited (only worshipped) for many centuries.  People do live on the island now, but no one is allowed to give birth, die, or be buried there.  In fact, there is no hospital or cemetery.

Here is the ferry boat we rode over to the island.  I was surprised to see it also carries automobiles.  I guess I was thinking it would be like Mackinac Island and free from cars.  Also, people walk every in Japan, so why not walk around this island?!

Kerri appreciating the sea!

Getting closer to Miyajima.  You can see Mt. Misen above and the famous vermilion torii gate floating in the water.

The entire ride to the island we passed these floating docks, and I never did figure out what they were for.  I am totally puzzled by their purpose!

The entire island is a National Treasure and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The first thing you see when you get off the boat at Miyajima Island is... DEER!  Wild deer roam around the island and love the tourists.  They let you get right next to them, and you can even pet them.

The deer are thought to be "messengers of god" and have lived on the island for over 6,000 years.  Some deer were eaten during the tough days of WWII, but they are back to being worshipped again. 

Here's a quick up close and personal video of one deer.  (You must go directly to the blog to view it.)

When we first arrived, I was amazed at how tame these deer were!

Here's one with a big rack, and I took this picture especially for my dad!

I wasn't paying close enough attention, and one deer came over and took a bite out of my map of the island.  I literally had to rip it from her mouth.  Here's the irony... check out what she took a bite out of... a warning that deer like to eat paper and cloth!  LOL.  Oops!  Reading is fundamental!

This deer found a pamphlet and was tearing it to shreds and eating it as a snack.  Maybe if Japan had rubbish bins this wouldn't be such as issue!  Also, I read on the internet that in 2007 there was a ban on feeding the deer, and they became completely malnourished and bothersome.  I didn't see any signs (even in Japanese) about not feeding the deer on my visit, but they still liked to beg for food.

Famous torii gate and view of the Sea of Japan.

Otorii, one of Japan's largest torii gates.  This gate was originally erected around 900 A.D., but it has been replaced 8 times.  This latest version is from 1875.  It is over 50 ft tall and the two largest pillars are each 32 feet in circumference!  The coolest thing about the Otorii is that it is free-standing.  No part of it is in the ground!  There are rocks in the roof which weigh it down and keeps it standing upright!

This is one of the most recognizable icons of Japan, and we were very fortunate that it was under water.  I hear it's not quite as magnificent when it's sitting in a mud pit.

Itsukushima Shrine which is built on tidal land and appears to be floating during high tide.  (See what I mean about the mud pit?!  It's not quite as beautiful...)  This shrine was built in 593 A.D. and has a walkway of over 900 feet long.  There are no metal nails in this structure, instead it was built with precise inter-locking crevices in the wood to alleviate the pressure during high tide.  In addition, some planks are 5 ft wide and 33 ft long.  Imagine transporting those huge pieces of wood to the island over 1,000 years ago!!

This shrine sits directly behind the Otorii and is dedicated to the 3 goddesses of the sea.

As with all shrines, a fierce looking animal guards it from evil!

From the walkways of the shrine, you can see the 5-story pagoda built in 1407.

A group of boaters go out for a closer look at the Otorii.  Some people even walk out there to get a better idea of it's magnitude.  But those people were just trying to ruin my pictures!!

There's more of the beautiful island to come tomorrow :)

Rooting for the "C" team

What are 2 lovely single ladies going to do on a beautiful summer evening in Hiroshima?!

Go to a baseball game, of course :)

The Hiroshima Carp play in one of the few open-air stadiums in Japan.  This was excellent weather for a night game!  I'm so glad it wasn't in a dome!

The Hiroshima Carp play in the "Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium" built in 2009. 

The name makes me giggle, and it's refreshing to hear something being sponsored by someone other than Toyota!!

Another reason I like the Hiroshima Carp? 

Well, they fashioned their uniforms and iconic "C" from the Cincinnati Reds!!  (Out of all of the US teams they could have picked... LOL)

I felt right at home looking at all of the gear on the souvenir stands!

So refreshing to be at an outdoor game.  I almost forgot what it was like! 

The Hiroshima Carp fans are known as the rowdiest throughout Japan.  In fact, they were the first team to start selling the noisy clappers and plastic bats you bang together during chants!

I even saw my company's name "Mitsui" roll across the scoreboard.  I know it's been over 8 months since I've arrived, but I was so proud of myself for recognizing it in Japanese Kanji characters!!  (Followed by the Mitsui logo, so I knew I was right!!)

Being from Hawaii, this is Tarynn's first baseball game ever.  It was a little strange to have to explain everything on the scoreboard, including Balls, Strikes, Outs, etc.

Kerri and Tarynn enjoy the game.

Why doesn't Cincinnati have a food stand called "C-Men" that serves ramen soup (among other things)?!

  Maybe I should suggest it...

And which team were the Hiroshima Carp playing against tonight? 

None other than my hometown team, the Chunichi Dragons!!  I was so torn on who to root for... the cool uniforms that remind me of Cincy or my Nagoya boys.

The goofy baseball team mascots. You may remember Doala, the clumsy blue koala (who has nothing to do with dragons).  The Carps do not have a fish either, instead they have Slyly, an unknown animal imitating the Philly Phanatic.  (Does this team not have a single original thought?)

We discovered another goofy Japanese tradition... 

What is that man doing to that balloon?

At the bottom of the 7th inning, everyone blows up these odd-shaped "jet balloons". 

Waves the balloons around while singing the team song.

And then lets them go!!

It was wild stuff, and of course, can only be done in outdoor stadiums.  The only reason I got a few pictures of it was because a small group of Dragons fans did the same thing at the top of the 7th inning after singing their team song.  So when I saw Carp fans getting their balloons ready, I knew what was going to happen.

I checked the internet to find out the meaning behind the balloons, and it's all in good fun.  No particular reason, but it's wildly popular in Japan.  Interestingly, the tradition was banned last season due to the H1N1 flu virus.  No one could have human breath-powered balloons because an infected person could breathe their germs into the balloon and then let it go, spewing airborne germs all over the stadium (or so the theory goes...).

The end of the game, and the Dragons finally pull out a win!!  6-0, with 3 home runs.  The Zoom-Zoom stadium is smaller that most domes, so home runs are much easier to achieve!! 

When I was back at work, my co-workers were very jealous to hear that I went to another baseball game, especially a night game in an outdoor stadium!  And it's unbelievable to them that every game I go to happens to be the Dragons!  (But there are only 12 teams, so how unbelievable is it, really?!)  Anyway, in my department I now officially hold the record for most Dragons games attended so far this season.

I guess it just proves that Americans really do love their baseball ;)