Miyajima is a town within Itsukushima Island, which is located South of Hiroshima. To get here, you can catch JR from Osaka to Hiroshima then from JR Hiroshima, take a train to Miyajimaguchi station. Once you arrive at the station, take a JR Ferry which take you to the island. This is why if you have JR Rail Pass, it’ll make things easier for you and your budget. Anyway, Summer was the wrong time to go to Miyajima because the weather was unbelievably hot. I don’t even know how I managed to stay that long to take some photos because it’s impossible to stand there underneath the sun and not get drenched by your own sweat. In addition to this, due to the heat, the sea water drops down to below the usual level, making the place not as good as it would have been if the water level is normal. I think Spring or Autumn would have been better to visit the place. Winter would probably be good as well since everything would be covered in snow.

Once the ferry arrives in the Miyajima port, the first things that you see after exiting the dock are a bunch of deers. Yes, these are relatively tame deers you can also encounter in Nara. I do feel sorry for some of them though because their antlers have been severed (to protect visitors). Having said that, they seem to enjoy the presence of the humans, who are more than willing to feed them all sorts of foods. In order to get to the Itsukushima Shrine and The Floating Torii, the Miyajima authorities have cleverly forced everyone to go through the Miyajima shoutengai (shopping street), probably in the hope that you’ll buy some souvenirs. I saw the world’s largest spatula here. I should have included that as part of the photos but it’s late and I’m too tired to process an additional photo. If you go through this shopping street, I recommend the Nigiriten (Nigiri Tempura). This is basically a very tasty Kamaboko (Fish cake) stuffed with other ingredients like onions, camembert cheese, bacon, etc. Obviously it’s high in calorie since it’s fried but if you just have one after walking for a couple of kms, I think it’s well-justified. :D

The main attraction of Miyajima is the Floating Torii (Gate) located in front of the Itsukushima Shrine. The Torii is basically half-submerged in sea water. When the tide is low during afternoon, you can see the marks of the highest level water level. I really wish I visited the place under better time of the year because I would have stayed longer and shoot some video. I did shoot a video but it was very jerky since I can’t hold the camera still enough without feeling the heat and the sweat creeping up on me. I was also slightly disappointed to see the low water level since I think Itsukushima shrine would look better when it is half-submerged in water. When I got there, the place looks like it’s a barren wasteland. Well, not exactly but it’s definitely not as pretty as it should have been if the sea water covers the Shrine’s foundation. The shrine itself is beautiful and is colored in bright red. I wish I had taken more photos of the place but my camera ran out of batteries.

I went to Nara a few days ago with the intention to visit Todaiji Temple. Unfortunately the weather was not that good and as a result, the photographs have this overcast look on them. Still, it could be worse. The rain has been falling rather heavily in the past few days so the fact that I only got an overcast sky was a blessing in disguise.

The first thing that I saw when I arrived at the entrance were a bunch of Kyon (Deers) (no, not the one from Haruhi Suzumiya. These creatures are amazing. They are really cute but I would not try pissing off one of them. As you can see on the picture above, that little guy was giving me the death glare for taking his picture while he’s trying to rest. Or maybe he was thinking “How dare you taking pictures of my kind while they are having private time trying to lick themselves“. Nevertheless, I didn’t care and continued taking pictures while maintaining a rather safe distance.

After I was satisfied taking pictures of these animals in their compromising positions, I decided to aim my intrusive camera towards the 5 stories pagoda. Unfortunately a bunch of tourist were sitting in the area and despite my attempt to give them the glare from hell, they would not move from the area. Back then I realised what those deers must felt when I took their pictures. As a result, the angle of the pagoda that I like the most contains shots of these attention-seeking exhibitionist. Oh well, it’s not like my composition skill was that good to begin with.

I then decided to move away from the pagoda and head towards a nearby temple. There was two lion-like statue guarding the temple which are actually pretty creepy up-close. Or maybe I just felt that way because because I was the only person who entered the temple ground and took pictures of the statue. I hope the temple wasn’t run by Oyashiro-sama. Still though, it felt amazing to be there surrounded by all the quietness. While I enjoy a trip down to Akihabara, I think I like this kind of trip a lot better.

After the temple, I made my way towards the main ground of Todaiji temple. Before I arrived there though, I noticed this wall where I thought it looks similar to one of those places where Ninjas usually are spotted. Yeah I know it sounds silly but that’s what I thought when I saw it and I couldn’t help myself from taking pictures of it. Anyway, while the Pagoda and the rest of Nara park are free, you are actually required to pay 500 Yen to enter the Daibutsuden (the Great Buddha temple).

When I visited the place that day, there were many school kids on excursion so it was rather busy to say the least. Unfortunately, I’ll have to end this little piece now but I’ll continue this soon with pictures of the great buddha and some ‘exciting’ statistical numbers about the statue itself. The pictures are quite dark though since there doesn’t seem to be any light inside the temple itself so don’t hope for an awesome shot of the Buddha himself. Having said that, there will be more pictures of When Deers attack.

Well, this is basically a continuation of the previous entry. After brunch, I decided to go to Sensoji Temple (Asakusa Kannon Temple). I started by going into the front of Kaminarimon Gate. Since this was on Sunday, the place was packed full of tourists. There are also these ricksaw drivers trying to offer people a ride on their carriage. I’ve seen this on Japanese Drama but I never thought that there really are ricksaw drivers in Japan. Anyway, Kaminarimon Gate is basically an entrance to the Nakamise shopping arcade and of course, the Sensoji temple itself.

Once you past the gate, you basically will see rows of traditional shops lining up from the start of the gate to the front of the temple. These shops sell many things including Foods, Kimono, Sweets, Biscuits, and other types of souvenirs to take home. Like I said on my previous entry, I had to restraint myself from buying anything because I was going to travel to Central Japan and possibly elsewhere so it wasn’t a good idea to buy too much things at this point in time. In the end, all that I bought was a pack of Kibidango. After 5-10 minutes of continuous shops, I eventually end up in front of Sensoji-temple.

The first thing that I did was basically washed both of my hands in a fountain underneath the general statue. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if this was a requirement of entering the temple. But everyone else did it and I didn’t want to be the only one who breaks the rule and offends someone. Anyway, a bit of history here, Asakusa Kannon Temple is basically named after the Kannon/the Goddess of Mercy. The inside of the temple is heavily decorated. Unfortunately, there is some kind of bar that seperates the visitors from the altar, so I couldn’t take a good picture of the altar.

There’s also this place where you can throw coins and wish for something. I can’t remember what I wished but I sure hope it will come true :D. Anyway, the top of the ceiling contains these two paintings that alternate with each other. One of the painting is that of a Goddess, and the other is a dragon. Both are equally impressive and I kept wondering what kind of back pain the painter must endured during the creation of these work of art. Anyway, apart from the temple, there is also a shrine built based on the order of the 3rd Tokugawa Shogun to commemorate the 3 fishermen and a very zen-like park.

Some of the highlight of the park includes: a statue of Buddha, a tranquil pond complete with Koi fish, Sakura petals flying all over as one passes the park, a cute bird house, and a Spring festival around the park. I have to say that I’ve been enjoying this particular temple. I know that some part of it sounds really commercial (the store stalls, etc). Having said that, it’s such a minor part that I don’t think it’ll ruin the entire experience of visiting the temple itself.