Early Morning Miyajima
Stunning and Sobering
On our second day in Japan we went to Miyajima, an island off the coast of Hiroshima. I hadn’t any idea about the island but someone had told me “You must check out Miyajima if you’re in Hiroshima”
After boarding the ferry using our IC cards and marveling at how easy it is to get around Japan, we shot to the top of the ferry to get a good view of the cruise over to the island. We later learnt in the ferry that being on the top level against the rail was PRIME real estate as people attempted to push their way to the front, like some kind of shirtless sweaty super fan at a concert.
From up here we watched as people ran for the ferry (this would be us on the return trip) and watched a lonely fishing boat cut through the glassy water.
The trip over to the island was smooth sailing ferrying and once on the island we strolled through all the shops, gawked at the deer which have lost all survival instincts as they slept amongst the crowds and were blown away by the long lines to get a photo with the O-torii Gate and walks around the Itsukushima Shrine.
We had only been on the island for about 30 minutes and after seeing some of these early morning crowds we decided to hightail it to the top of the mountain “Let’s stay one step ahead of everyone” I remember being our plan
We followed a scenic path up to the ropeway where we were greeted by 0 lines, our favourite amount of lines. In our carriage we were joined by another family, my partner and I trying to be respectful spoke as quietly as humanly possible while marveling at the views we were seeing.
If you spoke this quietly in Australia people might think you’re up to no good.
From the top of Miyajima we realized our plan had come together perfectly as their were only a few people. The wind was down, the sun was out and we watched a solitary ship navigate between the islands, it was stunning. Using a film camera meant I was only taking a few photos and we spent a good amount of time absorbing the beauty of Hiroshima, the islands, mountains. Stunning and sobering all at once.
After an hour we were feeling visually satisfied and with the crowds growing larger it was time for us to head down for lunch. Once getting off the ropeway and seeing hundreds upon hundreds of people lining up we high-fived because we nailed the timing, enjoyed a local Miyajima beer while stuffing our faces with tempura.