Miyajima

We woke up to pouring rain, so decided to jump straight on a train around 8am for the next destination: Miyajima, an island off Hiroshima in the Inland Sea, famously one of Japan’s “three most scenic“ locations. The trip took about 3 ½ hours, with transfers onto and off a shinkansen, and this time we got to admire the cool aeroplane-like front end. Anselm barely slept last night, so has been quiet and weary all day. Fortunately we came to the right place. Our fabulous ryokan is a few minutes’ walk from the ferry terminal, with a view over Miyajima’s famous vermilion torii, and another few minutes’ walk to the main shrine complex, built over the sea. No less authentic than Sakurajima’s, this one is infinitely more accustomed to helping Westerners through their stay, and we have felt very much at home. The hotel is delightful in all details, and our room is wonderful: beautiful, with large windows overlooking the sea, and all possible amenities. Japan travel rocks!

We have had a quiet afternoon, strolling around this very lovely antique, pagoda-laden little town at the base of misty verdant hills—every angle a beautiful scene, particularly with the deer gently grazing alongside the stone river banks and paths. We spent a surprisingly long time in the municipality history museum, in a converted house of a wealthy merchant. I loved wandering the interior of this house, decorated as it would have been a century ago, with spare yet subtly beautiful spaces opening in fascinating ways into interior gardens. The primary shrine, Itsukushima, is built on platforms and stands over the sea at high tide. This afternoon was low tide, and as we passed through, a traditionally dressed couple were getting married. We had the fun of watching a very picturesque costumed dancer performing for them to the beat of drums. Later in the evening on our second pass, almost everyone had disappeared and we were accompanied by the sound of a lone, invisible flautist playing shakuhachi.


The ryokan has been very rewarding—partly knowing approximately what to do, partly the English-speaking staff, and of course the very beautiful and peaceful environment. After our late stroll, we changed into our robes for our bath. This one is traditionally gender-segregated, and the ladies’ resembled a spa: the anteroom, with baskets for clothes and towels, had stations for hair care and multiple bottles of care products, while alongside the steaming stone pool in a stone enclosure like a Turkish bath, women bathed on little wooden stools at stations with wooden bowls, hand towels, bottles of soap and skin oils, abrasives for feet. Anselm joined me, and we had the water to ourselves, steaming alongside a glass-enclosed waterfall, for a delicious twenty minutes. Afterward, back in our robes, we shared an iced coffee (Anselm is exceedingly fond of caffeinated drinks.. uh oh) in the elegant downstairs café, then returned upstairs for our scheduled dinner service in our room. This one seemed a little lighter than the last, and had a few highlights: the local eel speciality, tempura figs, great sashimi including sea urchin, a flame to prepare oneself a fish and vegetable soup, a huge sweet, plump oyster grilled with a sauce, dessert of a vanilla cream peach soup. Anselm was very happy with his meal: a large bento box with udon noodles, rice cakes wrapped in nori, tempura, and some meat/sashimi which fell into the I-think-not category. He sampled everything interesting (within the usual bounds) from my meal too: a pickled flower, transparent crunchy maybe-noodles, tiny purple cress, wafer-thin slices of bamboo shoot, a crisp-fried sheet of lotus root, a little bowl made from finely sliced cucumber. He finished up with his beloved miso soup, tea and a bowl of lemon sorbet, and could barely stay upright while the ladies came to lay out our futons for the night.