Miyajima Island

As part of our trip south to Hiroshima, we spent a day at nearby Miyajima Island.   Just a short 20 minute boat ride away from our hotel, we entered another world on this heavily touristed yet peaceful island.

Miyajima is a sacred island and according to Fromers, no one is permitted to die or give birth there. There are no cemeteries or maternity wards.  Also, one may not cut down trees.  

In any case, the place is most famous for the floating Torii , a 50 foot high vermillion gate leading to Itsukushima Shrine.  At low tide you can walk up to the Torii but at high tide, the gate appears to float in the water, casting reflections and highlighting spectacular sunsets. Itsukushima Shrine was founded in 593 and is built on stilts. As the tide laps in and out, the entire structure also takes on the appearance of floating in the bay.

The shrine and torii were stunning but I really enjoyed a visit to the Daisho-in Temple.  It's actually a whimsical place with playful statuaries interspersed with more traditional collections.  We saw two buddhist monks painstakingly creating a sand mandala.  After my quick tour of the temple grounds, I hoofed it back to the pier to catch our boat back with only seconds to spare.  

View of the Torii from Itsukushima Shrine - low tide

Itsukushima Shrine - low tide

Rooftops of Daisho-in with mountains and Hiroshima Harbor in the distance

Who are these guys?

And these guys?

Relaxing statuaries

Creating the Mandala (Tibetan Buddhist "sand painting") 

Millions of grains of sand are laid out over days or even weeks into a spiritual design.  The tool in the photo is a chak-pur.  It holds the sand.  The second tool is rubbed over the chak-pur and the vibration causes the sand to flow out like liquid.  Mandalas are usually destroyed soon after they are finished to emphasize the impermanence of life.

From the mouth of babes

I'm going to make an effort to start recording some of the stuff Max is saying these days.  I know every parent must go through this and think their child is oh so clever but here I go.  I thank god there are moments of humor because otherwise, I'd be pulling my hair out 100% of the time.

After banging his knee while jumping on and off the sofa, he sat down in front of his Radiator Springs cars which he often keeps lined up on the coffee table and said - 

"Hey guys, I hurt my knee!"

After a bath, laying on his back in the empty tub.

"I wanna go down the drain."

Heather - "What do you want for dinner?"

Max - "Dessert."

Hiroshima

How do you talk about visiting Hiroshima?  How does it feel to be standing at "ground zero" of the first atomic bomb blast aimed at decimating a city and its inhabitants?  It feels eerie and uncomfortable and unsettling - yet hopeful.  Each blade of grass, sturdy tree and flower bed is like a miracle.  A large prosperous city stands where there were ashes.  Several rivers lead to a beautiful and bustling harbor; trolley cars click-clack down the thoroughfares; high rise office towers and apartment buildings sparkle; the sun shines on Hiroshima.  

In what was the epicenter of the explosion, the city of Hiroshima has created a Peace Park filled with a museum and several monuments in remembrance of those who perished and to nuclear disarmament and world peace.  

The A-bomb Dome is the only remnant of the city's fate.  And it has been left alone and preserved as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Despite the glorious weather and spit and polish evident in the new city, I could not escape a feeling of being haunted by the suffering of those who were killed and injured in the blast. 

View of the A-bomb Dome (Hiroshima Industrial Promotion Hall)

Rich and Max by the Flame of Peace 

(to be extinguished only when all nuclear weapons on earth are eliminated)

A-bomb Dome and Flame of Peace seen through the Cenotaph

 (A memorial containing the names of the victims)

On a lighter note - happy and running in Peace Park

Max in Peace Park entertaining schoolchildren on a field trip

A happy moment

For Fans of Grandpa Joe

Grandpa Joe has been with us now for over a week and has brought with him his typical relish for new experiences and zest for life in general.  Here's a quick photo-montage of "Tokyo Joe" in action.

Dropping Max off at School

On the Beach after Strawberry Picking in the Countryside

On the Monorail

Racing Cars at Hakuhinkan Toy Store in Ginza

Posing in front of Wako Department Store in Ginza (formerly the Tokyo PX Building) 

in virtually the same spot that where he stood in 1946

Peace Park in Hiroshima

On the Waterfront, Hiroshima

Playing Cars

How far is China?

One afternoon, after our helper Christy left for the day, Max asked me: Where's Christy?

I told him:  She went home.

He responded: Where is her home?

I said with some exasperation: I don't know.  Far away.

Max:  Hmmmm... maybe China.

...crazy!

O-hanami

Picnicking under the cherry blossoms is HUGE in Japan.  It is a rite of Spring and Mom and Mark hit the peak of the season during their trip here in early April.  Needless to say, we have lots of pictures of cherry blossoms...

Here are a few shots of us or others, enjoying the scenery.

Grammy and Max in Inokashira Park

PB & J 0-hanami style

I took this from our picnic site at Inokashira Park

Folks at Ueno Park around 10:30 in the morning

Mom and Heather walking to the zoo in Ueno Park

Kyoto

Mom, Mark, Rich, Max and I visited Kyoto at the height of the cerry blossom season.  Our last trip to Kyoto was amid glorious fall foliage.  This time, we were lucky to hit the peak of spring. We hit the temples and shrines we didn't see in the fall - Nanzen-ji, Ginkaku-ji, Heian Shrine Gardens, Nijo-jo Castle and Ryoan-ji.

We arrived on a glorious Friday and checked into our Ryokan (traditional Japanese inn). We had some lunch 0-hanami style (picnicing under the cherry trees at a nearby park and after some ice cream (soy for me) trekked out to Nanzen-ji and enjoyed the grounds, a quiet garden and ancient aquaduct.  

We then retired to our ryokan and had tea and then private baths.  Dinner followed and then Mom, Max and I crashed on our comfy futons while Rich took Mark out for a drink in the Geisha district.

Day two we had intermittent light rain but we covered Ginaku-ji and it's amazing gardens and sand gardens, and the gorgeous Heian Shrine gardens.  Lunch was a ramen noodle shop (inedible for me as the broth was either chicken and pork derived and turned my stomach.)  So for dinner I made everyone go to a vegetarian buffet place.  We then toured the Nijo-jo castle with its gardens and cherry trees illuminated by spotlights.  

On Sunday Rich, Max and I headed off on our own to a famous outdoor food market where Max was fascinated by a well-worn machine that was turning whole dried fish into Bonito shavings. (Bonito is used in numerous dishes to flavor stock).  

We then took a cab outside of the main city to Ryoan-ji, site of one of the more famous zen rock gardens.  We contemplated the ripples in the sand as deeply as is possible when accompanying a 2-year-old, hiked through the gardens and grabbed some lunch. 

On the way back we saw the gardens of the Imperial Palace where Max ran into a tree and scraped his nose while chasing a girl.  Then he crashed in the stroller and got an hour of shut-eye while we made our way back to the hotel to grab our bags and cabbed it to the train station. We made our train with only a few minutes to spare but once on board it was pretty smooth all the way back to Tokyo, a trip that lasts just about 2.5 hours on the shinkansen (bullet train).