Hiroshima and Miya-jima

We landed in Tokyo on Saturday, August 8, but no trains were available for Hiroshima, so we headed halfway there to Osaka, spent the night, and then finished the trip Sunday morning. It was raining Sunday which made the experience even more somber. It is an amazing city, and it is really quite shocking that everything was incinerated just over 60 years ago.

Around the outskirts of town and the city tram

Paper crane art and the memorial museum (where's baldo?)

Street of the hypocenter and the A-bomb dome (just a block away from the hypocenter, the only thing that was left intact during the renovations)

Another pic of the A-bomb dome and a tree exposed to the blast that folded over the damage and continued to grow.

After the sobering experience of walking through Hiroshima, we headed off to the island God of Miya-jima for some supposed R&R. The plan was to tour the temple and laze on the beach...However, Kelly got the idea to hike over the mountain to the temple through a trail covered with plant life and multitudes of spiders. When we made it to the other side, we saw that the trail had been closed for 2 years! Although Aaron had many complaints about this little adventure, it was one of the most memorable days we spent in Japan.

View from the ferry ride to Miya-jima and the famous shrine

Itsukushima-jinja (temple/shrine) and five-storied pagoda

Miya-jima is loaded with wild deer that eat anything including maps!

Cuisine and Camping

Jungle trek from Hades and cooling off afterward in a stream...oops, is this stream sacred?