Shorewoods Photography-Boarding Group 2 Travel Blog

Overnight we sailed from Kagoshima North to Honshu Island and its capital, Hiroshima.

We woke early before sunrise and watched the deep dark skies gently turn to soft blues and golds as the rising sun backlit the mountains. It was very quiet, and seemed a bit surreal as we sailed up Hiroshima Bay.

Art and I talked a great deal about how we wanted to experience Hiroshima. Certainly, the nuclear attack that destroyed the city in 1945 is forefront in our minds. In the spirit of the poet Mary Oliver we consider “What will we do with our one wild and precious visit to Hiroshima?” 

Hiroshima has a motto, “Prosperity Through Peace”, and is now a spiritual center for peace and promotes banning nuclear weapons. In the center of the city is Peace Memorial Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which marks the epicenter of the bombing. The Genbaku Dome ruins still stand in the center of the park.

We chose to spend today focusing on peace and the people of Hiroshima. There will be many tourists as Hiroshima is so popular, and so we asked ourselves where we might go to be among tourists who were locals. And so, we will be traveling to Miyajima Island southwest of the port, accessible by ferry.

As we make our way deeper into Hiroshima Bay, fishing boats let out nets and smaller boats arrive at the oyster farms. This is a busy port, and it is interesting watching people go about their daily lives on the harbor.

We disembark the ship and find our tour bus. We drive through the city to a wharf where we catch the ferry to the island. It is impressive how many people fit onto a ferry. We are among 3-4 other Celebrity Excursions, and we are glad they have paddles with our tour number, because it is crazy busy!

Once on the island, we soon discover the native inhabitants, deer, freely roaming the island. You are not to feed them or approach them (it is rutting season), and we keep our distance, although sometimes this is hard as they tend to follow you!

When the tide is in, the torii gate of Itsukushima Shrine appears to float on the water. We get a few photos of it floating before the tide goes out and is replaced by a sea of people.

The portion of the island near the wharf is busy and its few streets are filled with vendors selling maple leaf shaped confection called momiji manju. It is made with buckwheat and rice and filled with red bean paste or other flavors. It is a speciality of the island. Interestingly, while the treat is shaped liked a maple leaf, it has absolutely no maple flavor at all. Still enjoyable and tasty! You can leave the streets and walk up the mountain and tour the rest of the island, but our time is limited, Art and I explore down side streets and find some hidden gems.

We make our way back to port and our cabin, it has been a busy, filled to the brim day. While there were many, many tourists, many were Japanese. How could we tell? You know someone is from Japan when in a crowd, (such as we were in today) you catch their eyes smiling at people they are passing. Often, this greeting is not at all reciprocated by any other non-local tourist. When we made the effort to make eye contact and greet them with a smile and bow of the head, they light up. It’s like a firefly in a summer evening. They light up bright as can be, and shower you with light. And just like fireflies, they become a cherished memory whenever you think of them. So be a firefly when you travel, and light up someone’s day.