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THE FLOATING TORII:
Miyajima, Japan.
October 23rd, 2013, 7:34pm.
Here's a little history about the place that we visited today:
The O-Torii Gate- "The O-Torii Gate of Itsukushima Shrine is designated as a National Important Cultural Property. It's about 16.6 meters in height and weighs about 60 tons. Its roof, thatched with Japanese cypress bark, is 24.5 meters in length. The main pillars, which are 9.9 meters in circumference, are made of natural camphor trees, while the four supporting pillars are made of natural cedar. The present O-Torii, which is the eighth since the Heian Period, was erected in 1875. The top rail of the torii has a hollow space, and stones the size of one's fist are put inside as a weight. (7 tons in all.) The gate stands under its own weight."
This torii is also known as "The Floating Torii." It rests about 50 meters out into the sea. That's why the whole, "it stands under it's own weight" thing is fascinating- because it's sitting in the water! The neat part about this gate is that the tide goes in and out during the day. So, when we arrived, the gate was far out into the ocean. But when we returned after touring the area a little bit, all the water had receded, and the gate looked like it was just sitting on the beach.
Anyways, I'll explain our day in chronological order, as I usually do. That way I won't miss any of the good parts!
So today we woke up and got organized. (It seems like that is our regular daily routine now.) We took a street car to the main station, and used our JR Passes to get onto the train and the ferry to Miyajima. Our hostel is in Hiroshima, so if you look on a map, it's not too far away. We arrived at about 12:30pm, and were greeted by some unusual locals...
There were deer wandering around the streets and the beach area! Mommy deer, Daddy deer, and even little babies! They came right up to us, in fact, we got some great shots of us with them! We looks like best friends! They are fearless, these deer. I think it's because the local people feed them. One of them even followed us around for a bit! It's quite a strange sight to see, especially since some of the deer walk right into the near by stores! A group of school kids on a field trip swarmed the deer, but none of them got scared! Actually, the kids seemed to be more scared of it than it was of them! We continued along the path. It was littered with more and more deer as we went along! All the way up to the main shrine! We walked up a long flight of steps made of stone, and saw a big... Well, I don't even know what to call it. It was sort of like a temple/shrine, but it felt almost more like a dance floor. The floor was just a big platform made of dark wood. The ceiling was held up by massive pillars. There weren't any walls, either. Just an open 360 view all the way around. There was a near by pagoda that you could see from the edge of the platform, too. You had to pay to get into this place! On;y 100 yen, though. (1 dollar.) We walked around, snapping pictures all the way through. There were homeless people sleeping around the edges- which I thought was interesting. I guess it's sort of like seeing homeless people at a church...
Anyways, we made our way down to the main shrine, which was all orange in colour. It was cool to see because it was all suspended over water! It was kind of like a big dock- just in shrine form! There was a wedding here, too. I had asked Noriko previously why there were so many weddings around. She told me that it was because these days are the "lucky days" they call it. Learn something new everyday! And here, man- I learn something new every minute!
After the shrine, Real and I split up for the rest of the day. He went on to explore more shrines and temples, while I went to see the local aquarium. It was the coolest thing! There were sharks, penguins, fish, crabs, octopi, stingrays, beluga whales... I even saw Nemo and Dori! Actually, I'm pretty sure I saw every character from the movie, "Finding Nemo." Everything from the yellow fish obsessed with bubbles, to the pufferfish and the starfish and crab. The only thing missing was my Dad's favourite characters- the annoying seagulls that screech, "MINE! MINE! MINE!" every second.
My favourite part was the Jellyfish, though. They were incased in a large tank, so they could swim around freely. However, their tank had blue, red, and green lights shinning upwards towards the surface of the water. As the Jellyfish gently glided over these lights, they captured the colours that were being cascaded onto them. It was like watching a magical rainbow swimming through the water. I got some really good pictures of them. I can't wait to show you! I stayed with the Jellyfish for what felt like hours. It was by far my favourite.
I had a lot of fun seeing the other animals, too! I saw Massive sea lions, who would jump up onto the rocks of their enclosure with a "thud." Then they would let out a mind boggling "ROAR!" The sound they made was hard to explain... I guess it did kind of sound like a lion's roar! Maybe that's why they call them sea lions!
This part is for my Mama: I saw some otters! There was a Mom and a baby- which made me think of her. Otters are one of her favourites, though, so I was already reminded of my mom before I noticed that it was a mom and a baby! The baby looked... A little bit challenged though. It's eyes popped out of its head way further than the other ones, and it sort of looked crossed eyed... It looked so dorky! But it made it look even cuter than it already was! I found some neat souvenirs at the gift shop. ;)
Speaking of my Mom's favourite animals- In that big platform-like shrine, the theme seemed to be horses. I've seen a couple shrines with horse enclosures with statues of horses in them... Hmm... Not sure of their significance in the Japanese culture, maybe you can research that one for me, Mom? I learned a little about the frog. It's a pun, because the word for "frog" also means "return." So their saying, "Money returns" also means "Money is frog." So I guess frogs are symbolized as being lucky!
Anyways, after the Aquarium, I walked around for a little. I found myself at the ropeway car that takes you to the top of the mountain. I decided to take it, and 1,800 yen later, I was at the top. I was SO terrified because I had let my mind wander into the movie, "Jurassic Park"! The whole mountain was covered in mist and cloud. The cable that my car was attached to seemed to vanish into the fog. I was alone in the car, and in the ones passing, there was no one there. I half expected to get to the top to find all the workers' blood everywhere- velociraptors had eaten everyone. That or the car would come to a sudden halt, and a pterodactyl would land on the line... It was creepy. I took many pictures and even took a video to keep my mind of it. Actually, at one point, I played along and pretended to be in the movie! Hahaha! Maybe I'll edit it later to see if I can make it sound like a Tyrannosaurus rex is screeching in the background!
I made it to the top, only to find that the fog was even worse. I could barely see my hand in front of my face!!! Much to my disappointment, I headed back down the line. There wasn't really anything else I could do. The rain made it nearly unbearable to walk around, and I couldn't see any of the views anyways. I took a picture of the sign of what your "supposed" to see, and tried to be satisfied with that.
Like I said, once I got back to the water's edge, I noticed that the tide had gone out. Either there was a tsunami coming or... No! It was just a normal phenomenon that happens at this place. The torii was nearly fully exposed- walking under it pparently brings you good luck! I tried to walk all the way under, but the tide hadn't gone out far enough! I'd probably be knee-deep in sea water if I walked all the way under it! I took my pictures, and sprinted to get back to the ferry, where Real was waiting for me. We took it back, and got back to our hostel.
Once we got back and dried all of our clothes, we went out for a little bite to eat. There was a near-by restaurant where we had caesar salad, curry, fried chicken, rice, miso soup, tea, and cake. There was some awesome jazz playing in the backgroud... I think I recognized one of the songs from Joel's jazz band. There was also some Japanese jazz playing which I found really interesting. I got up and wen tover to ask the lady who was singing, and if I could buy a CD here. Most cafes, I've noticed, sell the jazz albums that they play. This one didn't though. She kindly wrote down the name of the singer and handed me the piece of paper. I walked back to my seat where we finished the rest of our dessert. Suddenly, she came up to me, showing me the CD. It wasn't an official CD- obviously it was just something someone had burned in order to play a variety of music in the restaurant. On it, it said, "Don't too much drink." I laughed out loud. I said, "Oh okay! Thank you!" Thinking she was just showing me the CD that was playing. She said, "No! Special gift just for you!" My mouth dropped open! Really? She was just giving it to me! I thanked her sincerely and took the disk from her. What an awesome moment. Real turned to me and told me that this is one of those moments you never forget! I glanced at my umbrella that was sitting by the door, then looked back at the CD in my hands. Japanese people are so thoughtful. Looking back on the day: Everyone offers to take your picture! Even if you're with someone! It's so thoughtful! Today on the bus, a lady with a child stepped on, and I watched two people across from me stand up at the same time to offer their seats to her. It was so sweet! Everyone here seems to always put others before themselves, and they make sure to treat people how they'd want to be treated. And I love that! Those are the exact rules I try to live by! Maybe it really is a Japanese thing...
Anyways, I walked back to our hostel, (like I said it's not too far from the restaurant) and I grabbed a cheesy little magnet that has "Canada" on it, along with a black bear and a maple leaf. I walked back to the restaurant where I handed it to her and smiled. She laughed as I said, "It's the only thing I have! I'm sorry!" We took a picture together with our presents and I was on my way.
Maybe when I get home, I'll listen to the music she gave me while I dance in the rain with my umbrella...
Anyways, I better go to bed! It's getting late and Real and I need sleep for our next adventure! We are headed to the Hiroshima Memorial Park! Yikes! Wish me luck!
Talk to you all soon!
Love always,
Lindsay Lehr
- comments
shirely Loved this, Lindsay. Real is so right, these moments will remain with you forever! And what a good ambassador for Canada, you are. I liked your description of the otter and her baby:) I'll bet your mom did too. Love you xo
barbara Wow you guys are going to need a holiday after you get back from your holiday!!!! That is an amazing day the you had and thanks for sharing it with us. It is pretty hard to beleive that you are doing all of these wonderful things while we are sleeping here in Canada!!!! Try and pause a bit tomorrow at the memorial! All the best!