The Japan Trip - Day 04

Twas the last day in Hiroshima; but also, the day of Miyajima!

A breakfast fit for a priest.

So after another huge breakfast done by culinary artist Hikida-san, we walked to Hiroshima station to take a train to the ferry station. I remember querying in the underpass whether Braille (which is also prevalent in Japan - score another one for the disabled) comes only in English, and whether there are any other language versions of it. The answer was apparently that all Braille, uh, "speakers" must know English, since there are only so many variations on six raised dots that you can have.

Why can't our manhole covers be this beautiful?

The ferry ride was enjoyable but short. I can't remember exactly what it was like now, since when I search "ferry Japan Miyajima" in the Google of my mind, it only throws up the more recent memories of the Hakone ferry ride. I wrote "serene" and "breezy" in my notebook, which on hindsight isn't much of a description when attempting to narrow down ferry rides. I remember the ferry station quite well though: a nice wooden structure with two huge monoliths at the non-watery exit.

Hooray for image search, at least.

Miyajima is apparently famous for three things, and we met the first one when we were merely five minutes out the gate. We saw a couple wild deer cross the road, and thought that it was a one-time thing. But apparently Miyajima's wild deer population is very docile, and visitors are advised by large multilingual signs not to touch them or feed them, which is of course the best way to get them touched and fed. We took pictures with a very lethargic one lazing about under the shade of a tree. They seem to be very desensitised to human contact, and they mostly concentrate around the ferry terminal exit area. There was one looking expectantly at a shopowner, staring at the bottles of water she just put out (we were there really early in the morning) and the shopowner was just trying to talk to a customer and push the inquisitive nose out of the way.

"So, uh... you come here often?"

We walked down the main shopping street Omotesando, which was full of souvenir shops and food stalls. We had been advised to try the age momiji, which is the momiji manju deep-fried. We didn't manage to see one on the first round that morning though. We passed the second thing Miyajima is famous for though: rice scoops. Apparently, Miyajima is the birthplace of the rice scoop, and they are the proud owners of the world's biggest rice scoop, which is a bit impractical because they don't have the world's biggest rice bowl to put the scooped rice in.

Now to invent the world's biggest rice grains...

We got to the major landmark we were hoping to see that day, the floating torii gate to Itsukushima Shrine. It's this giant torii gate that is halfway out into sea, and at high tide looks like it's floating on water. We managed to get a couple of shots in before some workmen came in to do some repairs (as we worked out at dinner that night, it was because of some damage which had been done to the gate). Bryan was pissed off about all these workmen and scaffolding in his pictures, so we decided to move on and come back later.

And the latest Spring design in torii gates, as modelled by Xi Min.

We wandered over to the giant temple which is huge, and there was a wedding photo shoot taking place in one of the more outside corridors. We didn't go in because there was a pretty hefty entrance fee. We climbed some hundred-step staircase to get to the five-level pagoda, which was towering over the landscape, and then went over to a blossoming sakura tree to get our fabled sakura shot, the one with the petals wafting in the wind dramatically.

Wouldn't it be nice to get married in a different culture every year, say on your anniversary?

A dog, a plan, a canal: pagoda!

Sakura shot!

Around lunchtime we walked back over to the floating torii at low tide. There were lots more people now that the water had receeded a bit, and the workmen were busy ruining Bryan's photographs again. I wasn't very interested in the gate itself; it was huge, but with workmen around it you can't really go up and touch it or anything. So I wandered around the beach, looking in rock pools for any interesting creatures. I think I'm very hydrophiliac; I love looking at flowing water and marine life and stuff (as long as it's clean, dirty water is just disgusting). So I was looking at the variety of tiny hermit crabs scuttling along with their tiny mollusc shells, and larger crabs which shrink into their holes in the sand, and tiny fish spawn that dart around the rock pool looking for an exit.

The torii gate at low tide. Billions of blue blistering barnacles!
*Photo courtesy of JX.

Xi Min, JX and I noticed a bunch of people digging up stuff on the beach and throwing it into buckets, so we wandered over to the sea-washed breakwater and asked (got Xi Min to ask - same thing) what they were doing. Apparently they were harvesting clams. There were about twenty of them, and I think the youngest was a little girl about five or six. The old lady we talked to had a small collection of the shellfish already. I was wondering what they'd do with their catch: would they eat it themselves, or sell it to some of the restaurants? Either way, we affectionately gave them the name, "clam wranglers" after that.

"All right, boys, time to rustle us up some shellfish."

We went back to Omotesando for lunch, and I had a delicious curry udon which I am dying to have again. Oh, Xi Min bought some grilled oysters for about 400 yen from a roadside shop, and he claims that they're both delicious and worth it. I'm not a seafood guy so you'll have to take his word.

One of the most delicious things in the world.

After this delicious interlude we walked through Momijidani Park, the forest up the slopes of Mt. Misen, which is the highest point on the island. We were promised that the path would be teeming withmore of the wild deer. There wasn't a single deer, but we did visit a small shrine. I had previously resolved to cleanse myself at every single shrine we visited (so I'd have something to do instead of marvel at the architecture or pose for photos), so I did. The shrine reminded me of the snake shrine from Bakemonogatari, with its stone torii arches and long steep path and absence of people.

With a creepy snake shrine at the top.

On our way up we were intending to take the Ropeway, which is the Japanese word for our "cable car" because their cable car is the San Francisco word for "cable car" which we don't have in Singapore. And as we walked through this street wondering if we needed to get the tickets at the station itself, who else do we see bu Cruella de Vil herself, selling the tickets from her shop. Well, when I say Cruella de Vil, I actually mean a Cruella de Vil cosplayer, albeit an unintentional one. She had the big white hair, the long leather overcoat and the knee-high leather boots. It was only after we bought the tickets and walked a distance away, did Bryan turn to ask, "Did that lady remind you of Cruella de Vil...?" and the instant chorus was "yes".

Oh, you park rangers and your sense of humour.

So we went up the Ropeway, and the images that pop up in my mental Google search are that of the Hakone cable car ride, so I can't describe it in much detail. I wrote down "vertigo" and "acrophobia" in my notebook though, which, once again, fails to be any useful description whatsoever. I do have an innate fear of heights though; not one of those you-can-overcome-your-fear-by-staring-it-in-the-face types, but one of those primal, survivalist things that your brain tells you to keep you alive. I even have jolts of terror when playing Portal. That's how primal it is.

What a wonderful three-hundred-and-sixty degree view of the - HOLY CRAP HOW HIGH ARE WE AGAIN?

The view from the top of the hill was excellent. You could see the surrounding islands, and they had little tubes which pointed towards the island and a little name plate next to it so you could identify it. I could understand the kanji on some of them, and I remember that one of the islands was "Big Black Monster Island", or something to that equivalent.

"Konasamijima", which means "that small sandy beautiful island", if the kanji is similar to Chinese.

On our way back we stopped for the age momiji, which is one of the most delicious things in the world. I kept the stick as a souvenir. I also bought a tiny deer figure and a small towelette depicting the island's moe deer mascot, who has a Twitter account called ___honoka___, which I'll assume is her name.

This is the result of culinary genius.

Little Honoka-chan.

We got back to the temple grounds a bit later than expected, but Hikida-san invited us into the temple itself. We didn't know exactly what for; the assumption was that he was going to show us around, but apparently we were invited to take part in a ceremony. Through Aki's broken English we discovered that his grandmother, Hikida-san's mother, had passed away the week previously, and this was a death ceremony. We sat at the back for most of the ritual, while the priests got on with their chanting, but we were required to perform one small rite, just bowing to the ashes (I think) and sprinkling some spices (I think) onto the incense. I think we all were very honoured and priviledged to be considered part of the family, such that we were allowed to partake in what must be a very personal and exclusive ritual. Aki-san even blessed us at the end with a lot of chanting that I didn't understand, and they gave us paper-cut lotus leaves and a small charm for good luck.

Blessings.

The Hikidas then brought us to this restaurant (which they must have booked out for the whole night, since it was a two-table establishment and we took up both). There was what was becoming the traditional Japanese dinner feast, which included multiple appetisers before we were introduced to the main course, whose name was sukiyaki. We talked a lot in both English and Japanese, and around the fifth or sixth beer they were telling jokes with the restaurant owner and waiter/waitress as well.

Brimming with nutritional and tasty goodness.

We were also introduced to Hikida-san's business associate, whose nickname was Tako-san, which means "Mr. Octopus", and I could see why he got that moniker: his eyes were huge, like an octopus's. I say "business associate" because Tako-san is an undertaker, and Hikida-san owns a temple with a graveyard out back. And, just as with the Hikidas, Tako-san didn't live up to his stereotype. You'd expect undertakers to be solemn and quiet and serious, but he was laughing and joking and drinking, like his job requires him to be so grave (haha) that he takes advantage to be outgoing when he's off duty.

This was the first time we sat down with the entire family at a meal, and this included the extended family of Aiko-san's producer, who was taking a video of the whole thing. Some time in the middle of dinner, I was tasked with the pouring of the wine, and I topped up the glasses of the two ladies, which was met with much enthusiasm. I also spent the second half of the dinner being taught how to say dou itashimashite, which means "Thank you very much". I kind of mastered it by the end of the night.

After driving us back to the temple, we wanted to take some photos of the whole family to remember them by, but it was dark and Aiko-san was tired and wanted to go rest. We managed to take a couple of shots though, with a lot of weird and funny poses from the brothers.

That's Hikida-san in the centre.

Then they ushered us into their giant practice room, and tired though they were, the Hikida brothers, or should I say, Hikida Brothers, put on a performance for us. They sang three songs plus an encore, all in Japanese of course, but with such skill and emotion that the lyrics didn't matter. Aki-san was the main singer, with Ren-san on the guitar and harmonies. It was spectacularly awesome. Their second song was an ode to their grandmother, which although had inexplicable lyrics, was very powerful and emotional. Their last song was exciting and energetic, and Yumiko-san went to flicker the light switch like a real concert. It was a magical hour, and we all left stunned by their awesomeness.

The Hikida Brothers: Live in Concert April 2012

There was a short video segment as we were making our way back, like a short testimonial for their promotional video. We were their first homestay family, after all, and I guess they wanted a good review. Or perhaps they were just doing it for their memories' sakes. I don't know.

Then the three kids (I use kids in the loosest sense of the word; the oldest of them is over 30) came back to our rooms, just to generally hang out and spend the last bits of time with us. There was much laughing and fake arm-wrestling, and it was generally hilarious. We got them to promise to come to Singapore sometime in the future, and they said they'll be going to London this year, so Bryan and JX said they'd host them there (from their school, since they'll be studying there). We also got their emails, and promised to write soon.

After they left, we spent the rest of the night (morning - it was past midnight) just writing well wishes and thanks. I tried to write something nice on the tag on the dried mangoes we gave them as a present we brought from Singapore.

I think I want to wrap up with a shout out to the Hikidas. Even though we knew each other for only three days, we became like family, and I think that's the important thing. A big shout out to the kids, Yumiko-san, Aki-san and Ren-san, for being such great and hilarious friends and for taking the time to spend it with us. I'm definitely going back to visit them one day. Definitely.