Hiroshima, Miyajima Island across the Bay

Japan's Iconic Landmark, Miyajima ©Solange Hando

A short ferry ride across the bay of Hiroshima, Miyajima, the 'Island of Shrines', claims World Heritage status. It's one of Japan's most sacred places and you are sure to see the deer roaming free along the shore and up in the hills.

Rising out of the sea, the traditional red gate, or torri, marks the approach to Itsukushima, the Shinto shrine built on stilts along the shore and surrounded by water at high tide. The gate only dates back to 1874 but pilgrims have worshipped on the island for centuries.

The Daisho Temple, Miyajima ©Solange Hando

The main shrine may hold you spellbound for a long time but it's worth taking a look at the nearby five-storey pagoda, the 'hall of 1000 mats' and the Daisho Temple nestling on the luxuriant slopes below the Misen Mountain.

With its pagoda roofs and steep wandering paths, it's a fairytale sort of place sprinkled with stone statues from tiny figures in fancy hats to a giant man-bird or rows of images glittering in a cave festooned in lanterns.

Cute Little Men ©Solange Hando

Down by the waterfront, the 'high street' is a bustling little place lined with souvenir stalls and barbecues where skewered oysters, grown in the bay, mingle with all sorts of delicacies.

The Japanese are fond of all things 'cute'  and the visitors follow suite,easily tempted to step inside and pick up a traditional koi banner or a wooden spoon to eat Ramen. The spoon, also used to scoop up rice, was invented on the island, they say, and half-way down the street, there's a giant model on display to prove it.

Going Local on the Island ©Solange Hando

Beyond sightseeing and shopping, Miyajima has much to offer, especially if you enjoy the great outdoors. Minutes from the shore, the hills beckon with pristine scenery and quiet trails and a week on the island could simply fly by, leaving you refreshed and relaxed.

If time is short, a cable car can take visitors almost to the top of Misen or for those who would like to take a close look at the gate, there are canoes and local boats.

Guardian of Itsukushima ©Solange Hando

Hiroshima, Hope and Peace

Hiroshima, the A-Bomb Dome ©Solange Hando

On 6th August 1945 at 8.05 am, 'Little Boy', the first atomic bomb, was dropped over Hiroshima, killing 70,000 people outright, mostly civilians, and as many again from radiation in the following months and years.

War crime or justified, the controversy goes on but there was nothing 'little' about what hit Hiroshima that fateful morning. The epicentre was the Shima hospital and the building above the closest to remain standing, in part.

The A-Dome is now on the World Heritage list as a witness to the tragedy and a stirring symbol of hope for a future free of nuclear destruction. 

The Children's Peace Monument, Hiroshima ©Solange Hando

Beyond the Dome, the Peace Memorial Park has the same dual purpose with a special area dedicated to the thousands of children who died as a result of the bomb.

The monument (above) shows a young girl holding a crane. Her name was Sadako Sasaki and it is said that while she was in hospital waiting to get better, she folded 1000 paper cranes. She died of leukemia at the age of 12 and  paper cranes have become a symbol of peace. They are sent by children from all over the world to be displayed in glass cases around this monument.

Peace Concert in Hiroshima ©Solange Hando

On ground laid to waste by the bomb, the Peace Park was open in 1955, a place to wander around near the river, relax and reflect  as you take in the memorials, the Peace Bell or the Mound containing the ashes of 70,000 unidentified victims.

The nearby museum is a silent sobering place, beyond comprehension for most visitors, but just as moving on my visit was a small concert outside where hymns such as 'Amazing Grace' sent shivers down your spine yet gave you with hope for the future.

The above piano was rescued from the bomb site.

The  Cenotaph in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park ©Solange Hando

This concrete cenotaph contains the names of all known victims.

It is in alignment with the A-dome and the Eternal Flame lit in 1964, which will burn continuously until the world is free from the threat of nuclear destruction.

Paper Cranes in Hiroshima Peace Park ©Solange Hando

'I will write peace on

  your wings

and you will fly

all over the world.'

(Sadako Sasaki)