Miyajima and Hiroshima

From Shimane I traveled back to Hiroshima where I met my dear friend Rebecca and her mom Martha. We took a day trip to Miyajima, a small island famous for its large shrine compound, a large torii that was built in the water and friendly deer.


A small back street on Miyajima, just off the main route.


The famous Miyajima water torii. It's not as big as I thought it would be but I like to imagine the monks out there trying to figure out how to build it.


The main temple complex, just behind the statues, trees and branches. Ok, so its not a great shot of the temple complex but if you use your imagination you can see that its amazing.

Walking up the mountain to a gondola Becky spotted a sign that read,
"10 minutes to ropeway, 7 if run a little."


A Miyajima local. There were bunches of deer but this was the cutest one. For some reason they were all hungry for paper.


Hiroshima's Peace Dome. One of the few buildings that was left standing in the city after the atomic bomb was dropped. One of the reasons this building didn't get blasted away is that the bomb detonated almost directly above it, blasting downward. The initial heat wave melted the copper dome immediately and was followed by a blast that traveled straight through the top of the building, blowing out the windows, some walls and everyone that was inside. The building was originally an industrial promotion hall.


A graveyard in the city. The stones in the lower picture appear to have been collected from an earlier site.