One of our staples when we visit Japan is the momiji they made on Miyajima island. It is a fluffy confectionary stuffed with a creamy bean paste filling in a variety of flavours. But cruelly, it must be consumed within 10 days of purchase! And that is why none of these delightful treats have ever made their way back to Canada to share. It is certainly not because we are gluttons who cannot be trusted.
I guess the island is also kind of well known for its world heritage status, iconic red torii gates, and numerous prestigious shrines and temples.
But most importantly, the have so many ice cream vendors in so many different flavours. Momiji! Ice cream! Momiji! Ice cream! Plum wine! Ah, a sacred place indeed.
The weather was drab for our visit, the entire island blanketed in a thick fog. And true to form, getting the kids up and out the door early had proved a challenge, so we didn’t arrive at the island until almost lunch. We had come to visit this day because there was a special parade being held. With less than a couple hours until the parade started, we decided to explore the shopping arcade and main streets around the island.
Miyajima has a lot of souvenir shops along the main drag, and we had an enjoyable time shopping. The shops don’t quite compete with Kiyomizudera in terms of variety, but they have a lot of local specialty products that aren’t found elsewhere.
Eventually it was time for the parade to begin and we staked out our positions. The parade was lead by a local high school marching band, followed by a variety of performers in period costumes. The parade route traveled down the main shopping arcade in clumps, and the regular pedestrian traffic did not abate while it happened. It was rather unlike parades at home, where the streets are closed off when the parade happens.
The parade itself was shorter than expected: the time window was about 2 hours, but I guess that included all the stuff happening at the shrine. The parade managed to pass us by in about 40 minutes. So we left to explore more of the island.
When Jenn and I visited before, we had never ventured far beyond the red torii gate at Itsukushima shrine. Because, well, momiji and plum wine. But this time we went further along to visit two additional temples: Daisho-in and Daigan-ji.
To reach Daisho-in we ventured through Momijidani park. From the park, you can either take the ropeway or walk up the mountain to the observation point on the peak. But due to crowd levels, the ropeway was reservation-only and fully booked by the time we had arrived, and the walk up the mountain would take longer than we planned.
Plus, the fog! Remember the fog? I know I mentioned the fog. We were certain that any stupendous views of the Seto Inland Sea would be obscured by the heavy mist that yet lingered. Rather than spend several hours on a strenuous hike up and down a mountain for limited views, we instead headed through the park to Daisho-in temple.
The temple was incredible. We loitered a long time. There was a lot to see, and the tranquil ambience was incredible.
Daigan-ji was situated basically beside Itsukushima shrine and they seem somewhat conjoined. There was not as much to see here, aside from collecting our goshuin stamps.
By now the tides had retreated and we were able to walk out to view the torii gate up close. But though the water had retreated from the beach, it redoubled its efforts from the skies! Rather sodden, we made our way back through the shopping arcade to get more ice cream and momoji, and a bottle of plum wine I’d spied, before boarding the ferry and heading back to the mainland.
