miyajima
today i went to a ridiculously fancy ryokan on miyajima island, which is just off the coast of hiroshima. i started from okayama station and took a very short shinkansen, only about 35 minutes, to hiroshima.
next, i took a cab from hiroshima station to the ferry terminal. i could have done this via train, but i didn’t want to bring my giant-ass suitcase on the train, so i just walked out the door and got in a cab.
the ferry is very simple, it works the same as the trains. you just tap your ic card on a turnstile identical to the ones at train stations and get on it. you don’t have to buy tickets or anything. love that.
the island
this is a major tourist spot. you have to take the world’s shortest ferry (its like 6 minutes) to get there. because of the ferry, the hours tourists are generally present are limited by the schedule of the ferry. so a major advantage of staying somewhere on the island, as opposed to staying in hiroshima and doing a day trip here, is that you can get access to a major tourist attraction when no one is there.
if you ever come to japan, i highly encourage you to stay somewhere on the island if you decide to visit miyajima. that being said, its ludicrously expensive to do so. this is the most expensive hotel i have ever stayed at and likely will ever stay at. there are cheaper options than where i chose to stay, however the place i stayed had some bonus amenities that sounded worth it.
shout out to the magic of photo editing here. love that i can just lie and pretend its like october.
the deer
this island also has a bunch of deer roaming all over. not nearly as many as nara, though. i think i saw a total of like…… 6 deer. this also has the cool bonus effect of not having to be careful not to step in deer poop every single step. i somehow didn’t see deer poop even once despite there being deer just walking around amongst the people.
also, that one with the horns in the first couple pictures “attacked” me. he decided i made him angry and charged at me and honestly pretty lightly bumped me with his head. i dont think he was trying to do any kind of impaling thing, since i imagine that would have worked if he tried it. he just kinda ran at me and bumped into me. scared the bejeesus out of me. immediatley after doing it he was like “nah man jk im just kidding bro im just trolling its cool bro dont worry about it” and walked away nonchalantly.
the ryokan
i recorded a video of my hotel room:
you may have noticed there is no bed. this is because i chose a “japanese style room” rather than a “western style” one. i chose this because it was the only available option with the open air bath in the room. they also have a public one, but i cannot go to those because i have tattoos, and that is a whole thing in japan. i also wouldn’t go to them anyway if i could, because i don’t want to be naked in a bath with strangers. that isn’t my thing.
the open air bath in this room absolutely owns. the last few days of my trip are in beppu, where the room i am staying in also has one of these, but it is a natural hot spring. i don’t believe this is a natural hot spring, but its still hella relaxing.
this “main area” of the hotel room has this super low to the ground table with a kneeling chair. these seem to be a common thing in japan.
to address the lack of bed in the room, the staff comes by at 7:00 pm and moves the table aside to setup a futon.
to people who think this would be uncomfortable and wonder why a ludicrously expensive resort is using futons, i will say you just gotta try it. real japanese futons hit different. they are approximately 3200% more comfortable than what would be called a futon in america. this futon is more comfortable than like 70% of beds i have slept in throughout my life. part of that is the tatami mat flooring, which is not like a hard floor, theres a little bit of give to it. anyway, this futon owns.
⛩️
the sort of main attraction of this island is itsukushima shrine, featuring a very tall torii gate (⛩️) that is in the water.
now you may be thinking “hey wait, i have seen pictures of this, isn’t it supposed to be in the water?”
let me hit you with this:
or for the flat earth lunatics:
anyway that was a stupid joke. but i took a few carefully tilted up so as to make it look more underwater. and then the tide came in and it actually was.
this is the main advantage of staying on the island. as you saw in the afternoon photos, there are hundreds of people swarming all over this place. but being able to stay until sunset/nightfall lets you get amazing photos and experience this island in a weird post apocalyptic “where is everyone” sort of way. some of the night photos:
sad dinner
so, miyajima island is pretty small. there isn’t a whole lot going on here besides the big torii gate. i didn’t reserve a place for dinner, and found out when i arrived that the hotel restaurant was fully booked. i also found out from the hotel staff that literally all the restaurants on miyajima were also booked, because they will help you get reservations (they speak japanese). so i had basically no options for dinner.
i decided it was konbini dinner time, and went to the local lawson. i would have gone to a family mart, but there doesn’t seem to be one on miyajima. i ended up eating the following for dinner (the photos were not taken by me, i didn’t think to photograph any of it before it was gone):
1. lawson karaage-kun
this is literally chicken nuggets. but they are really good. even the worst chicken in japan is a bare minimum like 7.5/10, and these were closer to an 8 or 9. excellent nuggies.
2. melon pan
despite having melon in the name, this isn’t melon flavored or anything. its just sugar bread. nothing incredible, but its pretty dang good. love melon pan.
3. asahi super dry beer
i don’t really like asahi in america, but asahi in japan owns. and the can has the whole top come off to make more foam and feel like drinking a real beer. i wish i could teleport this beer to america.
that was my dinner. i find it extremely funny that i stayed in like a 5 star incredible resort and ate convenience store slop for dinner.
anyway thats my day in miyajima. 10/10 would recommend visiting this island to anyone visiting japan.
thats the post!
じゃあまたね!
