Itsukushima & Hiroshima 18.07

Itsukushima torii

Hiroshima oli reisikavas kohe alguses, Miyajima ehk Itsukushima ("pühamu saar") lisamise mõte tekkis kellegi reisiblogi lugedes ja see tundus proovimist väärt mõte. Otseselt kiirustama ei pidanud (v.a. õhtul rongile jõudes) ja mingil hetkel ei tahtnud kummastki teise kasuks loobuda nii et mõlemad jäid plaani. Jah, kui reis oleks pikem olnud, võiks kummaski päeva veeta aga ma arvan, et põhiline sai nähtud.

Eelmisel õhtul võõrustajaga Suica mittetöötamisest rääkides pakkus ta välja, et peaksime rongijaamas töötajatega suhtlema. Seega enne Kyotost ärasõitu palusin abi klienditeenindajalt, kes hoidis Suicat elektroonilisel alusel ja voila, pidavat nüüd Kyotos ka töökorras olema. 

Rongid ja Shinkansen viisid meid Kyoto → Shin-Osaka → Hiroshima  → Miyajimaguchi. Kõik JR piletiga. Kokku peaaegu 400 km ja ca 2h45min hiljem viis meid praam (samuti JR) Miyajimaguchist edasi Itsukushima ehk Miyajima saarele. 

Itsukushima saare asub mitmeid pühamuid aga neist tuntum on Unesco maailmapärandi osa 

Itsukushima pühamu, kuulus oma vees oleva torii värava pärast, mida ema juba Hakones nägi😁 Hiroshima lahe tõus loob efekti vees "hõljuvast" väravast, kuid mõõna ajal seisab see kindlalt maa peal. Tõusu nägin esimest korda 2014. aastal Iirimaal. Võimas oli jälgida, kuidas meri maa suunas liigub. Teine põnev kogemus oli Cornwallis, St Michael's Mounti külastades. Seekord saarele lähenedes oli torii veega ümbritsetud, lahkudes seisid inimesed selle all.

Itsukushimas praamilt maha tulles tervitasid meid inimestega harjunud hirved😍 Ahistasin neid täiega enne, kui olin valmis edasi liikuma. Tegime terve posu kohustuslikke pilte ikoonilise väravaga (mis Türi Raamatukogule reklaampildiks ei sobinud). Logisime kesk inimmasse aarde. Kellegi tähelepanu mul nagunii ei olnud. Palusime endast pilti teha ning pildistasin teisi.

Itsukushima pühamu rajati 8. sajandil ja see on tohutu. Seisime loomulikult värava pildistamise järjekorras, mille ajal märkasime krabi😍 Ja siis teist. Ja siis mitut veel.

Sain teada, et signaalkrabil (fiddler crab) on üks sõrg suurem kui teine. Lihtsalt nii lahe oli nende liikumist jälgida. Värava taustal saime ka loomulikult pildid tehtud. Vaatlesime nii palju kui lubati pühamu hooneid.

Omotesandō tänavat mööda sadama suunas tagasi liikudes ahistasin veel hirvesid. Külastasime terve portsu suveniiripoode (sest konditsioneer) ning leidsime endale sobiva lõunasöögi koha. Seekord fritüüritud mereelukad, salat ja suur kauss riisi. Aga mida ei ole veel maininud, mu ema sai terve reisi vältel kõik korrad väga edukalt pulkadega söödud😊 Sest noh, kui Eestis pulkade vajadus oleks, siis mõnikord on lihtsam neid mitte kasutada.

Hiroshimas oli plaan ringi liikuda hop-on hop-off turistibussiga (mille kattis JR pilet, st. saime kokkuvõttes terve päeva liikumised JR piletiga kaetud) ja mis viis mugavalt soovitud kohtadesse. Erinevalt tavapärasest, tegi bussijuht bussi sisenedes JR piletist foto. Istusime jahedas bussis ja vaatlesime tänavaid.

Esimeseks peatuseks Hiroshima ehk Carp loss. Nii nagu templid on templitega ja pühamud pühamutega tunduvad ka lossid omavahel sarnased. Hiroshima, rongist nähtud Himeji ja järgmisel päeval külastatud Osaka võiksid sama plaani järgi ehitatud olla. Aga Hiroshima juurde tagasi minnes, see linn koos Nagasakiga pidasid üle elama II MS suurima katastroofi. Algupärane 15. sajandist pärit loss ehitati muuseumina uuesti üles 1958. Ülemiselt korruselt avaneb vaade ümbruskonnale. Lossi aias on näha hoonete varemeid. Kahjuks ei õnnestunud tuvastada kolme tuumapommi plahvatust üle elanud puud, mis pidid lossi aias olema. Millisesse Eesti muuseumi pääseb 2.35 euroga?

Lühike sõit edasi viis meid Rahuparki. Alustasime hop-on-off bussi oranzi liiniga, antud vahe jaoks liikusime kollasele, sest selle graafik oli tihedam.

Juba Hiroshima lossi vaateplatvormilt paistavad suure kupli varemed, milleks oli Hiroshima prefektuuri tööstuse edendamise saal, tänapäeval tuntud kui Aatompommi Kuppel (Atomic Bomb Dome). See oli pommi epitsentrile lähimal paiknev hoone. Praegu Unesco nimistus ning seda hoitakse sihilikult varemetena.

Kupli poolt mälestusparki sisenedes jääb esimesena teele mälestusmärk sõjas ja rünnakus hukkunud lastele. Kuju on inspireeritud hukkunud Sadako Sasakist ja kuna tema voltis sookurgi, siis on neid origami kujukesi pidevalt näha. Kurb oli pargis jalutada. Jah, elu läheb edasi ja linn on uuesti üles ehitatud aga ajalugu ei tohi unustada.

Aeg hakkas õhtusse veerema. Meil oli Shinkanseni istekoha broneering aga ei oleks hullu olnud, kui oleks hilisema rongiga läinud. Kohti ei pea tingimata kinni panema, selleks on olemas broneeringuta vagunid ja suvel ilmselt sellist turistivoogu ei ole, et sõitma ei mahuks. Aga pargis olles märkasin, et kui nüüd kohe stardiks, siis oleks võimalus õigele kiirrongile jõuda. Hop-on-off bussipeatusesse jõudes vaatasin täpsemalt plaani ja nii oranz kui kollane liin ei sobinud aga roheline, millega oleks veel võimalus, oli ajakava järgi juba läinud. Aga mida ma siis nägin, oli lähenev roheline. Seega jõudsime õigeaegselt rongijaama, jõudsime isegi magustoidu kaasa haarata ning asusime tagasiteele.

Õhtusöögiks suss meie majutuse lähedal asuvast pubist (?) Gyogyomaru . Ma ei tea, kuidas neid toidukohti nimetada. Restoranid ega kohvikud need ei ole, pubid otseselt ka mitte. Söögikoht. Igatahes, maitsev sussi assortii. Kuna eelmisel õhtul oli sento (basseinikompleks) avatud kuigi pidi suletud olema, siis sellel õhtul me suplema ei saanud.

Hiroshima was on the itinerary right from the start but the idea of adding Miyajima aka Itsukushima ("shrine island") came from reading someone's travel blog and it seemed doable. We were not in a rush (the only semi-anxious moment appeared in the evening in Hiroshima) and at some point, I didn't want to give up either one in favour of the other, so both stayed on our itinerary. Yes, if we had been in Japan longer, we could have spent a day in both, but I actually think we managed to see the most important sights within the timeframe given. 

Low tide

Talking to our host the night before about Suica not working, she suggested talking to the staff at the train station. So, before leaving Kyoto, I asked customer service for help. He placed the Suica on an electronic tablet and voila, it functioned brilliantly ever since. 

Trains and a Shinkansen took us from Kyoto → Shin-Osaka → Hiroshima → Miyajimaguchi. All covered by our JR ticket. About 400 km and 2 hours and 45 minutes later, the ferry (also covered by JR) took us from Miyajimaguchi to Itsukushima aka Miyajima Island.

There are several shrines in Itsukushima, but the most famous of them is Itsukushima Shrine, part of the Unesco world heritage, famous for its huge torii gate, which my mother already saw in Hakone😁 The high tides of Hiroshima Bay make the gate "float" in the water, but during low tide, it stands firmly on the ground. I saw the tides for the first time in 2014 in Ireland. I was amazed by the sea moving towards the land. The next time was in Cornwall, visiting St Michael's Mount. This time, when approaching the island, the torii was surrounded by water, and when leaving, people were standing right under it.

When we got off the ferry in Itsukushima, we were greeted by a bunch of deer😍 I was completely smitten with them. We took the mandatory pictures of the iconic gate (which was not suitable for Türi Library as a promotional picture). We logged a cache in the midst of a crowd. No one paid me any attention. We asked others to take our photo and returned the favour. 

Itsukushima Shrine was founded in the 8th century and is massive. Naturally, we stood in a queue to take pictures of the gate, while I noticed a crab😍 And then another. And then several more. I found out that fiddler crabs have one claw larger than the other. It was just so cool to watch them move. We took the photos and wandered around the shrine as much as allowed. 

Walking back towards the harbour long Omotesandō Street, I harassed more deer. We hopped into several souvenir shops (because of the air conditioning) and found a suitable place for lunch. This time, deep-fried sea something, a salad and a huge bowl of rice. Just to mention, my mother successfully used chopsticks throughout the trip😊 In Estonia, if we happen to eat out somewhere we could use chopsticks, she tends to avoid them. 

Hiroshima

In Hiroshima, the plan was to move around with a hop-on hop-off bus (which was also covered by the JR ticket, i.e. didn't have to use our Suicas once that day) which conveniently took us to the desired sights. Unlike usual, the bus driver took a photo of the JR ticket when entering the bus. We sat in the cool bus and observed the streets.

The first stop is Hiroshima or Carp Castle. Just as temples and shrines resemble each other, castles also seem similar. Hiroshima, Himeji (seen from the train on the way to Itsukushima) and Osaka (visited the following day) seemed to be built according to the same blueprint. But back to Hiroshima, this city along with Nagasaki had to endure the worst disaster of World War II. The original castle from the 15th century was rebuilt as a museum in 1958. The top floor offers a view of the surrounding area. Ruins of buildings can be seen in the garden of the castle. Unfortunately, we couldn't locate the three nuclear bomb-surviving trees, which are supposed to be in the castle garden. Btw, which Estonian museum can be visited for 2.35 euro? 

A short drive took us to II MS Memorial Park. We began with the orange line but switched to the yellow one. 

The ruins of Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, today known as the Atomic Bomb Dome, can be seen all the way from Hiroshima Castle. This building was the closest to the epicentre of the nuclear bomb. It is currently a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is intentionally kept as a ruin.

When entering the memorial park from the side of the dome, you come to the Children's Peace Monument, the memorial to the children who died in the bombing and in war. The statue is inspired by the deceased Sadako Sasaki, and since she folded origami cranes, these figures can be seen everywhere. It was heartbreaking to walk in the park. I understand that life goes on and the city has been rebuilt, but history must not be forgotten.

As it was gradually getting late, I began to think about our return to Kyoto. We had seat reservations for the Shinkansen, but it wouldn't have mattered if we had taken a later one. You don't necessarily have to reserve a seat, there are cars without reservations for that, and in the summer there is probably not such a flow of tourists that we wouldn't have found a seat. But while we were in the park, I noticed that if we started then, there would be a chance to catch the intended bullet train. However, when we arrived at the hop-on-off bus stop, I examined the plan more closely and discovered that the orange nor the yellow line would reach the station in time, but according to the schedule, the green line had already gone. To my surprise, I noticed the green bus approaching, luckily a bit late. So we reached the train station on time, even managed to grab dessert and started our way back.

For dinner, another set of sushi from a pub (?) called Gyogyomary near Luck You Kyoto. I don't know what to call these eateries. They are not restaurants or cafes, nor are they pubs. A place to eat. Anyway, delicious assortment of sushi. Because the sento (swimming pool) was open the night before, even though it was supposed to be closed, we couldn't swim that night.