Close Encounters of the Deer Kind
Trip Start
Apr 10, 2012
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8
17
Trip End
Apr 25, 2012
Hiroshima, Chugoku, Japan
Monday, April 16, 2012
We then took a river cruise to Miyajima Island. This is a sacred island, home to several major temples and a famous torii gate which, at high tide, seems to float on the water. It is so sacred that births and deaths are not allowed. Pregnant women near term and patients near death are moved to the mainland.
With our first steps on the island we immediately saw the deer wandering around. They readily interact with the tourists. Indeed, if you're not careful, they will grab papers, clothing, or food from you. Not aggressive -- just persistent.
While I was waiting for Susan to pay for an item in a souvenir shop, I stepped out onto the street and saw one of the deer trying to enter a cafe. The owner came out and tried to shoo him away. At one point, he lightly thumped the deer on the head. He still wouldn't leave. Their antlers are trimmed back to prevent damage, but you can tell that the people are very tolerant and protective of them.
As we walked along the waterfront, past the torii gate onto the Itsukushima Temple grounds (another World Heritage Site), I could hear music. After lots of picture taking, we headed over there and were delighted to happen upon a performance of Noh Theatre. (It is staged only three days a year, so we really lucked out.) We stood there, enchanted, for half an hour. We were told that this style of theatre is over 500 years old. The Japanese, themselves, have difficulty following it because of the ancient way of speaking and how the actors draw out the syllables in many words. It occurred to me that it was like watching Shakespeare or Chaucer, with beautiful costumes, chanting, and slow, graceful movements in an authentic setting.
The temple was originally built in 503 and rebuilt to today's scale (20 buildings) in 1168. The buildings are connected by covered wooden pathways and rest on land which is flooded each day as the tide comes in. The temple seems to float on the water. It's exquisite.
We took more pictures of the torii gate as the tide rose and wanted to stay on the island until sunset. We walked back through the streets trying to find a place to sit down and eat. Everything was closing at 5 pm. We finally got steamed buns filled with beef from a snack stand and found the post office steps for our seats. The buns were delicious. Too tired for another step, we stayed there while Brent went back to the gate for more photos in the lamp light. His photos are stunning!
The post office was located next to the world's largest rice scoop! It is symbolic of the city because this is the place where it was first made and is now ubiquitous throughout Japan. When I got up to take a picture of the scoop, a deer found us. Susan started yelling for me to help her gather up our bags. He grabbed a map from Susan (barely missing her gloves) and quickly ate the whole thing. He obviously wanted more. He literally stuck his nose inside my bag. When I stepped away and tried to put arthritis cream on my neck, he really got interested. That cream must have deer sex hormone in it! He was nudging my arms, trying to get to it. While I was trying to shoo him away, Susan was laughing hysterically.
Via return ferry and train, we made our way back to Hiroshima and had dinner in a tiny restaurant serving the local specialty -- okonomi-yaki (a pancake layered with veggies and your choice of meat. We chose shrimp and it was delicious!
