Saturday, March 7th--It had rained quite a bit during the night, so everything was wet and there were low clouds in the sky.
We were so excited to finally be able to go over to Miyajima Island! This is the place we were all anticipating the most during our entire trip!
Here comes the ferry....
Miyajima Island has been an object of nature worshipped by locals since ancient times. Because of the beauty of its landscape and mountains, we have read that this place makes people feel "a spiritual flow". In the year 806, a Buddhist monk climbed to the tallest peak on the island and declared the island to be a holy land where only the gods may dwell. Over time, priests began to live on the island. Gradually, other people moved on as well.
In the past, women were not allowed on the island and old people were shipped elsewhere to die, so that the ritual purity of the site would not be spoiled. The island's real name is Itsukushima, and Miyajima is just a popular nickname meaning "Shrine Island".
The view from the ferry of the infamous red torii gate in the ocean. This torii was built in 1876 from natural Japanese cinnamon wood and has survived through the years in the water.
As we got closer to the sacred ground of Miyajima, we could see the island's deer on the shore.
As the ferry docked, we were finally able to step onto this much anticipated sacred island and go exploring! Yay!
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