Sleeping Like a Japanese Person

After we met up again at the A-Bomb Dome bus stop, we hauled kids and luggage over to the ferry, where there was still no one around.  Raymond went into the restaurant next door and inquired as to where the people who operated the ferry were.  (We are all so thankful that Raymond can speak Japanese, it makes a world of difference.)  Apparently, the ferry usually is running at this time, but for some reason, they left early and it didn't look like they were coming back.  We had to find another way out to Miyajima Island.

We went back to the south end of the Peace Park and Raymond asked around about other ways to reach Miyajima.  One kind gentleman told us to take the street trolley.  We would be on it for about 45 minutes, but that it would take us right to a ferry boat that would take us across and onto Miyajima.  That ferry would only take 10 minutes and would be much cheaper than the ferry at the Peace Park.  We heeded this advice and got on the street trolley.

This trolley ride gave the children more insight into how the Japanese people in Hiroshima have forgiven and moved on in regards to Americans and the atomic bomb.  Several people got out of their seat to offer them to the kids.  One gentleman gave some of the kids (the ones close to him, we were scattered all over the trolley car) Hershey kisses.  This touched the children, and made them feel even more at ease in regards to being an American in this historic city.

We went to the end of the line for the street trolley and found the ferry boat.  Unfortunately, we had just missed the last ferry for the night.  There was no other way we would be able to get to Miyajima Island to make our camping reservations.  We were going to have to find some other place to stay.

I sat on a street corner with the kids and all of the luggage, while Raymond, Christopher, and Logan went from hotel to hotel inquiring about rooms.  Raymond and I were a little nervous about where we would stay because we were in a very expensive part of town and Japanese hotels charge PER PERSON, not per room like in America.  Raymond did find some rooms available, but considering our family size, they were much more than we wanted to pay.

He went into a traditional Japanese style hotel and asked if they had any rooms available.  The hotel was owned and operated by an older Japanese couple.  The gentleman kept telling Raymond that they were not a Western hotel, and Raymond kept telling them that he knew that.  He was aware of the customs and would abide by them.  We don't know if he didn't want Americans staying in his hotel because he didn't think we could behave properly, or if he thought we wanted a Western hotel.  At any rate, it was his wife who offered 20,000 yen for the night.  We knew that would be the very best we could do in this part of town, and so we accepted.  Yay!

As soon as we walked into the lobby, we took off our shoes and put on the hotel slippers that were offered.  Our shoes went on a shelf against the wall.  They helped us get our luggage upstairs and got us settled.  They were very kind and helpful.  We felt very welcome and at home.

This is about as Japanese as you can get.  This was going to be quite a treat, being able to sleep in a traditional Japanese hotel.

They gave us three rooms.  Raymond, me, Nathan, and the two little girls were in one room.  Caitlin and Tayla shared a room next door, and Christopher and Logan shared a room across the hall.

After walking into your room, you were supposed to take off your slippers and step up into the room.  The rooms had tatami mats on the floor, and it is not appropriate to wear slippers on tatami mats.  They are worthy of your stocking or bare feet only.

On the low table, there were treats for each of us.  Miyajima Island is famous for their maple leaf bean paste treats.  The kids wanted to try these when we got on the island, and here they were in our room.

Some were in the maple leaf shape, and others had Hello Kitty on them.  Audra was excited!

We ate dinner around our low table while sitting on pillows.  We ate rice sprinkled with some rice toppings that the AWESOME ladies at Ray's work gave us for our trip, sliced cucumbers, and some of our snacks that were left over.  Poor Audra was so wiped out that she curled up on her futon and went right to sleep. 

Then, we got ready for bed.  It is appropriate to shower before sleeping as a guest in a Japanese home, so we all showered.  There were Japanese robes in each of the rooms, along with tea sets and tea.  The boys were reveling in this experience and put on the robes and got the tea set out.  There was only black tea, which we do not drink, but the boys were not deterred.  They simply heated up water and drank hot water with the tea set.  The boys were pretending to be samurai warriors and this was their house.

When I went to check on the girls, they too had showered, found the Japanese robes, and were drinking hot water with their tea set. 

Now, we were all REALLY tired from our lack of sleep on the night bus.  But, we would have slept well even if we had had a good night's sleep the night before.  The futon and all the blankets were heaven.  Very comfortable! 

On our way out the door to Miyajima the next morning, the hotel owner gave the kids these two bags of candy.  She was such a sweet lady.  The wonderful couple also told us that we could leave our luggage in the lobby instead of putting it in lockers at the trolley station.  We thanked them and told them we would be back around 1:30 p.m.

This painting was on a shelf in the upstairs main area near our rooms in the hotel.  It was so pretty, and made us even more excited for Miyajima Island. 
We may not have been able to make our reservations at the campground on Miyajima Island, but it all worked out for the best.  Staying in this traditional Japanese hotel was so fun and a huge highlight of our trip.  And, it rained really hard during the night, so it was a good thing that we were not in a soggy tent.