2017. dec 17.

Miyajima

írta: Sorachy

Hy friends!

It's been a while, but I'm really glad to be back, this time featuring a breathtaking place in Japan that is famous for a good reason: Miyajima.

For those people who don't recognize the name, Miyajima means 'shrine island', and it is ranked as one of Japan's three most visited tourist places. It is also listed as a World Site Heritage, which is quite understandable, since (according to the Miyajima Tourist Association) we are talking about a hundreds of years old shrine with an interesting history and rich culture of it's own.

Miyajima (宮島) is a small island less than an hour outside the city of Hiroshima. It is most famous for its giant orange gate (torii) which at high tide seems to float on the water, just like the shrine's main buildings. The island is officially named Itsukushima, but since it is so closely related to it's key shrine, it is more commonly referred to as Miyajima island.

It is a gorgeous place, especially in the fall, when the whole island is painted orange and red with Momiji (Autumn leaves). In fact, one of the things Miyajima is most famous for are the sweets shaped as a leaf called 'Momiji manju'. It comes in all kind of flavours like chocolate, vanilla, anko (bean paste) and my personal favourite, matcha (green tea).

Another food that became Miyajima's trademark is oyster. I'm known for hating all types of squishy and slimy food, but even I have to admit, that oyster was one of a kind. (as an exchange student and a generally curious person, of course, I challenged the Miyajima oyster, and I was pleasantly surprised.)

Of course, I can't forget the wildlife of this beautiful island: deers. Just, deers. They are everywhere you go, ready to pose on one or two pictures in exchange for some food. We didn't buy any, so I can't say this for sure, but I believe there are some stands where you can get deer snacks to give away instead of your own sweets, clothes or possibly camera, if the deer is really persuasive... :D

What I liked most about it was the fact that it's like a small civilization on a tiny island... it's pretty much like Japan itself. Even though it's hard to approach, once you get there and experience the whole 'Miyajima feeling', you become a part of this small secret spot. I took tons of pictures, some of which I will post below (hopefully this time it will be actually visible), but believe me, it's so much better in real life. Pictures can't give back the smell of fresh momiji manju, the sounds of the streets and all in all, the spirit of the place is just so uplifting, so sacred. It's not a matter of whether you believe in what the shrine stands for, but there was definitely something in the atmosphere of the island that made me feel happy and at peace. :)

It was the first actually famous spot in Japan that I visited, and I'm very pleased with my experience. It was a great chance to bond with my host family as well as a way to get a bit nostalgic by looking at other foreigners. In this small city I live in, me and my fellow exchange student friend are the only foreigners, and I'm not even exaggerating. So it was really nice to see some European faces for a change. :D So far, luckily I haven't gotten homesick at all (okay, maybe I'm a little bit upset that Santa Claus didn't visit me here in Japan on the 6th of December like he does every year in Hungary.....), but I am somewhat relieved when I see other foreigners. Looking at each other, and exchanging that "this country is so weird, but I love it - yeah, me too!" look makes me feel like we have some sort of inside joke that the Japanese wouldn't understand. :)

Anyways, I'll just let the pictures I took speak for themselves, but I really recommend to check out Miyajima for yourself, if you ever have the chance. It's definitely one of the most magical places I've visited so far! <3

^Momiji manju^