A solo trip to Itsukushima Shrine, Ise Grand Shrine, and Kyoto

TL;DR

A record of a solo trip I took from 2016/05/01 to 2016/05/04, three nights and four days, leaving my wife behind to work while I wandered off on my own. There’s no real point to it. Just a bunch of photos below.

• Hiroshima
• Ise Grand Shrine
• Kaiko-no-Yashiro and the Tenji Tenno Mausoleum

Hiroshima - Itsukushima Shrine

On the 1st I took the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Hiroshima. Since I’d be staying at @WINGS1685’s place in Kyoto, I wanted to bring a souvenir, so I arrived at Tokyo Station about two hours before departure to buy the requested Toshimaya Kizahashi… or so I’d planned. I’d gotten the Shinkansen time wrong and couldn’t buy it. I’d originally booked the 13:00 departure, but since the night cruise to visit Miyajima at my hotel required dinner starting at 17:00, I’d changed it to 11:00 so I’d arrive around 16:00 — and then completely forgot I’d done that. So off to Hiroshima I went, empty-handed, getting an earful over chat the whole way.

I stayed at the Aki Grand Hotel. Unfortunately only mountain-view rooms were left, but I could at least catch a glimpse of the sea from near the emergency exit.

The view from my room

The view from the 9th-floor emergency exit

The lobby

Stepping out onto the terrace from the lobby

Since the night cruise was coming up, I had an early dinner. The hotel has a few different dining options, and this time I went for a course meal at a place with an izakaya-ish vibe.

After a leisurely meal, I took a relaxed bath while waiting for the cruise. Sadly it’s not a hot spring, and the open-air bath was reservation-only anyway. Also, there were a lot of foreign tourists around, and their bathhouse etiquette left something to be desired. I get that a UNESCO World Heritage site draws a lot of travelers, so it’s somewhat unavoidable, but I do wish people would follow at least some of the local customs. Wearing swimwear in the sauna, taking photos in the bath area — that’s just not okay.

Anyway, setting that aside, I stepped out onto the terrace before the night cruise. The city lights were sparse.

And then, the night cruise. Basically a sightseeing boat, capacity maybe 20 people. We listened to the guide’s commentary, and once we got close, everyone stepped out on deck to pay respects before the photo session began.

It was interesting how much the mood changes depending on the tide. Speaking of Itsukushima Shrine, it’s one of Japan’s three most scenic views, alongside:

• Matsushima in Miyagi
• Amanohashidate in Kyoto
• Miyajima

Our guide told us all sorts of things: that the area used to be forbidden ground, that the torii gate isn’t buried in the seabed but simply stands under its own weight on a foundation of thousand-pillar piles, that the current gate is the 8th reconstruction, built in the Meiji era, and that the plaque bears different characters on the ocean side versus the shrine side. Being one of Japan’s three great torii gates, its silhouette really is mystical.

The next day, I took the ferry over to Miyajima.

From the ferry, a mountain that looks like a reclining Kannon

I wandered around Miyajima in the morning, then took the ferry to the Peace Memorial Park museum and the Atomic Bomb Dome in the afternoon. Since I’d failed to buy the kizahashi, I’d been given a divine decree that a butter cake from a place called Nagasakido would earn my forgiveness, so I went to buy one — only to find it was already sold out and closed by 13:00…

About half the visitors at the museum were foreign tourists, which really shows how much interest there is worldwide. The volunteer guide, an older gentleman, spoke fluent English and explained the circumstances at the moment the bomb went off. Seeing personal belongings with people’s names still on them, a model showing the size of the fireball at detonation, a full-scale replica of the bomb itself — it was all so visceral it left me at a loss for words. If you ever have the chance to go, I’d recommend setting aside an hour or so to look through the museum carefully and really reflect. It’s not a place you want to rush through.

Kyoto - Ise Grand Shrine

In the evening I took the Shinkansen from Hiroshima to Kyoto. I had oyakodon near Shijo-Omiya, stayed the night, then headed to Mie the next morning. My host had gotten hold of an Ise Grand Shrine visitor’s pass — a great deal that covered a round trip from Kyoto to Ise Grand Shrine for 6,600 yen, two Kintetsu limited express rides between Matsusaka and Kashikojima, and unlimited rides on Mie Kotsu buses in the Ise area. Making full use of it, before visiting the outer shrine I got off at Ise-shi Station, headed to Futaminoura Station, and went to Futami Okitama Shrine, home of the famous Wedded Rocks.

Despite it being Golden Week, there was almost no one around the station, which was a little unsettling. On top of that, with the Ise-Shima Summit coming up soon, police had gathered from Mie and neighboring areas alike — intimidating-looking transport vehicles were parked everywhere, and I saw plenty of officers who looked like they were in training. If it’s already like this a month out, I can only imagine how tense things will get closer to the date. Once I actually reached my destination, though, there were a fair number of people. I guess most people get there by car — the trains only run twice an hour, after all…

I grabbed a meal near the station at a place called Ogiya before heading to Ise Grand Shrine. I’d picked Ogiya completely at random, but it turned out to be a great find — both the Matsusaka beef hamburger steak and the fried Ise lobster were delicious.

I took the bus from the outer shrine to the inner shrine. Between the stop at the Wedded Rocks and trying to visit more than just the main sanctuary, time got pretty tight. I kept the souvenir shopping brief and headed back. I’d braced myself for Golden Week crowds, but it wasn’t unbearably packed, and I got to fully enjoy my first visit to Ise. What struck me was that every main hall has an empty plot right next to it, reserved for the next Shikinen Sengu rebuilding — the sheer effort of rebuilding everything, including all the auxiliary shrines, is staggering. While I was paying my respects at the inner shrine, I overheard what sounded like part-time staff collecting the offering money saying things like “how many bags today, seven?” — a bit too candid for comfort. I thought, maybe have that conversation somewhere tourists can’t hear you.

Back in Kyoto, I had delicious salt ramen at a place with the silly name Pakopako. The broth had that “clearly took real effort” kind of depth to it.

Kyoto - Kaiko-no-Yashiro and the Tenji Tenno Mausoleum

Kyoto during Golden Week is packed, but I got dragged along, sight unseen, to some spots that were supposedly uncrowded and lovely. First up was Kaiko-no-Yashiro, formally Konoshima-ni-Masu-Amaterumitama Shrine. Remarkably quiet, and home to an extremely rare triple torii gate. The spot where the triple torii stands used to be a pond called the Mototadasu Pond, apparently, though sadly it’s dried up now. No one really knows for certain why this gate was built. Mysterious stuff.

From there we took the train to Okakita, an udon place in Higashiyama. We lined up for about an hour and a half starting at 11:00, finally getting inside around 12:30. The tempura udon, topped with fluffy egg, had a broth with a clean, well-balanced dashi flavor — excellent. My craving for meat wouldn’t quit, so I also ordered the mini beef bowl, seasoned like a sweet sukiyaki. Since it was also finished with egg, it stayed piping hot the whole time. Combined with the nice weather, the heat was honestly a lot to handle. I can’t imagine eating this in the height of summer. But it was delicious. Incidentally, the udon shop right next door had just as long a line.

With lunch taken care of, we took the train to the Tenji Tenno Mausoleum, also known as Gobyono Kofun. Also almost completely deserted, but with a different, equally mysterious atmosphere from the shrines.

Wrap-up

Huge thanks to @WINGS1685 and their spouse for putting together such a great itinerary on short notice and letting me stay two nights. Next time I’ll make sure I actually manage to buy the souvenirs, lol. Though the raw momiji manju ended up being more of a hit than expected, so it worked out fine. I never made it to Hiroshima Castle, never saw Itsukushima Shrine at high tide, never climbed the mountain on Miyajima, and never got in the hot spring — so I’m definitely due for a rematch. As for Ise Grand Shrine, I’d love to bring my wife next time. It’d be nice if it were a bit easier to get to from Tokyo. I keep ending up in Kyoto in May specifically, and while part of me wants to see it in a different season, it’s either too hot, too cold, or too crowded depending on when I go. Still, I really do want to catch the autumn leaves at some point…