Day in Itsukushima (Miyajima) and Hiroshima

I woke up early this morning to go to the nearby island of Itsukushima, also known as Miyajima, the island of shrines.  It is famous for its water tori which appears to be floating during high-tide; thus the need for an early departure.  We saw the tori and Itsukushima shrine and then some of us stayed to do a hike to the top of the Mt.Misan.  We headed back to Hiroshima and visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, but realized we hadn't given ourselves enough time for it.  We'll return tomorrow morning before we leave at 11.  We hurried back to the hotel for a 5 minute shower then made it to the hall for the sound check with 12 minutes to spare.  After the concert, some of us went to the Peace Park and saw the A-Bomb Dome Building lit at night.

That is the outline of the day's happenings.

At the end of the day I faced a thousand people, each smiling and grateful, clapping their hands, and wondered how we forgot our humanity.

sunrise over Hiroshima

from the ferry

deer conference

attempting a school group picture (with deer)

the floating Torii

many school children were taking field trips to Itsukushima 

Itsukushima Shrine

Itsukushima Shrine

Five-Storied Pagoda

at Daishoain Temple

hundreds of hatted buddhas at Daishoin Temple

Fun on the hike

the scholarly one

view from the top

deer along the river

leaves starting to change

the fire department

maybe no one will notice

What??? It actually happened:
a kinako (soybean) and azuki (sweet red bean paste) prepackaged sandwich.
This is the peanut butter and jelly of Japan.

Our section leader likes paisley

his cello case

four hours of sleep and a hike later, before the concert and dressed for Halloween
(response to the question:  How are you doing, Christy?)