After having seen a concert on Sunday night in Miyajima, we stayed overnight and enjoyed the town the next day.

Miyajima is a very nice, quaint area that's been popular for tourists for over a thousand years, so I was surprised to find that it was not hyper-commercialized and disgustingly crowded. I'm sure it helped that we were there on a weekday, but in any case, it was clean, pleasant, and real. The bench scene that I posted yesterday tells a lot, I think.

Since Fumie's mom was looking after Anthony (thank you, thank you, thank you!), Fumie and I [...]

The short path on Miyajima Island that fronts the ocean between the Itsukushima Shrine (厳島神社、宮島, where we saw Kousuke Atari in concert), and our hotel (Kinsuikan Inn -- 錦水館) was lined with benches and large stone lanterns.

Deer run wild over the whole island.

Continued here...

As I mentioned yesterday, we went to Miyajima on Sunday to see Kousuke Atari (中孝介) in concert at the Itsukushima Shrine (厳島神社), a large complex almost completely over the water when the tide is in. In the picture above, which I took the morning after the concert when the tide was out, you can see the piers and such.

The concert was in the open air away from the building, on a little dais you can sort of see in the center of the picture.

Photography was not permitted during the concert, so I didn't bring my camera, but before [...]

Fumie and I just got back from an overnight trip to Miyajima (宮島, an island near Hiroshima), having seen pop singer Kousuke Atari (中孝介) in concert last night on the grounds of the famous Itsukushima Shrine (厳島神社).

I say "on the grounds" figuratively, since the entire shine -- first built about 1,400 years ago, but having taken its present shape only 840 years ago -- is on piers over the water. Well, at least while the tide is in. The concert was held in the open, just on the other side of the center buildings in the picture above.

After [...]