Day 2
Miyajima Island and Itsukushima Shrine (宮島と厳島神宮)
Tram
One day unlimited train and ferry ride was around 840 yen. We decided not to use our Youth 18 Tickets since we won’t be traveling that much within that day. We went as early as 8AM in front of Hiroshima Station in the tram station. We purchased one-day value cards and had our first tram ride in the wide island. From Hiroshima Station, it was about an hour until Hiroden Miyajimaguchi Station (広電宮島口). There are two kinds of tram in Hiroshima. The first type of tram are the new ones with are only manned by one person.
Riding the tram is like riding a bus in Tokyo. Insert the card upon embarking in the machine near the entrance door then when you get-off, insert the card again in the machine placed in the exit. The 1-day 840 yen was really cheap considering the unlimited rides in the tram. 
The other type of tram is the old-type two-manned tram. There are also card reading machines within the tram. Aside from the tram operator, there is a conductor that walks from end-to-end in between stations and received tram fare payments for those who do not use cards.
Miyajima (宮島)
The ferry was a breathtaking ride. It reminded me of Davao City-Samal Island ferry ride. The ferry departs almost every 15 minutes and would actually take around 15 minutes or so to cross mainland Honshu (本州) to Miyajima. Along the way, from afar, you can see a torii (鳥居) or a Shinto Shrine archway painted in bright orange. From that distance, it was my second glimpse of Japan’s UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Itsukushima Shrine archway is very famous all over Japan and many tourists, both local and gaijins, visit the site. This was like the great grandfather of all Shrine archways in Japan.
One of the annoying things about our trip was the flock of flag-bearing tourist-guided tours. It’s like they basically just occupy the entire area especially the scenic spots ideal for taking pictures. Within our travel, we saw many Chinese, Korean and Singaporean-speaking tourists. The first thing that welcomed us in Miyajima Port exit was the enormous deers (鹿 / shika) which gallivant the area. It was like Oh! Deer. These animals were very cute, friendly and sloth. They just love to sleep in the middle of the spring’s mid-warm temperature. As I have observed, all of them were very cooperative during photo ops.
Our timing was very good since it was Sakura season. Sakura was in the height of its bloom and the weather was very kind to us since it did not rain. It was like boastfully saying, “I had my first glimpse of sakura this season in Miyajima.”
The Miyajima torii was picture perfect. Taking photographs in any angles would seem committing no mistakes at all since it was just pretty damn awesome.
There were a lot of shrines, pavilions and temples within the area. A sakura tree below a bright orange tower of temple was like a picture from a postcard. 
Along the way, we witnessed a traditional Japanese wedding. They had their portrait taken where the back draft was the huge shrine archway. All of the passing tourists also took their pictures. The scene looked like there were local celebrities and crowd just flocked the area knowing their presence. After the photo ops was their parade on board a rickshaw (人力車 / jinrikisha). The rickshawman (車夫 / shafu) looked very authentic from the Edo Period (江戸時代). And it was awesome. Seeing more than the usual things we expected in Miyajima was a real experience. It was like a real bargain.
Next stop was to taste and shop for famous Miyajima sweets, the momiji sweets. Momiji (紅葉), or Japanese maple leaf-shaped manju, filled with sweet anko (餡こ), a read-bean paste. A local shop selling for 75 yen a piece, sells it as hokkahokka, or straight from being cooked/baked. To note, the kanji of momiji has two readings. Momiji, which pertains to the maple leaf and “kouyou,” which pertains to the changing of its colors during autumn.
Furthermore, another thing on our list was to taste Hiroshima’s oysters (牡蠣 / kaki). We went to one local restaurant and ordered kaki udon (牡蠣丼), or oyster noodles. The oysters were really delicious. One order, for about 700 yen contains 5 fresh oysters. The oysters were very tender and crisp to the bite. They don’t disintegrate when bitten. It’s was just totally fresh. The taste was indescribable but I can guarantee that it was really delicious. After our meal, we went back again to the mainland.
Tram
One day unlimited train and ferry ride was around 840 yen. We decided not to use our Youth 18 Tickets since we won’t be traveling that much within that day. We went as early as 8AM in front of Hiroshima Station in the tram station. We purchased one-day value cards and had our first tram ride in the wide island. From Hiroshima Station, it was about an hour until Hiroden Miyajimaguchi Station (広電宮島口). There are two kinds of tram in Hiroshima. The first type of tram are the new ones with are only manned by one person.
Riding the tram is like riding a bus in Tokyo. Insert the card upon embarking in the machine near the entrance door then when you get-off, insert the card again in the machine placed in the exit. The 1-day 840 yen was really cheap considering the unlimited rides in the tram. 
The other type of tram is the old-type two-manned tram. There are also card reading machines within the tram. Aside from the tram operator, there is a conductor that walks from end-to-end in between stations and received tram fare payments for those who do not use cards.Miyajima (宮島)
The ferry was a breathtaking ride. It reminded me of Davao City-Samal Island ferry ride. The ferry departs almost every 15 minutes and would actually take around 15 minutes or so to cross mainland Honshu (本州) to Miyajima. Along the way, from afar, you can see a torii (鳥居) or a Shinto Shrine archway painted in bright orange. From that distance, it was my second glimpse of Japan’s UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Itsukushima Shrine archway is very famous all over Japan and many tourists, both local and gaijins, visit the site. This was like the great grandfather of all Shrine archways in Japan.
One of the annoying things about our trip was the flock of flag-bearing tourist-guided tours. It’s like they basically just occupy the entire area especially the scenic spots ideal for taking pictures. Within our travel, we saw many Chinese, Korean and Singaporean-speaking tourists. The first thing that welcomed us in Miyajima Port exit was the enormous deers (鹿 / shika) which gallivant the area. It was like Oh! Deer. These animals were very cute, friendly and sloth. They just love to sleep in the middle of the spring’s mid-warm temperature. As I have observed, all of them were very cooperative during photo ops.
Our timing was very good since it was Sakura season. Sakura was in the height of its bloom and the weather was very kind to us since it did not rain. It was like boastfully saying, “I had my first glimpse of sakura this season in Miyajima.”
The Miyajima torii was picture perfect. Taking photographs in any angles would seem committing no mistakes at all since it was just pretty damn awesome.
There were a lot of shrines, pavilions and temples within the area. A sakura tree below a bright orange tower of temple was like a picture from a postcard. 
Along the way, we witnessed a traditional Japanese wedding. They had their portrait taken where the back draft was the huge shrine archway. All of the passing tourists also took their pictures. The scene looked like there were local celebrities and crowd just flocked the area knowing their presence. After the photo ops was their parade on board a rickshaw (人力車 / jinrikisha). The rickshawman (車夫 / shafu) looked very authentic from the Edo Period (江戸時代). And it was awesome. Seeing more than the usual things we expected in Miyajima was a real experience. It was like a real bargain.
Next stop was to taste and shop for famous Miyajima sweets, the momiji sweets. Momiji (紅葉), or Japanese maple leaf-shaped manju, filled with sweet anko (餡こ), a read-bean paste. A local shop selling for 75 yen a piece, sells it as hokkahokka, or straight from being cooked/baked. To note, the kanji of momiji has two readings. Momiji, which pertains to the maple leaf and “kouyou,” which pertains to the changing of its colors during autumn.
Furthermore, another thing on our list was to taste Hiroshima’s oysters (牡蠣 / kaki). We went to one local restaurant and ordered kaki udon (牡蠣丼), or oyster noodles. The oysters were really delicious. One order, for about 700 yen contains 5 fresh oysters. The oysters were very tender and crisp to the bite. They don’t disintegrate when bitten. It’s was just totally fresh. The taste was indescribable but I can guarantee that it was really delicious. After our meal, we went back again to the mainland.
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