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From the coast of Hiroshima, the story continues to a neighboring island called Itsukushima...also known as Miyajima: a pretty well known, beautiful piece of land to all japanese.
Even though the nickname of the island means "shrine island", it is also known for having deer...friendly deer. They protect the gods...and eat whatever they can get...including paper sticking out of your pocket.
throughout the many open shop tours, one lady brought us to her doll sanctuary...a place with thousands of traditional dolls...
The main attraction? when people say miyajima, this is probably the first thing that comes to mind. The "in the water" torii gate...a beautiful spectacle all year round. At this time of day the tide happened to be down...allowing people to get real close... The shrine it foreshadows is only one of many shrines that occupies the island...hence the name.
Journey to the top of the island: two ropeways lead you to a magnificent view of the island, sea and hiroshima city...well worth it.
island atmosphere...i wasn't expecting this.
a little hike from the end of the ropeways leads to the actual top...the actual peak of the island.
i don't get it: where are the monkeys??
ah!yes...as well as deer, monkeys populate the top of the island...these guys prefer hats and don't like to be stared at!
At the end of the day, a nice sun shined over the island...
and with the tide coming in, we quietly left the island, taking this last picture like a memory...
On the way back to Hiroshima...i had to stop and check out this interesting little house i had seen on the way from the train...(sorry but don't know the architects' name! ouch!)
I guess this guy had the right idea: find the most beautiful island of japan, and build a house with a nice view, right in front of it...
Hiroshima: this was our first stop on the island of honshu. It's located on the southern side of the island and happens to be the biggest city of western honshu. Need i say more? ..it's also the first city to be victim of the nuclear bomb in 1945.
first things first...here we were, moms and i, eating in some lady's kitchen, eating directly from the grill with a spatula. An authentic hiroshimayaki, also known as okonomiyaki by others...
it's a mixture of cabbage, meat, egg, soba noodles and other mysterious spices...it starts out pretty big then gets flattened little by little...
harumaki (springroll). Then there was the typical izakaya food stop. random little dishes.
...and some yakitori, skewers cooking on a personal little grill.
fire station worth cheking out: architect Riken Yamamoto.
transparence?
hiroshima-jo: hiroshima castle, floating, a little north of the city, surrounded by a moat.
look left then right or right then left??just remember to always raise your hand when you cross!
another specialty is fried oysters...
before and after: the bomb was released with the target being the "T" bridge...of course this is just a fraction of the extent of the damage...
The atomic bomb dome, still standing in ruin, not too far from ground zero.
wow. peace written in many different languages...
after 8:15, everything stopped. 
atomic bomb museum of hiroshima. For some reason, it wasn't as powerful as the one in nagasaki, but it sure was crowded with people from all over...what do you expect.
from there, we were on our way for a beautiful little island right in front of hirojima...to be continued?
Second stop was the beautiful city of Nagasaki...which happens to be not too far from Fukuoka.
colorful 'peace' cranes greet you, all over the city...sent by people from all around the world.
view of nagasaki bay from the surrounding hills. imagine all this wiped away in just a few seconds...
end of the line: nagasaki train station.
hotel: notice the tea, futons, tatami and all that good stuff...
Ground zero: a couple hundred meters above this point is where the second atomic bomb was released, changing the face of nagasaki...
still standing: only half of this 'torii' gate is left from after the blast...symbol of hope.
to remember: memorial for the victims. Besides this elliptical pool you have to walk around before entering, the whole thing is submerged under ground. You should only enter once you have 'cleared' your mind. architect: Akira Kuryu.
right next door is a must: Nagasaki Atomic bomb museum.
right near ground zero is the peace park, which holds numerous pieces of sculpture donated from countries around the world.
In nagasaki, the city streets are shared by a few trolley lines, instead of an underground metro system...how fun.
Spectacles bridge?? the megane-boshii is said to be the oldest stone arched bridge in japan...built by a chinese monk in 1634.
thats cheating! ok, why not...
Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum: architect Kengo Kuma.
main entrance: a transparent art box
main attraction: kurosawa's art. yes, he happened to make a few drawings for his storyboards...
nagasaki bay by night. How does a city recover from such a tragedy? A couple days was enough to notice that the city doesn't hesitate to shine through its wounds, and through the beautiful strength and spirit of the people...
