Dominic College Japan Study Tour – 2019

Today we started our day by having breakfast at our new hotel in Hiroshima, the Grand Intelligent Hotel.

After finishing breakfast we caught a train to Miyajima-guchi and from there we proceeded to take the ferry to Miyajima.

While in Miyajima we explored Itsukushima-jinja (shrine) and surrounding shops.

We then took a cable car up to Mt Misen were we hiked around the shrines until reaching the top.

When we finished observing the view from the mountaintop, we then took the cable car back down and found ourselves a place to eat dinner.

Once finished we took the train back to our hotel and finished off the day reflecting on our time at Hiroshima and preparing for our visit to Salesio College tomorrow. 😊

This morning we had the choice of going to a massive shopping mall to do some souvenir shopping or to do a quick visit to members Nijo Castle in the pouring rain. We all had fun doing what we were doing. After 2 hours we all got back together and got our suitcases and daypacks together. Then we went and caught a Shinkansen to Hiroshima.

When we arrived at Hiroshima we went to our hotel and got our rooms sorted out then we went out and caught a tram to the Peace Museum and we had a look at the stories and testimonials of people who were impacted by the atomic bomb blast. We then visited the eternal flame and hung up our paper cranes. We also found the Bell of Peace and took some time there to offer our personal prayers for peace in our world.

After that we went out and had ramen for dinner which we ordered via a vending machine. We were then seated at individual booths were a personal chef served up a supet ramen dish for us.

The final part of our night ended with us all taking part in a lantern ceremony. Here we each drew on our own personalised lantern our wish for peace and then released the lanterns down the river.

We then went back to the hotel to end the day and rest up for another day of adventures tomorrow.

We have left Kyoto and travelled to Hiroshima. Stay tuned for our afternoon activities later tonight. 😊

After having a delicious breakfast at the hotel, we navigated the subway and traveled by train to Nara.

When we got to Nara we caught a bus to the great Buddha temple, then had lunch in Nara Park with the deer. A deer came over and nosed around for some food. Some people brought some special deer biscuits to feed them. We had lots of good laughs here. Even fukurou san got a selfie with a deer!

After that we caught the train back to Kyoto and some of us folded cranes on the way back. When we got back to the hotel we packed and then stringed the cranes together. It was a great way for us to bond as members of a Salesian community.

Then we went up to Kyoto Tower to see the sunset and look out across the whole city. We even saw the bullet train we will be taking tomorrow.

We had dinner and ended the evening with a Salesian Goodnight, reflecting on our experiences in Kyoto. We then went to bed in preparation for an early start tomorrow. 😊

Thank you to everyone who contributed.