Here comes the second part of my trip to Miyajima. ( ^ ^ )
After walking around the Itsukushima shrine on the shore, we went climbing hills in order to get to the other shrines and temples located around the island. The nature was really beautiful, lots of greenery and flowers everywhere.
Here you can see me climbing upwards. ( ^ ^ ) The hills were not so steep, but after a while it did get a bit tiering to climb. The day was pretty cloudy, which was great, since Japanese summer is so hot and humid. At least with all the clouds blocking the sun it wasnt as bad with all the motion as it could have been. haha
While climbing up there were many great sceneries over the town. Most of the houses located there are pretty old, so they blend in with the scenery and the temples really well. Away from the Itsukushima shrine it was really quiet and there were almost no people around, making the walking around experience a bit spooky.
On the way up to a shrine I found this guy chilling under a tree by the road. I must say that seeing a male deer with horns was a bit more scary that seeing these small feemale deers I saw on the shore. This was in the middle of a forest, with no people around so I was a little afraid he might be agressive. But this deer was just as friendly as any other, he just layed there and let me sneak up and take his picture. I didn't dare to come too close thou... XD
After climbing for about 20 minutes we finally came to a shrine! In Japan, if you take your shoes off you can go inside most of the temples to pray or just walk around. Some temples forbid taking pictures inside and some don't. Here there were no people and no signs, so of course I took lots of pictures. Also since tere was no fence or anything the objects you see on the photo could be touched. I tried holding the staff on the lef and it was really heavy! I wonder how monks walked around carrying it all day... if they did carry it around (I dont actually know).
This has to be my favorite picture from the Miyajima trip! XD
Found this guy outside the shrine and while I am not sure what kind of deity he is, he is really cute.
I mean, look at his face!
Everytime I look at this photo I can't help giggle a bit.
Guess this is all for this post, a part 3 post is coming up and it will be the last post with photos from Miyajima.
On Saturday I went to Fukuoka (first time in 2 month XD) and met up with some lolita friends. ( ^ w ^ ) I was supposed to meet only one girl, but we run into other friends all the time and ended up being 4 lolitas running around the city together. Mostly we went around cute shops and talked, but we also took lots of purikura and ate cake. Too bad I didn't bring my camera... so I only have photos from my phone and purikura. (Except for one head shot that I managed to take at home before heading out in the morning haha)
Me and my friend twinned BABY's bon bon chocolate series. ( // ^ ^ // )
The other two girls twinned crystal dream carnival, so we ended up being 2 pairs of twins!
All purikura booths had really cute halloween themed stamps and backgrounds.
Right now everything in Japan is halloween themed XD
I am really envious at how good japanese people are at decorating purikura. This decoration looks so cute! Much cuter than the ones I did. ( >< )
Here is a photo of my face/makeup. I feel that I don't wear these bunny ears as much as I should... at least now they really went well together with the halloween spirit! ( ^ ^ )
While hanging out with everyone I learned that lolitas in Fukuoka often use this fitting room to take outfit pictures. It is located in the toilet on one of the floors at Tenjin Core and even thou I have been there many many times I never noticed it. Now I know where to find good lightning for future photos. ;)
I feel that I am uploading the pictures from my Hiroshima trip rather slowly, but better late then never right? XD
Today I thought I will share some photos from Miyajima - a small island outside of Hiroshima. The island's real name is Itsukushima but it is widely known under the name of Miyajima, which in Japanese means "shrine island". It was given this name is mainly due to the popularity of the Itsukushima shrine, located on the island (along side with many other shrines and temples). The Itsukushima shrine is supposedly really old, and it is part of the UNESCO world heritage list. The shrine is built on water and is really beautiful while there is a high tide, sadly I went there in low tide weather... One of the most famost parts of the Itsukushima shrine is the huge tori (gate) that stands in the water in front of the shrine, welcoming guests to the island.
This photo is taken on the mainland before boarding the ferry to Miyajima. You can see the island from afar, it's pretty small, but has tons of history to it.
After riding the farry for about 10 minutes we arrive to Miyajima! Now this photo is taken from the island back to where the ferry departs on the mainland.
The famous tori (gate) of the Itsukushima shrine.
You don't actually see it directly when setting foot on the island, but while being on the ferry it is clearly visible even from afar. When the tide is really low people walk to the tori to touch it, this is supposed to give you super good luck - as the tori usually is unaccesible, being able to touch it is very rare.
When I went to Miyajima the tide was rather low so there was no water beneath the shrine itself. This is a bit sad, as the shrine really looks beautiful floating on the water... It was still very pretty there thou, but smelled a bit seewea:dy.
The Itsukushima shrine consist of many buildings and smaller shrines. This was taken in front of a separate building, I must say I really like the angle of this photo. :)
On Miyajima island there are also really many deer, they are so used to humans they dont mind being petted at all. Just as in Nara the deer walk freely everywhere, begging for food and attention from everyone around. I have never petted a deer before, so while I could I was running around from one deer to another petting them all! ( ^ w ^ )
The last couple of days I have been feeling a little sick, I think I am getting a cold. ( >< ) I have been really tired lately so therefore I have not updated in a while, sorry! Today I thought I would share some photos of my latest kimono purchase.
I bought this kimono when I went to Hiroshima, at a small second hand/vintage kimono shop. This kimono type is referred to as a Houmongi and it is a formal kimono, worn by married women to special occasions. There are some exceptions thou and at some occasions this kimono can be worn even by unmarried women. In my case I wanted to wear a kimono to the school ending ceremony. The formal teachers wear for the occasion is usually a Houmongi kimono+hakama, but since I am not really a techer-teacher I think I will skip the hakama - just because I don't really like these pants. haha! So since everyone else will be wearing a Houmongi kimono I feel that it would be kind of out og place for me to come there dressed in a Furisode (the formal kimono for unmarried women).
On to the pictures!
Basicly a Houmongi kimono has a pattern only on the sleeves, bottom and on one of the shoulders. Patterns vary a lot, there are some seasonal patterns suitable only for a certain season and some that are suitable to be worn any time of the year. I read that the color of the kimono is also tied to a certain season, purple/white/blue-ish being a kimono best suited for wearing during winter. The graduation ceremony is in February so how lucky am I to have a purple kimono?
I bought the kimono, obi and the small bag separetly but I feel that I have done a good job on matching all three! On formal occasions the obi is supposed to be a Fukuro obi with golden stiching. I searched a long time to find an obi that I felt matched the kimonos color. I am not sure you can see it well, but the obi is basicly golden and has pink/green/purple/white flowers stiched on. I think it goes really nice with the motive on the kimono. ( ^ ^ )
As for the bag, the most formal one is always of gold or silver color. I got this one on sale for really cheap, but I thonk it is really beautiful. It is decorated with mother pearl. Really shiny! Ihope the flowers (looks like sakura right...) are not too summery for my winter outfit.
Here is a detail shot of the obi. I spy some plum blossoms on there, perfect for the winter theme as the plum blossoms in January-February in Japan.
I still need to buy ghetas and all the strings you need to put the kimono/obi on, since all these items are left at home in Sweden. I really want to buy some new every-day kimono to wear soon too! ( ^ ^ )
