By Jeff Mazziotta.
On Saturday, November 23rd, YCAPS held an event in Miyajima, near the Iwakuni base. We had 13 members join us, some from Hiroshima, some from Kure, and a couple from Shiraishi island. All were absolutely delighted with the trip. We met on the landward side and took the ferry over to the Island. stopping first at the statue of Kiyomori Taira and hearing from John Mensing, the guide, about the Taira clan's epic dispute with the Minamoto. Then we walked around the Temple Kiyomori constructed (which was remodeled into a State Shinto Shrine in the latter part of the 19th century) owing to the long line of visitors on a very busy day.
We headed over to the History and Folklore Museum, which was probably the highlight of the tour. Heroically undervisited, we practically had the place to ourselves and took in the many exhibits, a short film, and the excellent English language explanations (rare for a history museum in Japan). Then we headed over to the Treasure Hall and got a glimpse into some of the things that had been donated to it as objects of Buddhist veneration, most notably an elegant illustrated set of Buddhist scripture scrolls with a 900 year pedigree. Lastly, we visited a cafe for a chat. John filled us in on as much history as he could in the short time we had together.
