Weekend In Hiroshima with the Family PART II

Sunday, August 24 2008

DAY 2

The beach just in front of our Japanese-style hotel.

Across the bay is Hiroshima City.

It was a fine summer day.

A small dead Fugu (Japanese Puffer fish)

Somebody may have caught the fish using a fishing pole and then, knowing of it's potential danger if eaten, left it to die on the beach.

A comparatively quite large Fugu

This one was about the size of an American Nerf football

Miyajima Shika (Miya Island Deer)

They're literally EVERYWHERE on the island.

It would be difficult to go somewhere without seeing at least one deer anywhere on Miyajima.

I observed something very interesting - a survival behavior among these deer.

Because of the dense population of deer in such a small island habitat, the deer have taken to eating things other than nuts and berries and other vegetable matter as they usually would in a more spacious, less competitive environment. As I sat in the hot sun watching the deer on the beach, I noticed one was eating the stinking remains of a rotten fish (not a puffer) that was washed up on the shore. This really surprised me, as I had believed deer were strictly herbivorous.

Bambi

At the Miyajima Aquarium








Garden Eels


Electric Eel

The Bulldog of the fish world

The Axolotl

An evolutionary wonder

It is actually the immature aquatic stage of the Tiger Salamander, but in Mexico City the gilled larvae never reach adulthood

Who doesn't love Penguins!

Across the sand at low tide, Itsukushima Shrine
The

Itsukushima Jinja Torii

in daylight.

It certainly is grand at any hour.

Pagoda at Itsukushima Jinja
Itsukushima Jinja is a Shinto mecca
And a tourist mecca as well!

It was a fun and educational family trip.

Miyajima is gorgeous!

Thank you very much Otousan & Okaasan