Vino Con Vino: Sleeping on the Floor on a Delightful Island Called Miyajima

When we started planning the Japan portion of our trip, Jeff discovered that there are traditional Japanese hotels, called ryokans, that offer a uniquely Japanese experience. Ryokans are often in historic buildings, have onsen (hot baths), and offer traditional meals. We wanted to experience this type of lodging, for at least one night, and I found a well- regarded ryokan named Iwaso located on Miyajima – an island in the Seto Inland Sea / Hiroshima Bay. Iwaso was founded in 1854.

We travelled by high-speed Shinkansen trains from Kyoto via Shin-Osaka to Hiroshima, where we transferred to a local train to Miyajimaguchi, and then took a 10-minute ferry to Miyajima. While the route seems complicated, it wasn’t difficult at all. And the ferry provided amazing views of Miyajima’s famous floating Torii gate.

Iwaso picked us up at the ferry terminal and our ryokan experience began. We received a warm greeting, were shown to our room for green tea and were provided Yukata and Geta sandals to wear during our stay. A Yukata is a summer weight kimono and can be worn almost everywhere, including around town. We learned to wrap the right side first and then the left side over as the top layer – you don’t want to do it the opposite way because that is how the Japanese dress their dead.

We headed to the onsen to relax. The onsen are single sex and used naked. Before entering the baths, you use a washing station – open, seated showers to lather up and rinse off. Iwaso has both interior and exterior onsen. Although it was chilly out, especially when we visited in the morning, sitting in the hot bath in the beautiful setting and seeing wild deer walk by was amazing.

For dinner we had a kaiseki coursed meal that was beautifully presented and included a lot of raw fish. We were quite comfortable dressed in our Yukata.

While at dinner, our room was prepared for sleeping. The low-table and floor level chairs were moved and futons were waiting for us. Yes, we slept on the floor!

The traditional Japanese breakfast – more raw fish for Jeff; porridge for me – was interesting and even included dessert.

We spent the day exploring Miyajima, starting with a walk through Momijidani Park to the cable car that took us most of the way up Mount Misen, and we hiked the rest of the way up, with our new friend, Sophie, a British exchange student studying Japanese in Kyoto, who tagged along. The views were spectacular.

Of course, there were shrines and temples to stop at and enjoy, as well as wild deer.

We hiked down and enjoyed Daishoin Temple, founded more than 1200 years ago and the oldest temple on the island, where we met the 500 little Rakan buddhas – note their winter hats to keep warm.