One of the most peaceful islands in Japan is Miyajima in Hiroshima Prefecture. I will never forget the morning walk to Miyajima at 6 a.m. alone. The Itsukushima shrine torii gate showed up alone, and I walked to the gate, looking above, just under the gate. Miyajima does not have many deer like Nara Park, but looking around them on the island, they live quietly with locals. I liked that no one was feeding them. This is absolutely one of my favorite places in Japan. One of the reasons I really want to take my daughter to Hiroshima is because I want her to learn about the history of Hiroshima. Her school trip was cancelled because of the pandemic a couple of years ago, so she did not have a chance to come to learn about Hiroshima. And her purpose was to go to the Universal Studio in Osaka afterwards.

It was wonderful going to Osaka. Osaka has such a different vibe from Tokyo. People are so much friendlier, cheap, and good food, for sure. We had a wonderful autumn trip.