When we left the shrine, we found another smaller one alongside. Hajime was trying to tell me the story of the history of the shrine but the communication was difficult, but I think that was mostly due to the fact that I was confusing the story he told with another story I'd heard. He did get across the names of the two samurai that the shrine honored  so I looked it up on Wikipedia...
        According to records, the samurai Taira no Kiyomori (the first to establish a samurai-dominated government in Japan) gave the shrine its present form. In 1153, after the death of his father, he became head of the Taira clan. In 1156, he and Minamoto no Yoshitomo, head of the Minamoto clan, suppressed the Hogen Rebellion. This rebellion occurred when Emperor Todo died and two of his sons, Emperor Sutoku and Emperor Go-Shirakawa disputed over the succession of the throne.  Taira no Kiyomori and  Minamoto no Yoshitomo backed Go-Shirakawa.
        On July 11th, they led 600 calvary and attacked a palace of Emperor Sutoku. The fierce battle ended with Kiyomori and Yoshitomo victorious and the two established the dominant samurai clans in Kyoto. However, this established a rivalry between the two clans. In 1159 a battle broke out between the two clans and Taira no Kiyomori was victorious and he seized Minamoto lands and established the first samurai dominated government. There was still the emperor, but he served more as a figure-head, much as he still does to this day. The head samurai, as Hajime explained to me (this part he managed to get across) is essentially the same as today's prime minister, the one with the true power.
        Then we walked by some shops on our way back to the central square. The others were peaking in the shops, but Hajime and I were so engrossed in conversation that I didn't even notice the surroundings. That is until we approached a momiji manju shop... the smell was intoxicating! Momiji manju is another local treat of this area. They are maple-leaf shaped pastries traditionally filled with custard or red beans. We got to watch them being made right there! Kennichi was so sweet, he bought an entire box so we each could taste one! They were delicious! Mmmmmmmm..... momiji manju.... mmmm..... I need to go back to Japan! Can I just live in Miyajima, please? No traffic lights, few cars, no roads to the mainland, no big buildings, lots of peace and serenity and trees and delicious food! Yes, please!
        After eating our treats we walked to the center square but it was packed with people! Hundreds of people were waiting in line for oysters and it felt like chaos (although very orderly chaos, afterall, it was Japan, even the chaos is orderly). There was an oyster festival going on that day, which at first I thought would be cool. But after having such a peaceful, enlightening morning with my new tomodachis, I found the crowds a little repulsive. My tomodachis were definitely turned off by it all and they decided to leave early. They didn't know there were going to be crowds like that. They were expecting a nice peaceful trip to Miyajima. Well, at least we had the morning then! Hopefully our presence added to their trip instead of detracting from it... I really hope we were obnoxious Americans and the whole time they actually just wanted us to leave, but judging by their smiles, I think they appreciated our presence almost as much as we appreciated theirs.
        We bid our farewells and exchanged emails. I told them that if they ever make it to California, I'd love to show them the same hospitality they showed us! I said arrigatai, which is a deep sense of thanks and gratitude, for all their help and friendship and then they went on their way. Perhaps our paths will cross again someday.
        Mike, Brittany and I worked our way through the crowds to sit and watch a performance that was going on on the stage. I think it was a noh play, at least that's what the information I read on the oyster festival said. But to me, it somehow seemed meaningless. Hajime told me that these plays are supposed to be done on a sacred stage in a shrine for a peaceful audience, and this was the exact opposite of that. It was a commercially-replicated production intended for tourists who had little to no interest or understanding. I couldn't watch more than two minutes of it before me desire to find peace and quiet overwhelmed me. So I told Mike and Brittany I was going to go for a walk to find a nice place to write and I'd meet them in an hour to take the ferry back to the mainland.
        I started walking, trying to escape the noise. I had no idea where I was going, I just let my heart guide me and I figured a good path would unfold. Sure enough it did. I started walking up into one neighborhood and towards the woods and slowly the noise started to fade away. I found a small footpath (or possibly deer path) into the woods and followed it. Eventually, I had to walk out my own trail, and I ended up finding my own personal meditation shrine. There was even a small, natural torii for me to walk through that was made of two trees leaning against one another. I walked through the gate and found a great patch of moss to sit on. So I sat and listened to the trees and wrote. I intended to write of my new friends and the days activities, but what I wrote was nothing like that...
        “The universe is unfolding just as it should. As it is meant to be. Everything has purpose and meaning, whether intrinsic or applied by the psyche of man is unimportant. Even those things that seem destructive and harmful can be turned around as an opportunity for change and new purpose in life. Without the darkness there cannot be light. Without the sorrow there cannot be joy. Without the lost, there cannot be found.
        I am found. I am at peace. The universe has a path for me, and I feel I have found it. It may be a lonely road at times, for others have not found their way and cannot understand how I feel, no matter how hard they try.
        I am in a forest, the path to this spot presented itself and guided me away from the chaos that is beneath.
        Near the shore there is a festival. Dancing and music and oysters. But they are not important right now. Or it is not that they are unimportant, its just that they are currently lacking their meaning. They are done to entertain tourists. To bring in money. Not so much to celebrate the joy and beauty around.
        If only I had a lute to play right now (and I knew how to play it, but for some reason I feel like if I had one I would magically be able to play it without any training). Then I could make music.
        But that would dull the sounds of the birds, of the wind, of the trees.
        No. I like it just how it is. No lute is necessary.
        These woods reminds me so much of my home. I could live here happily. But my roots are in Santa Cruz and I would rather those roots grow deeper than uproot them and more elsewhere
        ...
        I hope I do not lose sight of my path as many others have. But I sense that so long as I keep my heart pure and open and let my spirit be free, the universe will allow things to unfold exactly as they should.
        Arigatai”

        On my wandering back to my friends, I found several small simple, Shinto shrines. The best of which was at the top of this HUGE staircase and was perched overlooking the populated portions of the island. I had the spot all to myself. Actually, I think there was one man up there watching the oyster festival, but I was so in my own world that I hardly noticed. It was old and rustic, just what I like. Wandering down the hill, I befriended a few deer and a dog and observed some lovely plum blossoms.
        I felt very spiritual, very connected. Sure, maybe there is no planned path for us all, no fate, no god writing down our destinies. But that doesn't mean we can let out spirits be free and find meaning behind everything in our lives. Maybe it is more of an existential stance I want to take, but there's a certain romance in the spiritual realm that existentialism just doesn't provide...
       
         I felt very guided throughout Japan. Everything was working out even when they went “wrong.”
        For instance, if the ryokan hadn't been booked, we would have stayed there instead and never met Hisa or any of the others at the hostel. We would have never taken the ferry in the morning. Or if I hadn't been too busy drinking tea and missed the first ferry we would have never taken  the second ferry and would have never made our new friends. Sure, maybe other adventures would have presented themselves and who am I to judge whether they would have been better or worse, all I know is that things worked out better than I could have every imagined and that's only because a few things went “wrong”.

        We got back to the hostel and Hisa thought my note was funny. I told him and another man who was there (a traveler who had just arrived in Japan but was planning to work at the hostel and stay for a long time) about my friends and my project. This man (I wish I could remember his name, I should have written it down) gave me the web addresses of a few environmental sites that are meant for people starting projects to put some information down about what they are doing and then others read it and if they know of anyone who can help out, they connect you. It could be a great networking site, especially if this project carries on past SAS, but I shouldn't get ahead of myself just yet...
        We bid some more farewells and got on the train headin to Kobe. Arrived about 2 hours before on ship time, just as planned. Being back on the boat after all the adventures I'd had was bizarre. But its time to move on for more adventures! Off to China!