I hate this deer.
I may need to elaborate. I'm not an awful person, I promise, or at least not because of the deer thing.
***
In mid-October my family came to visit me, which was fun because I got to pretend like I spoke Japanese and knew things about Japan. On the last day of their trip they wanted to go to Miyajima, an island off Hiroshima Bay, famous for its iconic 'floating torii' - a coral-coloured holy gate which, at high tide, appears to float free and serene on glimmering waters. It's the most beautiful place I've ever been to.
The boat to the island takes a mere ten minutes. At this time of year, while all the chumps in Europe are putting out jack o' lanterns, dodging falling leaves and struggling into ugly jumpers, here in Japan it still feels like high summer. The midyear humidity has drawn away and left the kind of pleasant sun that coruscates in every corner. Getting close to the island we could see the famous torii, but it was still a few hours until the tide was high enough to create the 'floating' illusion, so alas the mystery was denuded.
It's actually standing on the ground! Still, though. The light on the sea danced in a million spots and the view was really something to behold. The weather was perfect too. Certainly something I like to look back on now it's almost January and oil turns solid in my saucepan if I leave it unwashed overnight.
On the island the first thing I noticed were some big weird dogs that a lot of tourists seemed to be very excited about for some reason. I got a little closer and realised they weren't actually dogs.
Awwwwww. Deer! Actual deer, walking around! How cute!
That's what you think. At first.
***
The island is wonderful to walk around. One thing I really like about Japan is that the gift/souvenir shops around touristy areas seem to sell actual things you might want in your house. Proper, reasonably-priced gifts of a nice quality - handmade daruma (egg-shaped dolls), delicate hair accessories, wooden figurines - instead of cheap plasticky tat. Look at all these nice shops selling non-tat.
After wandering round the paths and taking in the sun for a while, my parents realised they had to leave if they wanted to catch their train. Emotional goodbyes and blah blah blah. After waving my family off and having a bit of a melancholy sit-down, me and Nick decided the best way to cheer me up was the classic way: ice-cream.
Now. You would think a paradise like this would be the perfect place to have a lovely ice-cream cone, wouldn't you?
Don't count on it. Bambi hates Paradise.
Deer are a little aggressive, as it turns out. This one was de-horned - presumably there's a man whose job it is to go round the whole island and do all the de-horning - but once it became clear I wasn't going to let him have a go at the ice-cream he started becoming more insistent and began to butt me. Which still hurts, by the way, even without horns. Eventually, after a few minutes of struggle, I realised it wasn't worth the hassle and took my treat inside, leaving him to brood. I decided to chalk it up as a draw and buy myself coffee, too, out of self-pity.
There were a couple of hours still left until high tide, which were taken up with wandering and deer avoidance. There's an amazing pagoda, and the shrine, and the views of the island and the sea. Pictures will do better than words, for now:
The whole experience was incredible, like walking through an illustration of a book; a slice of almost-perfect beauty (the camera really doesn't do it justice). I found a spot by the sea, watching it lap each time a little higher, and sat down to read the book my mum had given me as a parting gift. Who on earth would disturb a happy visitor like me, enjoying a fleeting supramundane moment of tranquility?
A deer ate my book. The foreword, at least. Just came wandering up, and with solemn determination started chewing on the acknowledgements before I had even had a chance to understand what was happening. I had to tear the rest of the book out of its mouth to save it, and flee. Bloody criminals. Never let your guard down.
I won't be ending on a negative note though. The day was worth any number of encounters with omnivorous pestilences. Just look at this gate:
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