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Ayako Teramoto and Mustafa Al Hamali |
Mysterious Island, Miyajima
Ayako Teramoto
AES 130 Communications Skills
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Ayako Teramoto and Mustafa Al Hamali |
Mysterious Island, Miyajima
Ayako Teramoto
Miyajima is a small island and belongs to Hiroshima prefecture. Miyajima itself has been worshiped as a god for several centuries because very beautiful natural scenery exists there. Because of its beautiful natural scenery, it is one of "The Three Views of Japan." Moreover, there are several shrines and temples in Miyajima and the most famous shrine there is Itsukushima Shrine. The scenery from an aerial view is so beautiful. I have never seen it from the sky, but there are many pictures of it. For these reasons, Miyajima is a very popular tourist place and also there are many places to visit and delicious food there. I'll introduce Miyajima with many beautiful pictures.
History of Miyajima
It is said that Itsukushima Shrine was built in 593. In 1146, a very famous Japanese general Taira-no-Kiyomori became the ruler of Aki Province, the western Hiroshima. The present-day shrine was built by him in 1168. In 1179, the Shrine was added to the 22 nd Imperial Shrine. One hundred years later, Kagura, a kind of Japanese dance for gods, was offered up to the Shrine by another famous general Minamoto-no-Yoritomo. Many shoguns visited Miyajima and the Itsukushima Shrine for many years. Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a famous general, started to build Senjoukaku, which means "a thousand tatami on a hall", near the Itsukushima Shrine in 1587. In 1889, Itsukushima Town was established, which was changed to Miyajima Town in 1950. The National treasures of Miyajima were nominated as Important Cultural Property in 1950. Miyajima Island was nominated as a special historical spot in 1952. In 1996, Itsukushima Shrine was added as World Cultural Heritage site.
Itsukushima Shrine
Photos http://www.arch-hiroshima.net/arch-hiroshima/arch/seto/i-shrine_e.html
Itsukushima Shrine is the primary temple and famous for its beauty and Otorii (mentioned below). It was first built in 593 and after that, it was rebuilt and enlarged many times and became what it is today. There are many parts in the shrine. The main part is called Honsha-Honden which is sacred to three gods of the sea, Ichikishima-himenomikoto, Tagori-himenomikoto and Tagitsu-himenomikoto. The present Honden was rebuilt by the famous general, Mori Motonari, in 1571.
Otorii
Otorii is the huge vermilion gate standing in front of the Itsukushima Shrine in the sea. Records in the Heian period (794-1192) said that there was an Otorii at that time, but its shape and structure might be different from what it is now. The present-day Otorii was built in 1875. Its height is approximately 52 feet. The Otorii is well-known as a symbol of Japanese tourism to other countries. The scene of Otorii standing in the sea is very beautiful and mysterious, so it is very popular among tourists, not only from Japan, but also from overseas. When I first went to Miyajima and saw it, I was very impressed and overpowered with its size and beauty. It is most beautiful at high tide on a sunny day.
Misen
It is the 530-miters-high mountain in Miyajima Island. You can take a ropeway to the top of the mountain. On the way to the top, you can see Japanese monkeys and dear. And there are such beautiful forests that you cannot see in other places. There are also many small shrines and temples at Misen and each shrine is sacred to each god, but the same gods as Itsukushima shrine are enshrined in Miyama shrine. There is a temple named Misen Hondo which was founded in 806 by a famous Buddhist monk named Kukai. There is "Kiezu no hi" meaning "eternally burning fire", which has been burning for about 1200 years and is considered as sacred fire. The fire at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park came from the Kiezu no hi.
Food
The most famous food in Miyajima is "Momiji-manju", which is maple leaf-shaped steamed bun. There are many flavors: small-bean jam, chocolate, green tea and custard cream. Miyajima is also famous for natural oyster and conger eel and there are several oyster and conger eel restaurants. When I was an elementary school student, I went to Miyajima for the first time and I ate broiled conger eel. It has been my favorite food since then and I eat Momiji-manju at least twice a year.
Now, go and see Miyajima by yourself and you will know how beautiful it is!! I know a good web site for you. Click here!
Al-Qatif City in Saudi Arabia
Mustafa Al Hamali
Qatif city is a small city in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, but it's one of the important cities because of its strategic location and the economic resources of Al-Qatif city. Qatif city is a coastal city that is located on the Arabian Golf in the east part of Saudi Arabia. It covers and includes many small cities, such as, Saihat, Anak, Safwa, Awamiya, Awjam, Qudaih, Khuwailidiya, Jaroodiya, Al-Jish, Umm Al-Hamam, as well as Tarout Island . Al-Qatif has long history, and a large area of green land covers it.
According to the Al-Qatife Oasis website, Al-Qatif city is a historical city because of its important location in a strategic position and for its natural resources. For these reasons emigrants, such as Caledonians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Hittites, and Phoenicians found that place was a positive to settle. Al-Qatife has been a good place for settlers since the Stone Age. In fact, the history of Al-Qatife city goes back to 3500 B.C.E in the last period of the Bronze Age, which was the age before the age of steel. It had many different names, for example, the most famous name was " Al-Khutt" and "Cateus" which was a Greek name. " The fact that Qatif Oasis had a prominent presence in the Persian Gulf region can be easily seen from the first look at this map, which dates back to 1606 and was presented at the Museum of Amsterdam".
Qatif is one of the largest oases in Saudi Arabia that gave it many exports in the past till now. In the past Al-Qatif city had many economic sources, such as palm trees where people in the past could get dates, fishing and of course, springs or wellheads of water which were the most important source for Al-Qatif city where people could take a path on them and wash their clothes. The source of water was considered as a historical enigma that has historians and geologists are still confused. They don't know exactly who built these wells. In addition, there are several theories that historians tell us about how did the wells were built, for example, the most famous theory is that a group of people known as "Alamalika" who were the builders of those wellheads, where they inhabited the area thousands years ago.
There are many artifacts that prove the history of Al-Qatif city, such as remains and cemeteries, Castles and citadels. Tarut Castle is one of the most important historical sites. "The Citadel was built between (1515-1521 A.D) by the people of Qatif or Tarut for protection against Portuguese attackers. Another story is that the Portuguese built it for protection against Turkish attacks. "
Today, Al-Qatif city is the most important city in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Actually, because of oil fields that located there. Oil was discovered after they discovered the oil most of Qatifean people were seeking to be an employment with Saudi ARAMCO. Also, Al-Qatif is the richest city in the whole Saudi Arabia because of the oil where is Saudi ARAMCO working at the biggest project which knows by Qatif project. As a result, Al-Qatif city was an important city in the past, as well as now in our life. That shows the history of Al-Qatif is back again to admire Al-Qatif city as the most important city in the Saudi Arabia.
1- http://www.qatifoasis.com/gal.php
In general, most people have favorite cities in their countries, which are attractive for them. Of course, there are many beautiful cities in the whole world, but they are differe4nt from one city to another, which means each city has differences and similarities. Here we would like to compare and contrast between our favorite cities, which are Al-Qatif city in Saudi Arabia and Miyajima town in Japan.
There are some similarities between Miyajima in Japan and Al-Qatif in Saudi Arabia. Both of them are historical places and have a valuable heritage. As we mentioned above, Itsukushima Shrine, which is the main shrine in Miyajima, was established in 593 A.D. and Al-Qatif was founded in 3500 B.C.E with castle such as Tarut Castle dating from the early days. Miyajima as well as Al-Qatif city are located in strategic places on the sea. Both places have the Asian characteristics and they are both rather small.
There are also differences between these places. First of all, the economic source for Miyajima I tourism while that of Al-Qatif city is oil. The most attractive thing in Miyajima is Itsukushima Shrine. On the other hand, springs in Al-Qatif are what attract many people.
Places in the world which are separated geographically have many similarities and differences as do Miyajima and Al-Qatif. These two are historical, strategic, small and attractive cities. On the other hand, they have a few differences, such as economic source. We hope a lot of information we gave you above will help you know and understand our favorite places and encourage you to visit there!!
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