Hiroshima

Arrival

We didn’t make it to our hotel in Hiroshima until about 10pm, which was lucky because the reception closed at 10pm. We had had a long day; sightseeing in Okinawa, the flight and bus ride to the hotel took a little longer than expected (it always does) so we took a quick walk around the area and found a little local restaurant to eat at. A local helped us by translating the menu for us in his broken English, and we sat and chatted to a group of new graduates who were training in Hiroshima to be systems engineers (a very common job here in Japan). First impressions of Hiroshima were good; friendly people, nice looking city, and good food.

Peace Park

There are a few things that you have to do when you come to Hiroshima, so we took our first day here to do them. The first thing we did was have ourselves a Hiroshima lunch of Okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake), massive, so full. Our hotel was about a 5 minute walk to the Peace Park and the A-Bomb Dome, so we took off hesitantly looking up at the rain clouds overhead. The Peace Park is a tribute and reminder to the atomic bomb that was dropped there on August 6th, 1945. The bomb exploded about 600 metres above what is now a huge park and museum, dedicated to sending the message to get rid of all nuclear bombs around the world. There is an ever-burning flame that will only go out once all the bombs have been destroyed (this flame will undoubtedly never go out).

Memorial dedicated to the teachers and children

Main arch with the Atomic Bomb Dome in the distance

Childrens memorial

Within the park there is a statue erected in memory of all the children who died from the bomb, a statue in memory of all the mobilised children that were forced to build army barracks etc in the city, a peace clock tower, a statue in memory of all the Chinese and Koreans who were forcibly brought to Japan to help build and supply food, and a peace mound, where all the ashes of unknown victims are buried. All these monuments really leave a feeling hanging in the air around the park. At each monument, there are thousands of origami cranes hanging in really bright colours, this tradition started when a little girl, Sadako.

“Sadako was exposed to the A-bomb when she was 2 years old. Ten years later she entered the Red Cross Hospital with radiation-related leukaemia. Despite the pain from her disease, she faithfully folded paper cranes in hope of a cure. Despite the valiant effort, her brief life ended after an 8 month struggle “

At the far end of the park, there is the A-bomb Dome, which, at the time of the bombing, was the Industrial Promotion Hall. This building is the only remnant from the city that remains. The building is listed as a World Heritage site, and is truly amazing to see. The reason that this building wasn’t completely destroyed is because the bomb detonated almost directly above it. You get a strange feeling standing on a place where a bomb that sized landed, and wiped out basically everything within 2 km.

Oishii!! Hiroshima style okonomiyaki. Had to be tried

The notorious Atomic Bomb Dome

As the rain started to fall we went to the adjacent Peace Museum. This museum has over 19000 pieces all related to the A-bomb. It starts by telling a history of Japan’s military starting from the Edo period (1603-1868). It explains the build up to the war and the eventual dropping of the bomb. The museum displays letters written by Albert Einstein to President Roosevelt explaining the possibility of a bomb of increased power. It also explains why America chose Japan as a target over Germany and other countries (so Russia’s influence would be minimised after the war, not just to end the war).

Included in the museum is information about radiation, h-bombs, damage to the city, the nuclear age, the path to peace (unlikely), and articles of clothing and possessions recovered after the bomb. There are also photos of victims that show the damage caused to their bodies from the bomb.

There were so many school kids in the museum on excursions, and it was quite traumatising for some of them. We saw some young girls bawling their eyes out being comforted by their friends. We had now visited the Okinawan museum and the Hiroshima museum within 2 days of each other, so we were feeling a little overwhelmed by it all.

The nuclear counter

We changed direction and checked out the Museum of Contemporary Art. Quite a small exhibition and the place was completely deserted. There were some interesting pieces there, and included a piece by Andy Warhol.

Gallery window

10 of Andy Warhol's Marilyns

Amazing. Huge oil painting. The reflections are so realistic.

We capped the day off by doing some shopping and had dinner at a local izakaya.

Miyajima & Baseball

We woke early and caught the street car (tram) to Miyajima (in Japanese jima or shima means island). Sophi had been wanting to go here so badly ever since arriving in Japan 9 months ago. Itsukishima Shrine is probably the most famous in Japan, and has an enormous Torii gate seemingly floating in the water during high tide. During low tide you can walk out to the gate and walk through it. We went during high tide; it is much more beautiful then. On the island there are wild deer wandering around everywhere, and there are countless souvenir shops selling delicious foods and oysters (we tried some; the verdict, delicious!).

Yum. Miyajima oysters on hot rocks

The god praised deer

New pet

Famous torii gates floating on the sand

So cool. A temple on the water

We also checked out the Treasure Hall which displays some national treasures, including sculptures, paintings and handicrafts. Again, we did some more souvenir shopping, and made it onto the 1.30 ferry back to mainland.

Serenity

A traditional Japanese wedding, lucky us!

Wedding preparations

Sake storage. Love it, right in the temple

These little guys were everywhere!

The 'photo spot'

Gaijin loving school girls!

Now that's a rice spoon!

Cam had been told about a place to visit by a student of his, so we decided to make the 1 hour journey to Iwakuni to see the city. By chance, Iwakuni happens to be only about 20 minutes from Miyajima, so made our trip a lot faster. Iwakuni is a beautiful old city in the mountains, and it has a bridge leading to a really traditional Japanese town with a castle way up in the mountains.

Iwakuni bridge: said to be built with no nails or bolts

I think they lied, I see bolts!

Surrounding gardens at the base of the mountain

Some type of blossom... still hope yet!

Is this to entice or scare? Mickey's looking very unhealthy

More blossoms

The albino snake: worshiped like a god

The weather had been kind to us, and we had wanted to go to a baseball game for a while now, so
we went to the stadium to watch the Hiroshima Carps smash the Tokyo Swallows. We bought the best tickets in the stadium, but when we got in we realised that it was really the boring section. We downgraded our tickets and sat in the rowdy area with all the die-hard fans. Before the game started the players launched some autographed balls into the crowd and Cam jumped on a fumbled ball and claimed it to the disappointment of the guy in front of us. The Japanese fans have specific songs that they sing for each player depending on what situation the game is in. We couldn’t figure out how they know what to sing when. We met some cool Japanese people and drank with them during the game, but, being a week night they all went straight home after the game and we were left to find a drinking hole on our own. We asked a few people where the best places to drink were, but we got sent on a wild goose chase and ended up in the business area. We wondered home, drunk enough anyway, and called it a night.

Go carpy's!

Love it! Always fully dressed in the gear

7th inning: releasing of the balloons!!

Waiting....

Our new baseball friends. No idea what the sign says

Well on the way of drunken frivolity

Farewell

We had planned to have another serving of okonomiyaki before we left Hiroshima, and then go to Kirishiki on the way to Okayama. There were a ton of okonomiyaki restaurants and we managed to choose one that ended up being quite gross. The chef was a lady about 70 years old, with crusty fingernails, and partially blind (3 things you don’t want when you are a chef!). The food was below average and we jumped on the shinkansen bound for Kirishiki. Sophi mis-heard the announcement and we got off at Fukuyama, and the next train wasn’t for another hour, so we gave it a miss and went straight to Okayama.

Yum

Hiroshima street scape. Not much but trams

Still a nice scape considering the recovery from the bombing

The beer machine in our hostel

We checked into the Comfort Hotel, and it so much better to have our own private bathroom! We can say we tried the whole 'backpacking' thing! We were so exhausted from all the sightseeing we had been doing, so we walked around the (tiny) city and had a big feed and a few beers at a local Japanese restaurant.