Beautiful Hiroshima

Not-so-flaoting Tori gate...Miyajima
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Rumours said nothing would grow here for 75 years, and Hiroshima is really giving the finger to those rumours!  We arrived late-ish last night, had a wander around, and other than a few plaques here and there we never felt like we were in a city totalled by an atomic bomb.  The city is beautifully laid out...it's a series of islands connected by bridges, with lots of green spaces, excellent public transport and heaps of interesting things to see.  And we're staying in a really comfy hostel - K's house, Hiroshima - so we're enjoying things so far!

A-Dome - Hiroshima.
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Woke up earlyish this morning and took the JR train, then JR ferry out to Miyajima Island to see the famous floating Tori gate. Arrived at low tide though, so initially we were treated to the sight of the stuck-in-the-sand Tori gate!  Managed to avoid the deer wandering about and checked out some of the other shrines and pagodas, in particular one dedicated to the deities of music.  On our way back (managing to avoid the deer roaming around...my butt's still bruised...we caught the Tori gate at high-er tide, so managed to get a couple of the usual Tori-on-the-water-ooh-it-looks-like-it's-floating photos.

A humbling experience - Hiroshima.

Peace Memorial Park
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Headed back to Hiroshima City after doing a bit of window shopping on the island (it's amazing how satisfying window shopping is when you're travelling the world), and we jumped on the cheapo tram (150 yen each) to visit the hypocentre site of the atomic bomb explosion.  It's extremely beautiful here...the area is now known as the Peace Park, with a variety of memorials, a museum and lots of lovely green space for folk to sit around in.  It was a lot more overwhelming than we expected it to be; the A-Dome has been preserved since the explosion, and is now a Unesco World Heritage site.  It's quite strange to see in the flesh; Hiroshima is a place we've heard about, but I don't think we could ever realise the true horror of what happened until we saw the area with our own eyes.  Seeing the destruction of the massive concrete and steel building, unchanged since the explosion, gives a sense of reality to the horrific history of the place.  We were a bit disturbed to see a fair few tourists posing for photos in front of the A-dome...made us feel a bit like they didn't fully appreciate what it represents, but hopefully they made it to the Peace Memorial Museum which should help it hit home.

Stopped watch - Hiroshima.
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So we had a walk through the well designed park...it was designed with a clear path straight through it from the Peace Memorial Museum, through the cenotaph containing the names of all victims, past the flame which will not be extinguished 'til all nuclear weapons have been destroyed, and finally taking your view to the A-dome.  Very powerful design, and very effective.  Checked out the Peace Memorial Museum which is only 50yen entry.  It was a humbling experience; lots of information regarding the technical aspects of nuclear weaponry, lots of information about the pre-a-bomb Hiroshima, and finall, lots of information, photos and artefacts of post-a-bomb Hiroshima.  This was pretty harrowing, as there were lots of photos showing the scale of destruction caused, in particular the effects the bomb had on Hiroshima residents, many of whom are still alive today (known as Hibakusha).  I cried several times during the visit...I think it would be impossible not to be affected by the place.  There were lots of videos of interviews with survivors, showing the pain and suffering they still experience now.  I won't go into too much detail about it, but we both think people should visit this place.

Some things we learned today:  Churchill and Roosevelt decided to go ahead with testing nuclear weapons;  Albert Einstein signed the letter sent to Roosevelt recommending research into nuclear warfare;  Hiroshima was chosen as the target because it was the only location which didn't contain a prisoner-of-war camp.

There was also a section acknowledging the role Japan played in that particular war, and accepting that it's not only atomic war that's wrong, all war is wrong.  It gave some info on more recent wars, and there was also a lot of information on what's being done regarding nuclear armament today.  So it was an interesting place to visit, and it gave us some food for thought.

After our visit to the park, we headed back into town where we tried out some AMAZING Okonomiyaki Hiroshima style...basically a pancake with noodles on top, then egg, then brown sauce style stuff.  So tasty...we promise to cook some when we get back!

And now we're finally up to date with the bloody blog!  Heading to Himeji Castle tomorrow (amazing castle, and apparently it's in some Streetfighter game?), then we'll be spending the night in Beppu, trying out a Ryokan the following night, then heading up north to visit our friend Z from back home.  Can't believe we're leaving Japan in just over 1 week for Thailand...mental how quickly time flies!  We LOVE JAPAN!  I know we keep saying it, but you all HAVE to visit here if you get the chance.