Hiroshima – City of Peace and Hope

We leave Nagasaki on the JR Rail “bullet train”, the Shinkansen, at 10:46 a.m. bound for Hiroshima. One stop along the way at the Hakata Station in Fukuoka and then we arrive at Hiroshima station around 2:30 pm.

The train is fast with speeds reaching up to 184 mph! What incredible transportation!

Our visit to Hiroshima is for two nights.  Many come just for the day to visit the city’s Peace Memorial Park, the constant reminder of the world’s first atomic bomb attack that occurred at 8:15 am on August 6, 1945.

Today Hiroshima is a bustling, vibrant cosmopolitan city. Six rivers flow through this beautiful “City of Water”.

Since we arrive mid afternoon and the weather is ok, we head over to Peace Memorial Park and Museum.  The feeling we instantly have of awe, sadness, and disbelief is similar to that of Nagasaki, the Killing Fields of Cambodia, and the War Museum in Saigon.

Of course in Hiroshima and Nagasaki both cities were destroyed. In Hiroshima,  80,000 people were killed instantly and tens of thousands more died in days, weeks, months and years to come from burns, injuries, cancers and other illnesses related to radiation. (For our trip today Nagasaki, click HERE.) In Hiroshima almost everything up to about one mile from the hypocenter was completely destroyed, all homes within 1.5 miles.  Almost all wooden structures within two miles were destroyed.

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial, or Genbaku Dome (genbaku means atomic bomb in Japanese), is what we instantly see as we exit the street car.  The dome is the only structure left standing near the hypocenter of the atomic bomb explosion.

It’s original skeletal remains have been maintained and serve as a stark reminder of the horrors of war and atomic weapons. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the 1990s.

We walk through the grounds and the Peace Park toward the museum.  There are several monuments and symbols along the way. We stop and ring one of the three Peace Bells and pause at the Atomic Bomb Memorial Mound.

The Mound is “hollow” and contains the ashes of approximately 70,000 people that perished and were unclaimed or unknown.  There were many unclaimed people since entire families instantly perished.  As the attached article describes, this memorial likely contains the “greatest concentration of human residue in the world”. For more of this narrative on the Mound click HERE.

The Peace Park also includes the Children’s Peace Monument. The monument was inspired by Sadako Sasaki, who was two years old at the time of the atomic bombing. Sadako developed leukaemia at 11 years old and decided to fold 1000 paper cranes. The crane is the symbol of longevity and happiness in Japan and she believed if she made the 1000 cranes she would recover. She died before she made all the cranes, but her classmates folded the rest. Her story inspired the symbolic paper-crane folding that continues to this day. We see the many thousands of colorful folded cranes.

Surrounding the monument are strings of thousands of colourful paper cranes sent here by school children from around the country and all over the world.

Near the center of the park is the cenotaph, concrete, saddle-shaped monument that holds the names of all of the people killed. The monument is aligned with the Peace Flame and the A-Bomb Dome. The Peace Flame has been burning since August 1st, 1964 and is not to be extinguished until nuclear weapons are eliminated. The arch represents a shelter for the souls of the victims.

We are able to spend about one hour in the Museum before closing.  Many of the stories, impacts, and exhibits are similar to those of the Nagasaki Museum. The museum contains artifacts and photos illustrating the shadows of the victims imprinted on a wall. The incredible intensity of the blast was such that it permanently burned shadows of people and objects into the ground and or walls.

We take the street car back to our hotel and head to the Nagarekawa district of the city.  The district comes to life with lights, people, restaurants, bars, pachinko sites, night clubs, hostess bars and about anything you want!

We find a great spot for the famous Hiroshima okonomiyaki. It is a dish similar to teppanyaki but instead comes in layers. The foundation is a thin pancake on which soba noodles, cabbage, egg, and other ingredients of choice are stacked on top of each other.  My dish includes squid and delicious okonomiyaki sauce!

There is not much English spoken but the wonderful chefs make it happen for us.  While it looks like a lot of food, it is loaded with cabbage and sprouts.  I wouldn’t go as far as healthy but perhaps it’s not too bad for you. The experience is one must enjoy while in Hiroshima!

Monday

We are out early to head to Itsukushima Shrine, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is a Shinto shrine on the island of Itsukushima, also known as Miyajima. It is best known for its “floating” torii gate.

The torii appears to be floating at high tide, when we visit. When the tide is low, it can apparently be reached by foot from the island. Gathering shellfish near the gate is also popular.

It is about a 30 minute train ride and then a 10 minute ferry ride over to the island.  It is very easy to navigate and is all covered by our 21 day JR Rail pass, including the ferry!

The “floating shrine” is visible on the trip over.  Also there are oyster beds in the waters along the way.  The seafood, including shellfish for the Hiroshima area are filled with nutrients from the six nearby rivers that flow into Hiroshima Nay, making for excellent food! Hiroshima is the top oyster-producing city in Japan, accounting for over 60% of oyster production. I enjoy “grilled” oysters in the small town surrounding the shrine.

The shrines and temples are beautiful here.  They are enjoyed by many including the many deer on the island.

But hang on to your belongings. As Tracey was reading her map, one snuck up on her, grabbed the map and would not return it! Good “fiber” for them I hope.

We also walk through the small town surrounding the shrines.  There are many shops, especially food! Even the deer are surmising the options here.

Hiroshima Castle is on the agenda for the afternoon. It is an impressive castle, rebuilt in 1958 after being completely destroyed by the atomic bomb. The museum in the castle effectively describes the history of the Hiroshima area with many artifacts. The grounds and moat around the area remain and there are some great views from the top floor.

Since I am on the oyster kick now, we find a great dinner spot for them, Mabui.  I enjoy raw oysters and oysters baked in their shell from Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and  Kagawa. The tuna tar tar bruschetta is also delicious!

For our nightcap, we find a pub in Hiroshima that sounds a bit like the great pub we found in Nagasaki. Koba is owned by BOM, a musician and lover of music of course. We stop in for a night cap here, and luckily manage to just have a couple.  But our conversation is great with him and his wonderful bartender Mame.  We talk about everything from Bruce Jenner (lol we were looking at a People magazine book with the old Bruce in it) to how he learned English, to Mame’s time in Australia.  Of course, we talk about the Donald.  This is a great stop and should be on the list if you are ever in Hiroshima! For more on BOM and his hospitality, read HERE.

Tuesday

We have a Japanese Western brekkie in the hotel, mostly Japanese, lol.  Off to the Hiroshima Station for the Bullet Train to Osaka. The thoughts, reflections and hope inspired by this wonderful city will remain with us forever!

And a few more pics from this wonderful place!

2 Comments

  • Hi

    It looks like you had a great time in Hiroshima, and great to see you took a couple of days to get to know the place. The link to GetHiroshima is also much appreciated.

    Cheers,
    Paul
    GetHiroshima

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