Hiroshima Fun

Aside from the historical perspective Hiroshima offers, the city itself has so much to give. I was loving the city feel, all the while being surrounded by trees and nature. I absolutely adore when those two elements come together. I made that comment to Jeff one of the days we were there, and he made an observation I never would have thought of. Noting that none of the plants, and buildings for that matter, could be more than 65 years old. With that thought fresh in our minds, we realized that we didn't see too many elderly people either.

Nonetheless, Hiroshima has made its way onto my list of My Favorite Places in Japan.

Here is why...

Spontaneous Maroon 5 songs
from the man under the bridge. 

Shopping!

Miyajima Island

Residential deer (that's what the sign called them), a hike, and a pagoda.

 

Fish Lab

Have a drink. Buy a fish.

Hiroshima Garden

Serene.

                                                   Miyajima Backpackers

Our awesome hostel, and new hostel friends.

Shinkansen

Needs no further introduction.

I left my heart in Hiroshima, 

Kate

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Must Read: Things That Will Make You Feel Old...from Buzzfeed

Google Search: Can you really marry you cousin in North Carolina...apparently yes.

Tune: Sleepyhead By Passion Pit. 

Accomplishment: A successful team taught lesson with Namiko in front of parents.
Obsessions: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest.

The Norm For Me, A Chuckle For You, 4: Hiroshima Edition

One of the major things Jeff and I were looking forward to seeing in Hiroshima, was the Itsukushima Shrine off the coast of Itsukushima/Miyajima Island. The island itself is a 10 minute boat ride away from the mainland and the city of Hiroshima. The Itsukushima shrine is considered an UNESCO World Heritage site, the Japanese government has declared it a National Treasure, and it has been listed as one of Hayahi Gaho Three View of Japan. Anyone I know who has been says it's a must see. At high tide the shrine looks as though its floating, and during low tide you are able to get up close and personal with it. Anyone that knew I was going to Hiroshima, told me I must absolutely see it, and when I said that it was on our list of things to do they all exhaled with a sigh of relief. 

To sum up, it's a big deal. 

Itsukushima Shrine at high tide.

Itsukushima Shrine at low tide.

When we got off the local train in Hiroshima we walked over to look at a map. As Jeff was pointing out where we were (as I have the ability to get lost in a tunnel) I noticed a sign explaining that the Itsukushima Shrine was under renovation due to a massive storm that whipped through Japan on April 2 and 3. Though it was under renovation, the shrine was still open to the public. I was relieved. Jeff sorted us out on the map, we bought boat tickets to use the next day and were off to find our hostel. 

Tuesday morning we woke up and threw on some hiking clothes. After visiting the shrine we planned to hike around the island. The man working at the hostel, who at this point was our new BFF, gave us a kite to fly once we got to the top of the mountain. We were stoked. We grabbed our tickets and were off.

We headed to the top deck of the boat and leaned over the side bound for the island. We stared for a solid few minutes waiting for the shrine to come into view.

“I don't see it,”Jeff said straining to look in the distance.

“Me neither,” I replied.

“It's big and red, how can we miss it?”

I cut him off mid sentence, when I realized we were looking straight at it. The meaning behind the sign I had read the day earlier kicked in and I realized that the massive thing with scaffolding around it, blending in to the mountain, was it.

“Ohmygod...No way.”

“What?!” said Jeff

“That is it! See the little bit of red at the top, and the grey below. I read a sign at the station yesterday saying it was under construction, but still open so I thought nothing of it. Dude that is it! The big fat famous shrine...with a freakin sweater on.”

“You have got to be kidding! What the hell!”

Just as Jeff said that, the elderly couple to my right, in true Japanese form let out a, 

“kirei! sugoy!”

I couldn't help but turn to look at them, checking to see that we were looking at the same thing, then glanced back toward the shrine to check that the scaffolding was still there.
It was.

Beautiful was not the word I going to use to describe it.

View from the boat.

Since we went with the intention of taking lots of pictures of this beautiful, massive, historical, gorgeous, floating landmark, that is what we did and I am going to damn well share them with you.

One of my favorite shots of the trip.
It has `You`ve gotta be freakin me` written all over it.

1/2 Shrine Viewed,

Kate

Oh, and there was no wind to fly our kite. Though carrying it up and down the mountain in its packaging was equally as entertaining. Not.

P.S. Read the other The Norm for Me A Chuckle for You posts, here.

Hiroshima History

When I got off the shinkansen in Hiroshima last Monday, I had no idea what to expect. Like most people, all I knew of the city was that it was the site of the 1st ever atomic bomb. A bomb dropped by my home country no less. I debated whether or not I should be Canadian for these 4 days. Through a bit of research beforehand (and common sense), I knew the city itself would be a memorial to that fateful August 6, 1945. My travel buddy, Jeff, and I were there to see Peace Memorial Park, Peace Memorial Museum, the A-Dome and a few other attractions centered around peace. Hiroshima had a totally different vibe than Tokyo. It was more laid back, in a sense more free thinking, and I felt like I saw more opinions and individualism than I do in Tokyo. The city was definitely peace themed. And can we blame them? If you had an atomic bomb dropped on you, you'd no doubt be pushin peace too. 

Travelers.

[The A-Dome]

a.k.a. The Atomic Dome

Before.

“This building was complete in April of 1915 under the design and super vision of Czech architect Jan Letzel, 

capturing the fancy of the citizens of Hiroshima with its characteristic green dome. The atomic bomb exploded at an 

altitude of 580 meters, approximately 160 meters southeast of the Industrial Promotion Hall, instantly killing everyone

inside the building which was seriously damaged and completely burned out. In December 1996 the structure was added to 

the UNESCO World Heritage List as a reminder to the entire world of the horrors of the atomic bomb and a symbol of 

global peace.”

-taken from the placard outside the dome

After.

                                                              

                                                                     [Sadako Sasaki Memorial]

                                                                             Sadako Sasaki

January 7, 1943 – October 25, 1955 

“Sadako Sasaki was a Japanese girl who was two years old when the atomic bomb was dropped on August 6, 1945, near her home by Misasa Bridge in Hiroshima, Japan. Sadako is remembered through the story of attempting to fold a thousand origami cranes before her death, and is to this day a symbol of innocent victims of war.”

-from Wikipedia.

Sadako Sasaki`s wiki page is worth reading.

The memorial consists of a statue of Sadako and sets and sets of 1,000 paper cranes folded by kids from all over the world. It was powerful to say the least.

[Peace Memorial Park]

That is the A-Dome in the background.
That flame represents the presence of nuclear weapons.
It will be extinguished once they are eradicated.

[Hypnocenter] 

“Carried to Hiroshima from Tinian Island by the Enola Gay, a U.S. Army B-29 bomber, the first atomic bomb used in the history of humankind exploded approximately 580 meters above this spot. The city below was hit by heat rays of approximately 3,000 to 4,000 degrees Celsius along with a blast wind and radiation. Most people in the area lost their lives instantly. The time was 8:15am, August 6, 1945.” 

-taken from the placard at the Hypnocenter

“View from the devastation looking north from the hypocenter,
November 1945. ” 
* It was raining the day we visited site, adds a unique element to this photo I think.

[Peace Memorial Museum]

Wise words from Pope John Paul II.

Before.

After.
The A-Dome is the building still standing next to the river, and
the white card on the left hand side shows the hypnocenter.

Letters of Protest.
Every time their is any sort of nuclear testing done anywhere in the world,
the mayor of Hiroshima writes a letter of protest. The museum had the hundreds
of letters covering 4 or 5 walls, top to bottom.

Letter of Protest to the U.S.
This one is from 1991, but I did see one to Obama.

Before.

After.
The little red dot on the white paper is where the museum is located.

Something to think about.

Annual Peace Memorial Ceremony.

Mayors for Peace.
Mayors around the world that have vowed to end nuclear war.

Appalled and thought provoked, 

Kate

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Dusk at Peace Park.
Modern day Hiroshima in the foreground. History in the background.