Roving Japan

Hiroshima Photoset

Since we plan on spending another night in Hiroshima, we got to leave our heavy packs in the room for the day. I detached the removable top compartment and wore it as a hip pack, while Risa just had to carry the camera.

Our first stop was the huge “Peace Park” complex in the center of town. As we got close, the first thing we came across was the “Gembaku Dome” or A-Bomb Dome. This was pretty impressive, although I must say that it was less impressive than I had originally thought it would be. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a harsh reminder of the horrors of the bomb… but the memorial has had so much restoration work done to it, that it no longer looks like something that was actually there. All the exposed steel has been painted, and all the cracks and dings in the walls have been filled with special material. The entire structure is also being supported by a massive steel skeleton. The result is that up close, it looks almost fake to me.

Risa doesn’t agree with my view. She thinks that the dome is very impressive. She didn’t mind the restoration work. For her the dome was very impactful and heartbreaking. She also liked the flowers that surround the dome because they kind of soften the harshness of the past. In her view the single most impressive thing we saw all day was the dome, and everyone should make the trip to see it.

After the dome, we went across the river to the main park area. This big park has like 20 different monuments. After a while, I got a little numb of all the “peace” monuments. “Peace Cairn” “Peace Clock Tower” “Peace Bell” (which we rang) “Stone Lantern of Peace” “Peace Fountain” “Figure of the Merciful Goddess Kannon of Peace” “Statue of Peace” “The Gates of Peace” “Peace Memorial Mailbox” and more!

The only monument that really had a big impact on me was the “Atomic Bomb Memorial Mound”. At first it just looks like a hemisphere of grass with a little stone lantern on top. But then you read the plaque where it says, “The vault lies under the mound and contains the ashes of roughly 70,000 victims.” That by itself has more impact than any number of various sculptures with “Peace” in the title.

After the park area, we went to the meat and potatoes of the memorial area… the museum. The museum starts you off with less intense stuff. History of Hiroshima as a military city, then some of the history of the bomb and the US decision to bomb Hiroshima. There is a large miniature of the city before and after the blast, and then upstairs is a time line of the reconstruction. The west end of the museum is more intense. It has the photos of the burn victims, kids clothing, some finger nails and skin samples, and a lot of recovered debris.

All in all, the museum is pretty sad, but much of the content you have probably seen in history books. I didn’t see a photo of a burn victim that I hadn’t seen before, so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Nothing can really prepare you for seeing some little boys fingernails and skin sample that his mother kept to show the boys father who was away fighting the war however.

After the depressing morning at the A-bomb memorial area, we went north to the Castle. Along the way, however, we were side tracked when I heard a very loud evil sounding laugh. Then the sounds of someone screaming and possibly dying. We had to go see what was happening. It was a huge festival with a live Power Rangers show happening on the main stage! It was awesome! Sword fighting, a bad guy sounding evil, and a lot of classic Power Ranger arm gesturing. I was thoroughly entertained, and the show did a great job of lifting our spirits back up to pre-memorial levels. We also got a snow cone!

The castle itself was destroyed in the blast, but they rebuilt the main tower and it’s now a history museum. The highlights of the museum were the samurai armor I got the wear, and the kimono Risa put on. I think a lot of the Japanese people thought it was funny to see the white guy putting on the samurai gear. I loved it.

We have decided to make an audible for tomorrow. Instead of heading straight to Kagoshima, we are going to spend at least 1 day at Miyajima. There is a camp ground on the island for $3/day, so we will finally get to use our tent!

Photo Note: I added a photoset for Himeji Castle.