Japan – Hiroshima
Our journey from Kyoto to Hiroshima started like many of our other trips with a ride on the wonderful Shinkansen. Each of our journeys aboard the bullet train was a shear delight. Watching the guards greeting each train with a salute and then dispatching each of them with one hand on their hat, whilst checking their watches over and over, then ceremoniously pointing the train out of the station is something to enjoy no matter how many times you see it performed. Punctuality is also second perfect too with trains arriving and departing exactly on the scheduled time and pulling up in precise alignment with your designated boarding gate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyyql3MbgBg
Due to our schedule, we only had one night in Hiroshima, so making the most of our stay was our prime task.
Having chosen the Crowne Plaza as our base, partly due to its very close proximity to the Peace Park, but also in part because I was able to use some ‘points’ that I’d accrued on previous business trips. Getting to the hotel was a breeze too, picking up one of the frequent trams from right outside the station. These trams criss-cross the city and not only get you where you want to be easily and cheaply, but it allows you a great view of the city and it’s inhabitants too.
Our first stop was the Hiroshima Peace Park to explore its museum, more of a memorial, about the dropping of the A-Bomb.
http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/index_e2.html
Exploring the museum was, on the one hand totally amazing and informative, but on the other, totally emotionally overwhelming.
Viewing the exhibits of the after-effects of the nuclear blast was for me just too emotional and I moved on rather swiftly. Mans inhumanity to his fellow man is quite unbelievable.
But, the genuine kindness, peacefulness and friendliness of the Japanese we met in Hiroshima was a credit to them. Their constant passion, as it appears to be a lone voice, for a peaceful World is truly tangible everywhere.
The park is wonderful and we enjoyed wandering around in the glorious sunshine pondering the ability of Hiroshima to not only survive the bomb, but to flourish as a city.
After an afternoon siesta, we headed to Hiroshima station and boarded a train to Miyajimaguchi, a journey of 26 minutes and FREE using our Japan Rail Pass.
Miyajima Island is a UNESCO World Heritage site and just a short ferry trip away, again FREE if you have a Japan Rail Pass, but be careful to board the right ferry as there are two, one of which will charge you.
The island is home to wild, and very tame, Nihonjika deer that roam about all over the place and can be a bit of a nuisance if you are eating.The island is also famous for its giant orange tori gate, standing in the shallows off the coast and surrounded by the sea when the tide comes in. We sat on the promenade watching the sun set over the gate and it was simply stunning.
Overwhelmed by the beauty and wonder of Mother nature we headed back to Hiroshima to track down one of it’s culinary delights, Okonomiyaki. Finding a tiny local restaurant we really enjoyed our first taste of the Hiroshima soul food.
One of the images you see of Japan is rows of people playing a game called Pachinko. Pachinko machines looking like our traditional slot machines, are filled with tiny steel ball bearings that whizz around the machine fired like a pinball but in a deafening cacophony of noise. We attempted to get some instruction on just how to play this incredibly popular past-time, but couldn’t make head not tail of it and quickly lost all of our Yen with no idea just how we did it. Baffling. Simply baffling.
Hiroshima, you were simply amazing !!!!!
mrandmrsyoung 