Hiroshima - Part I
So I finally made it to Hiroshima Station around 11:15 on Friday night. I had gotten packed, out the door, and onto a train within an hour and a half of deciding to go on Friday, so even though there was a huge rush at the beginning, I definitely had time to cool down during the SEVEN HOUR train ride. I used the juhacho seishun kippu (a limited-time discount ticket on JR) to get there. The trip should have taken less than 5 hours, but due to some delayed trains, and therefore missed connections; it took a lot longer (especially considering the shinkansensen only takes an hour from Himeji!). I saw a lot of beautiful scenery on the way and had forgotten how much fun it can be to travel long distances alone, though. You meet a lot of really random, cool people who aren’t as afraid of approaching you as they would be if you were with a group (especially other foreigners). We also passed a few festivals (with fireworks shows) on the way.
So while I might have done something wrong with the train, I definitely did something right with the hostel. I actually found the place in the Lonely Planet, but was shocked by how far it exceeded my expectations. If you ever go to Hiroshima, I definitely recommend staying at the Aster Plaza, next to the Peace Park. It took me less than 5 minutes to get to the Peace Museum by foot from the front door of the building (and thus pretty much all of central Hiroshima). While the rooms are some of the cheapest in town, they are also uncharacteristically (for Japan), extremely nice and spacious. There’s a 7-day limit on how long you can stay, but I think the Plaza is owned and run by the local government, so they offer two floors of 3 or 4-star quality hotel rooms at ridiculously low rates to encourage people – especially youth – to visit the city. My room had a gorgeous view of the two rivers in the middle of town, and it even came with a dressing gown to wear to bed.
So anyways, I had gotten to the place pretty late and needed to get up early the next morning (had made arrangements to meet up with my friends from Norway who were coincidentally attending the same conference), but I met these two students from Nagoya in the lobby. They were both PhD students on summer grants, but one of the guys (originally from Florida – the other was German) knew a lot about Japan and wanted to chat about how I ended up here. We started chatting and the hours just slipped by. I know I must have said I was leaving to go to bed probably three times before actually cutting off the conversation and going back to my room around 3:30am.
The Peace Museum
I was pretty tired the next morning, but I, nonetheless, got up around 7 and got to the Peace Museum as it opened. The students at the Plaza had warned me against the museum, saying it was impersonal (the only thing you can get close to and touch is roof tiles) and biased (tended to contain an edge, blaming America for the war). They made several solid points in this argument when they told me about it (or so I thought at the time), but after visiting the museum myself… I couldn’t disagree more. The museum was excellent. I didn’t take the audio tour, but when you walk in, the first room is dedicated to educating about the events leading up to the war (including surprisingly candid and honest descriptions of Japan-China relations). There were pictures of soldiers being sent off to war in Japan (humanizing the people we once considered “the enemy” for many, I am sure) and I learned that all schools previously had compulsory military training, with a military representative stationed at each school (check out the picture of middle school students hiking through the hills with rifles). This hit me especially hard considering I spend the majority of my time here working in the public school system and I cannot imagine it happening today (and I am at one of the strictest schools in my prefecture). I also learned that while the American government chose four potential locations for dropping the atomic bomb, they chose Hiroshima because it was the one city without any foreign prisoners of war.
The museum is broken into two main sections (buildings, actually), with a lounge and shop in the middle, where you can rest and reflect, with some information about what hydrogen and atomic bombs actually are.
The second part of the museum was dedicated to educating about the effects of the war and bomb. As you walk into the second part, you walk through rubble, making you feel like you are entering a building that was just hit by the bomb. They have artifacts in glass cases against all the walls and in the center of the room, with large pictures taken after the war. I saw a lot of tattered clothing and pictures of shadows, essentially, where people were standing and sitting when the bomb went off (the walls around them were lightened, so their bodies – blocking the extreme light - cast an eternal shadow as the bodies themselves almost turned to dust. It was awful in many ways, but important. I was horrified to hear about people’s organs and eyes bursting, while their skin melted like wax. There were also drawings done by survivors of the blast, and the museum ended with messages of hope. But I still walked out affected, happy to be in the calm atmosphere of the peace park (luscious and green – a place they said that wouldn’t grow anything for 75 years). It was a moving and intriguing introduction to my educational journey in this place where the world first witnessed the power of nuclear weaponry; a place my countrymen visited as enemies and that many people now sought out to spread messages of peace and pursuing friendship.
The 2007 World Conference Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs
I know it’s dame (a big no-no), but I left my phone on silent at the museum, and I was really glad I hadn’t turned it off, because I would have missed Trygve’s call if I hadn’t. Trygve and Torbjorn, two Norwegian guys I met at school in Oslo when I was 18 (and hung out with a bit when I went back to uni there in 2003) were also in town for the The 2007 World Conference Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs. I was actually pretty lucky there were, too. I knew I wanted to attend the conference and know people who have gone in the past, but I was not able to find much information online prior to going so I wasn’t sure I would be able to participate. Trygve is part of an organization for physicians in Norway that was invited to join the conference, so they were part of a Norwegian delegation, and I basically just joined their group of four (there were two other female medical students). Anyways, we made plans to meet at the conference hall, which was next to my hotel, and I sat in on several speeches with them. It was mostly reactions and feedback from previous workshops and organizations reading their prepared statements (declarations of peace), but I found it interesting and inspiring, especially considering there were about 260 delegates from 20 different countries (that a lot of perspective). After the morning session, we all went out for coffee and worked on a presentation that the Norwegians would present that night. I wasn’t part of the delegation, but I was able to help them a bit, which was fun, and I really got along with the two girls (who kind of reminded me of some of my girlfriends in Oslo).
I had planned on heading to Miyajima (a sacred island with a shrine that is one of the ‘three great sights of Japan”). I wasn’t expecting the guys to be free but was happy when they said they’d come with me. I changed quickly and we delivered the speech to the conference headquarters (to be printed) before taking JR and a boat to the island.
Miyajima
I could definitely have spent days on this island (rather than hours), one of the most beautiful places I have yet seen in Japan. It has cascading green mountains (one with a ropeway and all with a lot of hiking trails and wildlife – lots of monkeys!) and the shrine was absolutely gorgeous. If you have seen pictures of Japan, there is a good chance you would recognize the shrine, with it’s orange torii (Shinto gate) coming out of the water, which makes it look like it’s floating. The gate is actually the entrance to the temple (for when the island was only used for religious purposed and visitors would arrive by boat), but the water around it is shallow; we were lucky to come on a day with a high tide… a lot of people only experience the torii surrounded by mud! The ferry we took had dropped us off at a station just down the road from the shrine. We took our time walking over, petting the hundreds of wild deer wandering around (a bit more aggressive than the ones in Nara and a lot of them with huge antlers) and peeking in the doors of some of the small, touristy shops along the way. When we got to the shrine itself (which also appears to be floating and stands before a large temple and five-storey pagoda with a mountainous backdrop), we stopped to take some pictures with the torii (new Facebook profile pictures…haha) before going in. There was a 300 Yen entrance fee, which is – like most cultural sites (especially the other UNESCO World Heritage Sites) – extremely cheap for a museum. Tobs had been to the island earlier in the year, but we just wandered around through the groups of other tourists before, stopping again at the water and to play with the deer, before heading back to the boat.
Hiroshimayaki, the A-Bomb Dome and The Peace Park
Like I said, I could have spent a lot more time on Miyajima (we had about 2 hours total on the island), but maybe someday I’ll go back for hiking or camping. The guys had to get back for their presentation, however, and it was really hot and humid, so we took the ferry, train and trolley back to the hotel, where we split ways. I decided to explore some of the city rather than attend the evening session of the conference (now open to the public) because I had such limited time. After running back to my room to freshen-up, I went back to the Peace Park, where I took my time looking at the different memorials and statues. The only thing I didn’t end up seeing was the recently relocated Korean Memorial (one out of ten victims of the a-bomb were Korean), but the park was surprisingly empty. When I went to get a closer look at the eternal flame, for example, there was no one around, except for me and the stray cats that you see running all over the park. The park opens up at the river, with the famous A-bomb dome on the other side. There were small stands with concerts all over the place, so I just wandered around, looking around and taking everything in, while the roar of the crowd from the Hiroshima Carp’s baseball game nearby drifted through the air. I spent some time looking at the dome, T-shaped bridge that was the target for the bomb, and chairs set up at small shrines for the next day’s ceremonies (on the 62nd anniversary of the bomb) before heading a few blocks over to the business and shopping districts. My neighbor Miwa had been in Hiroshima earlier in the week, so she told me where to go for sales. I shopped for a while, but tried to ignore the impulse to buy (everything) since I’ll be going home soon. When all the stores started to close down (around 8pm-ish?), I walked down the arcade (covered mall) in the middle of town and found my way to Okonomiyaki Mura, an area of shops that all specialize in the local specialty – okonomiyaki (including a four storey building with nothing but okonomiyaki dives that all specialize in Hiroshima yaki). I ducked into a small shop and took a seat on a stool near the ‘bar’ (in front of the hot plate). I actually ended up sitting next to a girl my age from Kyushu (the southern big island in Japan), who had come alone for the peace ceremony, too. She didn’t speak English, so our conversation was pretty limited, but she was nice and I think we were both glad to have a buddy at dinner. The food was amazing, too!
After dinner, I took one last stroll through the park...
So while I might have done something wrong with the train, I definitely did something right with the hostel. I actually found the place in the Lonely Planet, but was shocked by how far it exceeded my expectations. If you ever go to Hiroshima, I definitely recommend staying at the Aster Plaza, next to the Peace Park. It took me less than 5 minutes to get to the Peace Museum by foot from the front door of the building (and thus pretty much all of central Hiroshima). While the rooms are some of the cheapest in town, they are also uncharacteristically (for Japan), extremely nice and spacious. There’s a 7-day limit on how long you can stay, but I think the Plaza is owned and run by the local government, so they offer two floors of 3 or 4-star quality hotel rooms at ridiculously low rates to encourage people – especially youth – to visit the city. My room had a gorgeous view of the two rivers in the middle of town, and it even came with a dressing gown to wear to bed.
So anyways, I had gotten to the place pretty late and needed to get up early the next morning (had made arrangements to meet up with my friends from Norway who were coincidentally attending the same conference), but I met these two students from Nagoya in the lobby. They were both PhD students on summer grants, but one of the guys (originally from Florida – the other was German) knew a lot about Japan and wanted to chat about how I ended up here. We started chatting and the hours just slipped by. I know I must have said I was leaving to go to bed probably three times before actually cutting off the conversation and going back to my room around 3:30am.
The Peace Museum
I was pretty tired the next morning, but I, nonetheless, got up around 7 and got to the Peace Museum as it opened. The students at the Plaza had warned me against the museum, saying it was impersonal (the only thing you can get close to and touch is roof tiles) and biased (tended to contain an edge, blaming America for the war). They made several solid points in this argument when they told me about it (or so I thought at the time), but after visiting the museum myself… I couldn’t disagree more. The museum was excellent. I didn’t take the audio tour, but when you walk in, the first room is dedicated to educating about the events leading up to the war (including surprisingly candid and honest descriptions of Japan-China relations). There were pictures of soldiers being sent off to war in Japan (humanizing the people we once considered “the enemy” for many, I am sure) and I learned that all schools previously had compulsory military training, with a military representative stationed at each school (check out the picture of middle school students hiking through the hills with rifles). This hit me especially hard considering I spend the majority of my time here working in the public school system and I cannot imagine it happening today (and I am at one of the strictest schools in my prefecture). I also learned that while the American government chose four potential locations for dropping the atomic bomb, they chose Hiroshima because it was the one city without any foreign prisoners of war.
The museum is broken into two main sections (buildings, actually), with a lounge and shop in the middle, where you can rest and reflect, with some information about what hydrogen and atomic bombs actually are.
The second part of the museum was dedicated to educating about the effects of the war and bomb. As you walk into the second part, you walk through rubble, making you feel like you are entering a building that was just hit by the bomb. They have artifacts in glass cases against all the walls and in the center of the room, with large pictures taken after the war. I saw a lot of tattered clothing and pictures of shadows, essentially, where people were standing and sitting when the bomb went off (the walls around them were lightened, so their bodies – blocking the extreme light - cast an eternal shadow as the bodies themselves almost turned to dust. It was awful in many ways, but important. I was horrified to hear about people’s organs and eyes bursting, while their skin melted like wax. There were also drawings done by survivors of the blast, and the museum ended with messages of hope. But I still walked out affected, happy to be in the calm atmosphere of the peace park (luscious and green – a place they said that wouldn’t grow anything for 75 years). It was a moving and intriguing introduction to my educational journey in this place where the world first witnessed the power of nuclear weaponry; a place my countrymen visited as enemies and that many people now sought out to spread messages of peace and pursuing friendship.
The 2007 World Conference Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs
I know it’s dame (a big no-no), but I left my phone on silent at the museum, and I was really glad I hadn’t turned it off, because I would have missed Trygve’s call if I hadn’t. Trygve and Torbjorn, two Norwegian guys I met at school in Oslo when I was 18 (and hung out with a bit when I went back to uni there in 2003) were also in town for the The 2007 World Conference Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs. I was actually pretty lucky there were, too. I knew I wanted to attend the conference and know people who have gone in the past, but I was not able to find much information online prior to going so I wasn’t sure I would be able to participate. Trygve is part of an organization for physicians in Norway that was invited to join the conference, so they were part of a Norwegian delegation, and I basically just joined their group of four (there were two other female medical students). Anyways, we made plans to meet at the conference hall, which was next to my hotel, and I sat in on several speeches with them. It was mostly reactions and feedback from previous workshops and organizations reading their prepared statements (declarations of peace), but I found it interesting and inspiring, especially considering there were about 260 delegates from 20 different countries (that a lot of perspective). After the morning session, we all went out for coffee and worked on a presentation that the Norwegians would present that night. I wasn’t part of the delegation, but I was able to help them a bit, which was fun, and I really got along with the two girls (who kind of reminded me of some of my girlfriends in Oslo).
I had planned on heading to Miyajima (a sacred island with a shrine that is one of the ‘three great sights of Japan”). I wasn’t expecting the guys to be free but was happy when they said they’d come with me. I changed quickly and we delivered the speech to the conference headquarters (to be printed) before taking JR and a boat to the island.
Miyajima
I could definitely have spent days on this island (rather than hours), one of the most beautiful places I have yet seen in Japan. It has cascading green mountains (one with a ropeway and all with a lot of hiking trails and wildlife – lots of monkeys!) and the shrine was absolutely gorgeous. If you have seen pictures of Japan, there is a good chance you would recognize the shrine, with it’s orange torii (Shinto gate) coming out of the water, which makes it look like it’s floating. The gate is actually the entrance to the temple (for when the island was only used for religious purposed and visitors would arrive by boat), but the water around it is shallow; we were lucky to come on a day with a high tide… a lot of people only experience the torii surrounded by mud! The ferry we took had dropped us off at a station just down the road from the shrine. We took our time walking over, petting the hundreds of wild deer wandering around (a bit more aggressive than the ones in Nara and a lot of them with huge antlers) and peeking in the doors of some of the small, touristy shops along the way. When we got to the shrine itself (which also appears to be floating and stands before a large temple and five-storey pagoda with a mountainous backdrop), we stopped to take some pictures with the torii (new Facebook profile pictures…haha) before going in. There was a 300 Yen entrance fee, which is – like most cultural sites (especially the other UNESCO World Heritage Sites) – extremely cheap for a museum. Tobs had been to the island earlier in the year, but we just wandered around through the groups of other tourists before, stopping again at the water and to play with the deer, before heading back to the boat.
Hiroshimayaki, the A-Bomb Dome and The Peace Park
Like I said, I could have spent a lot more time on Miyajima (we had about 2 hours total on the island), but maybe someday I’ll go back for hiking or camping. The guys had to get back for their presentation, however, and it was really hot and humid, so we took the ferry, train and trolley back to the hotel, where we split ways. I decided to explore some of the city rather than attend the evening session of the conference (now open to the public) because I had such limited time. After running back to my room to freshen-up, I went back to the Peace Park, where I took my time looking at the different memorials and statues. The only thing I didn’t end up seeing was the recently relocated Korean Memorial (one out of ten victims of the a-bomb were Korean), but the park was surprisingly empty. When I went to get a closer look at the eternal flame, for example, there was no one around, except for me and the stray cats that you see running all over the park. The park opens up at the river, with the famous A-bomb dome on the other side. There were small stands with concerts all over the place, so I just wandered around, looking around and taking everything in, while the roar of the crowd from the Hiroshima Carp’s baseball game nearby drifted through the air. I spent some time looking at the dome, T-shaped bridge that was the target for the bomb, and chairs set up at small shrines for the next day’s ceremonies (on the 62nd anniversary of the bomb) before heading a few blocks over to the business and shopping districts. My neighbor Miwa had been in Hiroshima earlier in the week, so she told me where to go for sales. I shopped for a while, but tried to ignore the impulse to buy (everything) since I’ll be going home soon. When all the stores started to close down (around 8pm-ish?), I walked down the arcade (covered mall) in the middle of town and found my way to Okonomiyaki Mura, an area of shops that all specialize in the local specialty – okonomiyaki (including a four storey building with nothing but okonomiyaki dives that all specialize in Hiroshima yaki). I ducked into a small shop and took a seat on a stool near the ‘bar’ (in front of the hot plate). I actually ended up sitting next to a girl my age from Kyushu (the southern big island in Japan), who had come alone for the peace ceremony, too. She didn’t speak English, so our conversation was pretty limited, but she was nice and I think we were both glad to have a buddy at dinner. The food was amazing, too!
After dinner, I took one last stroll through the park...
posted by Brenda Ann Elizabeth McKinney @ 3:20 PM
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