Our day at Hiroshima was a cornucopia of experience.
Mae has never been there yet so it was literally an adventure.
The
adventure began at the Kyoto Subway Station where we had to run to catch our
train. It was a near miss. Shinkansen's n700 bullet train has just
ejected its last passenger when we arrived. Late in getting our tickets,
we were assigned seats away from each other. I was seated on the left
where the morning sun was that the window was closed most of the time so I didn't get
to see how the other cities we passed by look like. To my right though, I saw suburb
homes on mountainsides. They all look the same as the houses here in
Kyoto: small but have all the comforts imaginable. Some homes ran on
solar power. Sigh!
At Hiroshima station, we had our first western breakfast since we got here: McDonald's. My sausage burger seem less appealing now that I have sampled Japan's good food. So anyways, we started our walk out of the Station towards the direction of the garden, the castle and the war memorial. We walked past our first destination and had to go back about half the distance we already covered. Shukenin garden was located in the middle of the city just behind the modern art museum. Unlike around the temples, the trees here are relatively young but all bore the trained beauty that only Japanese's "OCness" and eye for detail can accomplish. Like all Japanese gardens, this one has a pond with gazebo and bridges and ducks and koi in it.
Our next destination was the remade Hiroshima Castle. The original structure was lost in a fire a long time ago. The rebuilt one was destroyed during the '45 bombings. Its base was made from cut boulders which is an extension of its massive double wall that was designed to come down to drown those who dare cross the moat. Now it houses an interesting collection of Katanas and Samurai helmets. Boy, samurai swords are heavy (They have one displayed inside a glass which guests are allowed to touch and lift), so is the helmet and head protector. You wonder how the Samurai used to get around or move at all.
There's one section there where guests are allowed to dress up as Samurai or a Japaneses lady. That part was fun. That belt for the inner garment almost did not fit me...lol. I was really looking forward to getting to the bay side where Wolverine was when the A-Bomb hit Japan but the Peace Memorial took so much of our time.
We walked past the A-Bomb dome (which stucture is the only
one left standing 4 seconds after the world's first atomic bomb was
detonated), the monument of Sadako (erected in honor of the all the
children who died), the Cenotaph (listing of all their local heroes that
died in the war), and the well manicured park located on the way towards the museum.
Hearing of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing from all the history classes that I've had from grade school to college were nothing more than just historical dates to me. Seeing the remnants of the horrors that these people or their ancestors have gone through broke my heart. If dropping the bomb has ended the war, was it a good or a bad decision? The thing is, I would have preferred to die instantly by sword or bullet rather than to live with melted body and writhing in pain for days. Nobody were spared from the blast. Children ages 12-14 mostly suffered having been outdoors when the bomb hit the ground. It only lasted four seconds but imagine its force which wiped out the whole city and melted stone into glassy substance. How could anyone survive it? Most of the people died. Those who survived, suffered a great deal and died anyways within the day, some for a few days and longer for others. Those pregnant mothers bore children with microcephaly. And cancer became commonplace. On display were audio and video on the actual bombing, singed and tattered clothes of children, melted lacquer teacups, deformed nails and so much more.
We walked slowly to the tram stop to get to the Hiroshima station.
There we had udon with shrimp, bacon, sprouts, cabbage, squid and eggs
over crepe before catching the 7:58 bullet train back to Kyoto.
The
adventure began at the Kyoto Subway Station where we had to run to catch our
train. It was a near miss. Shinkansen's n700 bullet train has just
ejected its last passenger when we arrived. Late in getting our tickets,
we were assigned seats away from each other. I was seated on the left
where the morning sun was that the window was closed most of the time so I didn't get
to see how the other cities we passed by look like. To my right though, I saw suburb
homes on mountainsides. They all look the same as the houses here in
Kyoto: small but have all the comforts imaginable. Some homes ran on
solar power. Sigh! At Hiroshima station, we had our first western breakfast since we got here: McDonald's. My sausage burger seem less appealing now that I have sampled Japan's good food. So anyways, we started our walk out of the Station towards the direction of the garden, the castle and the war memorial. We walked past our first destination and had to go back about half the distance we already covered. Shukenin garden was located in the middle of the city just behind the modern art museum. Unlike around the temples, the trees here are relatively young but all bore the trained beauty that only Japanese's "OCness" and eye for detail can accomplish. Like all Japanese gardens, this one has a pond with gazebo and bridges and ducks and koi in it.
Our next destination was the remade Hiroshima Castle. The original structure was lost in a fire a long time ago. The rebuilt one was destroyed during the '45 bombings. Its base was made from cut boulders which is an extension of its massive double wall that was designed to come down to drown those who dare cross the moat. Now it houses an interesting collection of Katanas and Samurai helmets. Boy, samurai swords are heavy (They have one displayed inside a glass which guests are allowed to touch and lift), so is the helmet and head protector. You wonder how the Samurai used to get around or move at all.
There's one section there where guests are allowed to dress up as Samurai or a Japaneses lady. That part was fun. That belt for the inner garment almost did not fit me...lol. I was really looking forward to getting to the bay side where Wolverine was when the A-Bomb hit Japan but the Peace Memorial took so much of our time.
Hearing of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing from all the history classes that I've had from grade school to college were nothing more than just historical dates to me. Seeing the remnants of the horrors that these people or their ancestors have gone through broke my heart. If dropping the bomb has ended the war, was it a good or a bad decision? The thing is, I would have preferred to die instantly by sword or bullet rather than to live with melted body and writhing in pain for days. Nobody were spared from the blast. Children ages 12-14 mostly suffered having been outdoors when the bomb hit the ground. It only lasted four seconds but imagine its force which wiped out the whole city and melted stone into glassy substance. How could anyone survive it? Most of the people died. Those who survived, suffered a great deal and died anyways within the day, some for a few days and longer for others. Those pregnant mothers bore children with microcephaly. And cancer became commonplace. On display were audio and video on the actual bombing, singed and tattered clothes of children, melted lacquer teacups, deformed nails and so much more.
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