The best thing for stiffening thigh muscles (even if they weren’t actually too bad!) was a good half hour's walk through the early evening, from Hiroshima train station to our flashpacker hostel WeBase in the heart of the fashion district of Hiroshima. Our room was good, hostel decor was agreeably funky, check in was fast, we dropped our bags then headed out for some food.
Research had indicated the place to go was Okonomimura, four floors of okonomiyaki teppan grill stalls all co-located in a building just a few minutes walk away. So off we went and finding it wasn't hard, we just followed the other tourists. At Okonomimura you can get okonomiyaki (griddle fried egg and noodle pancakes, essentially) with all manner of fillings and toppings. We found a joint with a few spare seats and tucked in. They were great, my pork and shrimp with cheese was to die for, even better than the okonomiyaki we had tried in Osaka. Then it was home for a well earned sleep.
Next morning it was local history time, and of course in Hiroshima, that means the atomic bomb of 6 August 1945. We started at ground zero, the point where the bomb exploded 600 feet above the ground. It's just a plaque in a suburban street but sombre all the same. From there we headed around the corner to the Genbaku Dome. This memorial is the only part of a large trade hall exhibition type building that was left standing due to being so close to the blast (the shockwave went down instead of across at that early point). Here we met a survivor, a man who was still in his mother's womb the day of the blast. He showed us his survivor's card that entitles him to special care. He said he is one of only a few survivors still left. These days he spends his time educating tourists on all manner of blast related facts that may or may not be getting quietly unmentioned by more official sources.
Crossing the river over the reconstructed T-shaped bridge the Americans used to target the bomb, we headed into Peace Park. It's a lovely green park nestled between two arms of a river, dotted with various memorials. There's a reflective peace pond, an eternal flame, several bells, a memorial to the Koreans who died (roughly 10% of victims were Korean conscripts working on the war effort), the childrens monument (heavily covered in paper cranes, left in tribute to the story of Sadako Sasaki, the girl who died of leaukemia while attempting to fold a thousand of them) and several other shrines, memorials and statues dotted around the place. [Jo - I read and reread Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, as a child, so it was quite emotional to see the memorial. The kids and I had read it in the lead up to our original trip too, but didn’t really remember it three years on].
You can have a sombre but still pleasant relaxed stroll through the park taking it all in. Then we headed into the Memorial Hall, where they display an ever changing selection of portraits and stories of those who died, and have an eternal waterfall, to honour all those who died begging for water after the fires. Lastly we explored the very well presented Atomic Blast museum, which has may chilling exhibits from the time, detailing stories of the impact on everyday citizens, both at the time and over the years that followed.
By early afternoon, we were hungry so headed off for lunch. As we ate we reflected. It was an achingly sad and at times quite confronting morning, but also felt really very important that we'd taken the time to understand this unique moment in history. We learned some things, like the city was selected in part because the geography would intensify the blast, and that the decision to drop the bomb was made in part to justify to the Aemrican people the expense of developing it, as well helping beat Russia to the punch of defeating Japan (and thereby reinforcing perceptions of American superiority and power). The Americans used it as an opportunity to get real data on the effectiveness of their new weapon, which seems, well, cold in hindsight. Ultimately though, the human tragedy of it all is what lingers. It was a military target, of sorts, but so many everyday people lost their lives. It seems such a senseless loss. All we can do now is hope the world never sees such a weapon used again.
Mid afternoon we collected our bags, and a short train ferry combo later brought us to Miyajima, an island in the Hiroshima bay. If you have ever seen the iconic photo of an orange torii (gate) seemingly floating in water, that's Itsukushima shrine, and that's on Miyajima island. Our ferry cruised near for some photos, although it wasn't far past low tide at that point so the torii was on a beach rather than floating. We were greeted by more tame-enough deer wandering the streets, and enjoyed a pleasant walk through the tourist town (think a bit like Russell) towards our accomodation.
We wanted one overnight stop on our trip to be at a ryokan, a traditionally run Japanese hotel, and Miyajima was that stop. We stayed at Miyajima Morino-yado, which was a gorgeous place far enough around the bay from tourist central that it felt tranquill the moment we arrived. We knew we were in the right place when at check-in they invited us to take some yukata (a summer weight cotton one piece kimono type robe) and informed us it was completely fine to wear them to dinner. Which we did! Then we got to our Japanese room, with its lovely view into the forest surrounding the hotel, and so peaceful. We all took a few minutes just to sit in the quiet. You can completely understand how places like this are so popular in Japan, the contrast with big city life in Tokyo or Osaka couldn't be more marked.
Another reason to choose this ryokan is that it has its own onsen (public bath house) on site. So it was off with the western clothes, on with the yukata, and off to the baths we went. The Japanese bath naked and in separate baths, so Leo and Adrian went as a pair and Jo and Eleanor did the same. There is a thorough showering and shampooing ritual beforehand, then into the very hot baths. It is much like a hot pools experience in New Zealand, other than everyone is naked. But of course, being Japan, no one stares, that would be rude. Adrian wondered that perhaps one of the points of bathing naked is to gently remind everyone we are all the same in the end, we leave our status and all of that at the door.
The baths were very relaxing indeed, but so hot we only lasted 30 minutes or so. That was plenty enough to completely sort any lingering aches from the two days riding that seemed a world away but was only a day ago!
It wouldn't be a ryokan without gorgeous food. That evening we sat down to a seven course kaiseki meal, a traditional degustation style affair with many fish and vegetable dishes dominating the menu. The oyster in custard and conger eel both stood out (very tastily too we might add) and the sashimi was incredible. We even paired it with a locally made white wine, possibly a chardonnay but difficult to tell. It was nice enough but won't be worrying Marlborough producers too much!
The only downside we discovered to our ryokan experience is that the taditional Japanese flooring (tatami mats) and futons in our rooms to sleep were quite thin and consequently a harder surface than we are used to. So we didn't get the best nights sleep. However, we did make the most of our morning, heading back to the township to explore Itsukushimia shrine (the buildings on shore and this time the gate floating at high tide or thereabouts) and then we capped it off with a ride up another ropeway to the top of Mt. Misen, the mountain that dominates the island, for amazing views across the harbour back to Hiroshima, as well as across the inland Seto sea. Lovely to get some more nature before leaving. After that we grabbed our bags and headed back to the ferry, and then four trains (two of them longer trips on bullets) all the way back to Shinjuku in Tokyo for our last stop of the trip.
Hiroshima and Miyajima provided a lovely, reflective, relaxing and contrasting couple of days - they will last long in our memories.
- Adrian
Genbaku Dome.
The Atomic Bomb Memorial Mound. This was the site of a crematorium, and the ashes of tens of thousands of victims are laid in this mound.
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