TOKYO to HIROSHIMA, 4 HOURS
Here we are on the morning shinkansen, looking a little haggard. It wasn't a bad trip though, we left the bulk of our luggage behind at the hotel in Ikebukuro, which I'd reserved all week. So all we had to do was get up and drag our asses to the station with one carry-on that we shared and a bag full of snacks from 7-11. I was super tired but I don't think I slept through any of it because I was worried about missing our transfer in Osaka or Hiroshima all together.
HIROSHIMA
When we finally made it to Hiroshima, I made us wander around the station looking for how to get to the memorial. We wound taking a bus, which I was very nervous about since it was crowded. Poor Evan, I was so nervous about getting lost in town that I refused to talk to him so I could listen to the bus driver announce where we were. As soon as I could see the memorial, I dragged us off the bus just in case after that stop, the bus would like, get on the highway and drive far away -- which of course is just a retarded scenario that only I could imagine. I think after we got off the bus went all the way up to the memorial and stopped across the street.
Anyway, we wound up a couple blocks from the memorial so we dragged our little carry-on to it and shoved it into one of the lockers in the lobby of the museum. There were only a couple lockers large enough, and we almost couldn't make it fit. That would have sucked.
We were way too hungry to begin a tour of sadness and horror right away, so we crossed the courtyard to the convention center, where there was a small restaurant on the bottom floor. It looked like it was supposed to be fancy, but I was reminded of something at like an out of date Marriott. The food was okay and it was reasonably priced though. I'm guessing we ate katsu or tempura, but I seem to remember eating french fries. It's been so goddamn long, I have no idea.
The day we arrived to at the memorial was also the day before the anniversary of the bombing, so there were television crews and event staff running all over the grounds setting up thousands of chairs and getting their equipment ready for the Peace Memorial Ceremony. In some ways, it made our experience more powerful because we could see that even 63 years later everyone was still passionate about eradicating atomic weapons and world peace. At the same time, the chaos outside made it hard to see the space as an area that was once devastated and take in some of the memorial sculptures.
Admission to the museum was 50円, I think we paid more for our locker in the lobby. Anyway, it was a very educational and difficult experience. The main exhibit on the bottom floor takes you through the historical timeline of the event; explaining the history of Hiroshima, WWII relations, and the effects of the bombing. You can also read the post-bombing letters written by the mayor of Hiroshima and others to President Truman pleading for him to stop the testing and advancement of nuclear weapons. All of this takes place under a replica of the blown out A-bomb dome.
Upstairs is a more detailed walk through the effects of the atomic bomb. No more maps with different areas shaded in to show the level of devastation. Instead, there are blocks of concrete with the shadows of people burnt into them. And the glasses and shoes of children, some of whom couldn't be identified and buried by their families, others were donated by families who didn't mind sharing their personal tragedies. There were melted roof tiles, that you could see had been so hot they'd boiled before cooling down again. And scraps of paper and kimono with the black in their text and patterns burnt out from the blast. And of course there were the after effects of the radiation. Burns and growths and sickness. There were photographs, and even body parts. Hair, fingernails... etc. It was really hard to think about all that suffering and death, but a very necessary experience.
We collected our luggage before going outside to wander around the grounds. On the far side of the property is a trolley that goes all the way to the Miyajima ferry dock, so we made our way there. We were still dodging event staff, but we managed to see everything. The centograph, the statue of Sadako and the thousands of cranes in glass boxes surrounding it, and of course, the A-bomb dome itself. I took a polaroid, and it came out with a mysterious defect in the corner.
It was hot and there were tons of people, so we didn't stay long. By the time we'd arrived and gone through the museum and everything, I think it was already 4 or 5 in the afternoon. We caught the trolley bound for Miyajima across the street from the dome. It took, I think, over an hour to cross town and get to the ferry docks. I guess there is a boat that goes straight from the memorial to Miyajima, but I forgot about it so we opted for the tram. Whoops.
From the end of the line on the tram, we only had to cross the street to the ferry docks. It was a pleasant trip, only ten minutes from A to B. We could see the island looming ahead of us, with the giant floating torii in the distance. We opted to take a load off and sit inside the air conditioned cabin for most of the ride though.
MIYAJIMA
Once we landed, I had absolutely no time to panic about how we'd get to our hotel -- because there was a very nice man with a list and a van waiting to take us there right outside the station.
I booked us a room at the Miyajima Seaside Hotel, a really nice ryokan on the water, around the corner from Itsukushima Shrine. Breakfast, dinner, and yukata were included in the reservation fee. We opted to have dinner soon after arriving. So, we barely had time to admire our view in the twilight and check what channels we got on the TV before it was time to eat.
The spread was amazing and decidedly Japanese. Tempura, pickled veggies, fish and beef sashimi, sake, some kind of fish jello... and some stuff that even after eating I couldn't identify. A nice little Japanese lady came over and showed us how to eat the main course, which we cooked right at the table over a little burner. It looked pretty terrifying at first. Raw fish which she had us each crack an egg into, but it quickly turned into scrambled eggs and fish, which was really tasty! We tried everything, but ended up leaving more on our plates than was probably polite.
After dinner, we discovered that someone had been in to put our futons out for the night -- but it was only eight or so, so we decided to go out for a walk. It was only ten minutes down one major road, so were weren't afraid to get lost in the dark. We passed a cute school and all kinds of deer and ferretts and little animals running around in the dark. The shrine was closed, but it looked beautiful all lit up in the night and there were a million deer settling down for the night, so we had fun bothering petting them and trying to take pictures.
After a while, we headed back to the hotel to try on our yukata and relax until we felt sleepy. We watched television for a little bit and I made tea with the complimentary hot water maker. Surprisingly, the bathroom was the largest and closest to western style we'd see all week. It was nice not to be skirting the toilet while trying to shower, a la our hotel in ikebukuro.
