Japan trip report, day 11
September 6, 2007
Now we are sitting in a Haagen-Dazs Cafe in Hiroshima, having spent the day here. We got up way too early this morning to catch the shinkansen to Hiroshima-eki, but it paid off -- we arrived around 10:30 a.m. and thus had plenty of time to explore the Peace Park and museum, plus to get lunch and visit Hiroshima-jo.
Ugh. We're sitting on the shinkansen, stuck at Shin-Osaka for the last 20-25 minutes because of the effects of the typhoon that hit the south coast of Honshu earlier today. We could get off and switch to the JR local train, but there's just no way to know whether this train will start moving soon or will continue to sit here for who knows how much longer.
Anyway, it's been a long, interesting day. Upon our arrival in Hiroshima, we immediately set out for the Peace Memorial Park. We ended up on the south side first, so we walked through the Gates of Peace installation and then entered the main museum. Admission was startlingly cheap -- only JPY50 each -- so we also rented English-language audio guides.
It's hard to know exactly how to put into words what it's like to be standing in a place that was the site of such incredible and unprecedented misery, death, and destruction only 62 years ago. Hiroshima has rebuilt itself as a city of peace, and the area near the hypocenter is today quite tranquil. But when I stop to imagine the bustling city area that used to be there, and look at photos of the devastation and hear what happened to the victims (living and dead), a great, tearful sadness wells up inside me. I know why the US bombed Japan. The museum, in fact, does a good job of refraining from demonizing the US and from lionizing the Japan of wartime. But what happened was so unbelievably horrifying that I can feel nothing but compassion for those who lived (and died) through the bombing. No one deserves that fate.
We viewed all kinds of exhibits on American development of the bomb; the decades of Japanese militarization leading up to WWII; the agitpropping of Japanese citizens to distract them from increasing deprivation; the dropping of the bomb and its immediate, medium-term, and long-term effects; personal stories of the dead and the hibakusha (survivors); artifacts of the bomb aftermath (melted/burnt/deformed glass, tile, wood, and metal, plus tattered remains of people's personal effects); the medical consequences of acute and long-term radiation poisoning; samples of lost hair, mutated fingernails and skin, excised keloids, and diseased tissues; Sadako Sasaki's leukemia and her 1,000 paper cranes; and the series of telegrams sent by Hiroshima's mayor to the embassy of the offending country every time another nuclear test is carried out.
I left the museum feeling a little shellshocked. I haven't been to Auschwitz or any other such camp, but I imagine that visiting those places might cause similar feelings. But I knew that I wanted to bear witness to this place. Never forget. Never again.
At that point we explored the rest of the park grounds. We saw the cenotaph holding the names of the A-bomb dead, the eternal flame of peace, many small monuments, and the A-Bomb Dome, what remains of the prefectural industrial promotion hall. The dome is now a UNESCO World Heritage site and remains as a permanent reminder of the total destruction wrought by nuclear warfare.
After all that it might be hard to believe that we were hungry, but we hadn't eaten since boarding the train to Hiroshima. Biology is powerful. So, we walked until we found the Okonomimura (Okonomi Village) building, 4 stories of okonomiyaki joints. Awesome. We trudged up to the top floor, chose a joint, and ate a delicious meal of Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki. Apparently, there's a bit of rivalry with Osaka in this regard. The style we had involved a thin crepe piled with shredded cabbage, sprouts, and seaweed (plus squid, shrimp, and bacon for Trowa), then topped with udon or soba noodles (we chose udon), then topped with a fried egg and brushed with sauce, and finally sprinkled with powdered seaweed, ground sesame seeds, and spice. OMG the yum! Why, oh why can't there be okonomiyaki at home? I wonder if we can learn to make it.
Next came a side excursion to Hiroshima-jo, which is a replica of what had been destroyed by fire and bombing. There were some neat displays of samurai-era artifacts, and Trowa tried on some replica armor, but it had become so beastly hot and humid that I just wanted to melt. And it had begun to rain, too. Seems we caught the edge of Typhoon Fitow, which hit the southern coast of Honshu this afternoon and later caused a delay in our return to Kyoto because of flooding.
Our time there ended with the purchase of Engrish-bearing items for my brother and sister-in-law, antihistamines for the hives that just developed on the backs of my ankles, ice cream at Haagen-Dazs, and a long, wet, cranky-making walk back to the station. We took showers almost immediately upon our return to the ryokan, and I hand-washed a few items. Made a short phone call to my parents, too. Now -- falling over. *thud*
Now we are sitting in a Haagen-Dazs Cafe in Hiroshima, having spent the day here. We got up way too early this morning to catch the shinkansen to Hiroshima-eki, but it paid off -- we arrived around 10:30 a.m. and thus had plenty of time to explore the Peace Park and museum, plus to get lunch and visit Hiroshima-jo.
Ugh. We're sitting on the shinkansen, stuck at Shin-Osaka for the last 20-25 minutes because of the effects of the typhoon that hit the south coast of Honshu earlier today. We could get off and switch to the JR local train, but there's just no way to know whether this train will start moving soon or will continue to sit here for who knows how much longer.
Anyway, it's been a long, interesting day. Upon our arrival in Hiroshima, we immediately set out for the Peace Memorial Park. We ended up on the south side first, so we walked through the Gates of Peace installation and then entered the main museum. Admission was startlingly cheap -- only JPY50 each -- so we also rented English-language audio guides.
It's hard to know exactly how to put into words what it's like to be standing in a place that was the site of such incredible and unprecedented misery, death, and destruction only 62 years ago. Hiroshima has rebuilt itself as a city of peace, and the area near the hypocenter is today quite tranquil. But when I stop to imagine the bustling city area that used to be there, and look at photos of the devastation and hear what happened to the victims (living and dead), a great, tearful sadness wells up inside me. I know why the US bombed Japan. The museum, in fact, does a good job of refraining from demonizing the US and from lionizing the Japan of wartime. But what happened was so unbelievably horrifying that I can feel nothing but compassion for those who lived (and died) through the bombing. No one deserves that fate.
We viewed all kinds of exhibits on American development of the bomb; the decades of Japanese militarization leading up to WWII; the agitpropping of Japanese citizens to distract them from increasing deprivation; the dropping of the bomb and its immediate, medium-term, and long-term effects; personal stories of the dead and the hibakusha (survivors); artifacts of the bomb aftermath (melted/burnt/deformed glass, tile, wood, and metal, plus tattered remains of people's personal effects); the medical consequences of acute and long-term radiation poisoning; samples of lost hair, mutated fingernails and skin, excised keloids, and diseased tissues; Sadako Sasaki's leukemia and her 1,000 paper cranes; and the series of telegrams sent by Hiroshima's mayor to the embassy of the offending country every time another nuclear test is carried out.
I left the museum feeling a little shellshocked. I haven't been to Auschwitz or any other such camp, but I imagine that visiting those places might cause similar feelings. But I knew that I wanted to bear witness to this place. Never forget. Never again.
At that point we explored the rest of the park grounds. We saw the cenotaph holding the names of the A-bomb dead, the eternal flame of peace, many small monuments, and the A-Bomb Dome, what remains of the prefectural industrial promotion hall. The dome is now a UNESCO World Heritage site and remains as a permanent reminder of the total destruction wrought by nuclear warfare.
After all that it might be hard to believe that we were hungry, but we hadn't eaten since boarding the train to Hiroshima. Biology is powerful. So, we walked until we found the Okonomimura (Okonomi Village) building, 4 stories of okonomiyaki joints. Awesome. We trudged up to the top floor, chose a joint, and ate a delicious meal of Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki. Apparently, there's a bit of rivalry with Osaka in this regard. The style we had involved a thin crepe piled with shredded cabbage, sprouts, and seaweed (plus squid, shrimp, and bacon for Trowa), then topped with udon or soba noodles (we chose udon), then topped with a fried egg and brushed with sauce, and finally sprinkled with powdered seaweed, ground sesame seeds, and spice. OMG the yum! Why, oh why can't there be okonomiyaki at home? I wonder if we can learn to make it.
Next came a side excursion to Hiroshima-jo, which is a replica of what had been destroyed by fire and bombing. There were some neat displays of samurai-era artifacts, and Trowa tried on some replica armor, but it had become so beastly hot and humid that I just wanted to melt. And it had begun to rain, too. Seems we caught the edge of Typhoon Fitow, which hit the southern coast of Honshu this afternoon and later caused a delay in our return to Kyoto because of flooding.
Our time there ended with the purchase of Engrish-bearing items for my brother and sister-in-law, antihistamines for the hives that just developed on the backs of my ankles, ice cream at Haagen-Dazs, and a long, wet, cranky-making walk back to the station. We took showers almost immediately upon our return to the ryokan, and I hand-washed a few items. Made a short phone call to my parents, too. Now -- falling over. *thud*