![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beelikejMy original itinerary would have me in a mountain monastery on this day, but because of the typhoon that hit Japan, I had to adjust my trip and I opted to skip the spiritual experience and spend my day exploring history in Hiroshima instead. I got up extra early in my hotel in Kyoto to catch an early Shinkansen (bullet train) and make the most of my time. I was prepared for it to be rough, but the confrontation with the effects of the 1945 A-bomb hit me even harder than expected. I was fortunate to have enough time to decompress afterwards with a trip to beautiful nearby island Miyajima. I'm not sharing any horrid images, but I do talk about the monuments; if you prefer to avoid any references to misery you can scroll down to the Miyajima cut with the gorgeous scenery at the end of the day.
Day 8: [Sunday, October 13, 2019]
An intense day in Hiroshima
Packed and checked out before a quick breakfast in the hotelbar.
Got on the subway to Kyoto Station for the 8:23 skinkansen to Hiroshima;
the typhoon from the day before is still affecting the trainschedule.
Finally got a good photo of a bullettrain, they are so cool! Great view along the way too:)
First look of Hiroshima; shiny bellshaped temple in the distance.
A warm welcome at Hiroshima station.
Could easily locate my hotel on this fancy map with lights, yet still managed to walk the wrong way (I told you I'm notoriously bad with maps;) But! Lots of awesome manhole covers on the way there to distract me from getting lost a little.
See? How cool are these?
This leaf design is a recurring theme in Hiroshima.
I drop my bags at the hotel and get on the city tram.
A uniformed conductor and lots of stops (information in English as well).
The tram has its own lane through the grass. (See the road on the left)
The first thing I saw when I entered the Peace Memorial Park, was the only building left standing near the epicentre of the A bomb that was dropped on August 6, 1945. Built in 1915 as the Industrial Promotion Hall, it is now called the Atomic Bomb Dome as a reminder of the destruction.
The sight of this hit me in the gut, mostly because of the evil ingenuity to create a bomb that kills everyone inside without destroying the building.
It also made me wonder why I got much more upset about this than about wars that are still going on today and that I see the result of on the daily news.
I sat down on a bench for a while and let emotions run over me, before continuing my walk through the rest of the park. I am so fucking privileged.
Another hardhitting memorial is the Children's Peace Monument, inspired by Sadako Sasaki, who was just two years old when the A bomb hit Hiroshima. At age 11 she developed leukaemia and decided to fold 1000 paper cranes, a symbol of longevity and happiness. She believed if she folded 1000 she would recover; she died before reaching her goal, but her classmates folded the rest.
To this day schoolchildren from all over the world fold strings and artworks of paper cranes; they are collected around the monument.
The bell inside the Children's Peace Monument also has the shape of a crane.
In the middle of the park The Flame of Peace burns inside the curved cenotaph that lists names of all the known victims of the atomic bomb.
Next I visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum; it has very confronting displays with items salvaged from the aftermath of the atomic bomb including extremely grim photographs and witness reports. The exposition does make an effort to end with a collection of hope and lessons learned, but by then I felt numb from all the devastation.
Statue 'Mother and Children in the Storm' with the museum in the background. Made by Hongo Shin in 1960, this sculpture calls for continuous efforts to eliminate nuclear weapons from the earth.
I did need some time to reflect and focus on the good again. I decided to not walk back through the park, but take a scenic route across the river instead.
But even the way around the park is filled with memorials for all sorts of groups affected by the (aftermath) of the a-bomb. This is the Peace Memorial Mailbox with the Peace tower in the background.
Crossing the Motoyasu-gawa River; view from Peace Boulevard (Heiwa Odori).
Geospatial data nerd alert: this is the Zero Milestone of Hiroshima City - not all cities put plaques near these points, but you may remember I also took a photo of the one in London. It's the centre of the city for measurements of geodata.
After strolling back along the river, I got on the tram to the station. Notice how you're not allowed to have a phone out when you're holding on to these rings!
Train & Ferry to Miyajima
Back at Hiroshima station, I got on a local train that has a connection to the ferry to Miyajima, a sacred island with a primeval forest.
The ferry is pretty crowded, but I still get a lovely spot to enjoy the view.
I love being on ferries, even if it's only a short trip.
Unfortunately the huge red O-torii (gate) that usually greets visitors to the island is being restored and covered in cloth. Fortunately you can still see the lushious mountain and sneak peeks of other historic structures at this World-Heritage site, such as the five story pagoda. (Click to see the full size photo;)
From the ferry I walked along the beach promenade. Lots of free roaming deer here!
During low tide you can walk to the "floating" O-torii, but I didn't see the point with it being all covered up for restauration. (People put coins in the supporting beams for good luck and it slowly destroyed the construction. From what I understood the beams will now be replaced so people can't do that anymore.)
There has been a torrii at this site since 1168; this current one dates from the late 1800s.
The Five story pagoda of Itsukushima-jinja, a temple complex dating back to the 6th century. I only snap quick pictures, because I'm on my way to the two stage ropeway up mount Misen.
The signs along the way make me giggle. No, I did not run :-p
I also love cable rides, they are especially stunning because my own country is flat all over. Up top of mount Misen you can walk several trails. However, I don't have a lot of time left for the last ropeway car goes back and I really don't have the energy to hike my way down the mountain. So I decide to only walk for half an hour and turn back from where ever I am at that point to make sure I can ride down and won't be stuck on a hike in the dark;)
The trail is steep, but the views are well worth the exercise:)
As expected, I didn't make it to the top but as you can see from my face, the walk I did manage already made me sweat like crazy. I was glad I made it back to the ropeway station on time!
I guess I'll have to return one day to explore all of mount Misen.
I mean, look at this beautiful place! The lanterns were lit when I walked back down through the forest and small village towards the beach.
Sat down at the promenad to watch the gorgeous sunset from behind the dragon statue with a view of the O-torii.
Then I stolled along the water back to the ferry; look at that full moon!
Got on the train back to Hiroshima.
Quite a different city at night!
Saw this funky lucky cat in front of the library, on the way back to my hotel.
My room was murder central (again; I seem to get the room next to the emergeny exit a lot!) - this is a CSI reference by the way;)
Ahw, back when these kind of hygiene warnings were somewhat hilarious...
After freshening up, I walk back to town for food and find a Japanese rasta bar (I kid you not) where they offer "mini okos", or okonomiyaki, a dish that looks like a burger, but is made of fried noodles with egg instead of an actual bun... I have a regular oki and one topped with melted cheese.
I had to decontruct the oki to figure out how it was made and to be able to eat it with chopsticks, I loved it!
Told you it was a rasta bar! I end my very full and excellent day in a bubblebath with a book.
It was a rollercoaster of emotions, but I'm so glad I decided to go to Hiroshima. What a finale of my trip to Japan.
My travels are not done yet, but this was a highlight for sure.
One more part to go!
J.
Part 1: Traveling to Japan | Part 2: Temples in Tokyo | Part 3: Nikko | Part 4: From Tokyo to Kyoto
Part 5: Nara | Part 6: A stormy day in Kyoto
X-posted: https://beelikej.livejournal.com/558414.html
Due to a glitch the automatic crosspost didn't go through and I removed the post linked below;)
Day 8: [Sunday, October 13, 2019]
An intense day in Hiroshima
Packed and checked out before a quick breakfast in the hotelbar.
Got on the subway to Kyoto Station for the 8:23 skinkansen to Hiroshima;
the typhoon from the day before is still affecting the trainschedule.
Finally got a good photo of a bullettrain, they are so cool! Great view along the way too:)
First look of Hiroshima; shiny bellshaped temple in the distance.
A warm welcome at Hiroshima station.
Could easily locate my hotel on this fancy map with lights, yet still managed to walk the wrong way (I told you I'm notoriously bad with maps;) But! Lots of awesome manhole covers on the way there to distract me from getting lost a little.
See? How cool are these?
This leaf design is a recurring theme in Hiroshima.
I drop my bags at the hotel and get on the city tram.
A uniformed conductor and lots of stops (information in English as well).
The tram has its own lane through the grass. (See the road on the left)
The first thing I saw when I entered the Peace Memorial Park, was the only building left standing near the epicentre of the A bomb that was dropped on August 6, 1945. Built in 1915 as the Industrial Promotion Hall, it is now called the Atomic Bomb Dome as a reminder of the destruction.
The sight of this hit me in the gut, mostly because of the evil ingenuity to create a bomb that kills everyone inside without destroying the building.
It also made me wonder why I got much more upset about this than about wars that are still going on today and that I see the result of on the daily news.
I sat down on a bench for a while and let emotions run over me, before continuing my walk through the rest of the park. I am so fucking privileged.
Another hardhitting memorial is the Children's Peace Monument, inspired by Sadako Sasaki, who was just two years old when the A bomb hit Hiroshima. At age 11 she developed leukaemia and decided to fold 1000 paper cranes, a symbol of longevity and happiness. She believed if she folded 1000 she would recover; she died before reaching her goal, but her classmates folded the rest.
To this day schoolchildren from all over the world fold strings and artworks of paper cranes; they are collected around the monument.
The bell inside the Children's Peace Monument also has the shape of a crane.
In the middle of the park The Flame of Peace burns inside the curved cenotaph that lists names of all the known victims of the atomic bomb.
Next I visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum; it has very confronting displays with items salvaged from the aftermath of the atomic bomb including extremely grim photographs and witness reports. The exposition does make an effort to end with a collection of hope and lessons learned, but by then I felt numb from all the devastation.
Statue 'Mother and Children in the Storm' with the museum in the background. Made by Hongo Shin in 1960, this sculpture calls for continuous efforts to eliminate nuclear weapons from the earth.
I did need some time to reflect and focus on the good again. I decided to not walk back through the park, but take a scenic route across the river instead.
But even the way around the park is filled with memorials for all sorts of groups affected by the (aftermath) of the a-bomb. This is the Peace Memorial Mailbox with the Peace tower in the background.
Crossing the Motoyasu-gawa River; view from Peace Boulevard (Heiwa Odori).
Geospatial data nerd alert: this is the Zero Milestone of Hiroshima City - not all cities put plaques near these points, but you may remember I also took a photo of the one in London. It's the centre of the city for measurements of geodata.
After strolling back along the river, I got on the tram to the station. Notice how you're not allowed to have a phone out when you're holding on to these rings!
Train & Ferry to Miyajima
Back at Hiroshima station, I got on a local train that has a connection to the ferry to Miyajima, a sacred island with a primeval forest.
The ferry is pretty crowded, but I still get a lovely spot to enjoy the view.
I love being on ferries, even if it's only a short trip.
Unfortunately the huge red O-torii (gate) that usually greets visitors to the island is being restored and covered in cloth. Fortunately you can still see the lushious mountain and sneak peeks of other historic structures at this World-Heritage site, such as the five story pagoda. (Click to see the full size photo;)
From the ferry I walked along the beach promenade. Lots of free roaming deer here!
During low tide you can walk to the "floating" O-torii, but I didn't see the point with it being all covered up for restauration. (People put coins in the supporting beams for good luck and it slowly destroyed the construction. From what I understood the beams will now be replaced so people can't do that anymore.)
There has been a torrii at this site since 1168; this current one dates from the late 1800s.
The Five story pagoda of Itsukushima-jinja, a temple complex dating back to the 6th century. I only snap quick pictures, because I'm on my way to the two stage ropeway up mount Misen.
The signs along the way make me giggle. No, I did not run :-p
I also love cable rides, they are especially stunning because my own country is flat all over. Up top of mount Misen you can walk several trails. However, I don't have a lot of time left for the last ropeway car goes back and I really don't have the energy to hike my way down the mountain. So I decide to only walk for half an hour and turn back from where ever I am at that point to make sure I can ride down and won't be stuck on a hike in the dark;)
The trail is steep, but the views are well worth the exercise:)
As expected, I didn't make it to the top but as you can see from my face, the walk I did manage already made me sweat like crazy. I was glad I made it back to the ropeway station on time!
I guess I'll have to return one day to explore all of mount Misen.
I mean, look at this beautiful place! The lanterns were lit when I walked back down through the forest and small village towards the beach.
Sat down at the promenad to watch the gorgeous sunset from behind the dragon statue with a view of the O-torii.
Then I stolled along the water back to the ferry; look at that full moon!
Got on the train back to Hiroshima.
Quite a different city at night!
Saw this funky lucky cat in front of the library, on the way back to my hotel.
My room was murder central (again; I seem to get the room next to the emergeny exit a lot!) - this is a CSI reference by the way;)
Ahw, back when these kind of hygiene warnings were somewhat hilarious...
After freshening up, I walk back to town for food and find a Japanese rasta bar (I kid you not) where they offer "mini okos", or okonomiyaki, a dish that looks like a burger, but is made of fried noodles with egg instead of an actual bun... I have a regular oki and one topped with melted cheese.
I had to decontruct the oki to figure out how it was made and to be able to eat it with chopsticks, I loved it!
Told you it was a rasta bar! I end my very full and excellent day in a bubblebath with a book.
It was a rollercoaster of emotions, but I'm so glad I decided to go to Hiroshima. What a finale of my trip to Japan.
My travels are not done yet, but this was a highlight for sure.
One more part to go!
J.
Part 1: Traveling to Japan | Part 2: Temples in Tokyo | Part 3: Nikko | Part 4: From Tokyo to Kyoto
Part 5: Nara | Part 6: A stormy day in Kyoto
X-posted: https://beelikej.livejournal.com/558414.html
Due to a glitch the automatic crosspost didn't go through and I removed the post linked below;)
no subject
Date: 2020-05-11 07:00 pm (UTC)I *remember typing out* the comment!
I'm so confused. I *think* it was on LJ but...i mean, i remember the deer picture and the manhole covers and the views and the bullet train and Hiroshima/the last building standing.....
*flails*
Well, I dunno wth, but thank you for sharing.
no subject
Date: 2020-05-11 07:58 pm (UTC)I did mess around with the original DW post a bit because there were issues with the repost-settings, so that may have been confusing while I was editing and reposting.
These days I always write the post on DW and have an automatic copy out on LiveJournal; there's still more interaction over there, but I do get notifications for Dreamwidth, so wherever you prefer to comment is fine with me:)
Thank you for commenting! *smishes*
no subject
Date: 2020-05-11 08:16 pm (UTC)Lately when i post a DW (as i always do now), it takes a bit for LJ to catch up. I've even had to turn the xpost settings off and on and off and on to make it *do* it. So...i dunno.