Hiroshima

My last excursion was to Hiroshima.  Since I was tight on time, I left the train station, hopped on a trolley, and headed straight to the Peace Park.  This building is the Atomic Bomb Dome.  It has looked like this since the day the bomb was dropped on August 6th, 1945.  It has been reinforced so it continues to stand as a reminder of the horrific bombing.

Here is the plaque with the inscription.  

This is what the dome looked like before the bombing.  

The town really is beautiful and modern.  I wished that I would have had some more time to explore.  

I headed across the park to the children's memorial.  Here, there were millions of paper cranes folded in the name of peace.  

From far away, you just get a rush of color, but close up you can see each individual crane representing the pain and the hope together.  

Here is the statue that actually represents the children who were harmed and killed in the bombing.  

A closer look at the memorial.  If only world peace were this easy.  

There were many glass display cases filled with origami cranes, many with designs like these.  

As I walked toward the museum at the end of the peace park, I finally understood the memorial.  I was looking through a dome, to the flame of peace and onto the A-dome.  It was at this point in my stroll that the memorial finally made sense and I got the big picture.  

Upon entering the museum, I was surprised to find this clock that counted down since the last nuclear test.  I was even more surprised to find that the world's last nuclear test was performed by the US in November.  Funny, that I am a US citizen and I didn't even know about it.  And, funny that we are demanding all these trade regulations for other nations based on their desire to nuclear test, but yet we are doing it and not answering to anyone.  Just interesting.  

Here is a watch that belonged to a person living here in Hiroshima during the time of the bomb.  It stopped at the exact time the bomb hit, 8:15 am.  

This is a replica of a letter from Albert Einstein telling the US of the potential of nuclear weapons and the need to stop the development of such weapons.  

This is a mural of the city after the bomb destroyed most of Hiroshima.  

These are paper cranes actually made by Sadako.  Even before I was a teacher, I loved her story.  If you would like to know more, please read the book Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Yamaguchi Shoten.  I loved the exhibit in the museum dedicated solely to her.  

I was a little apprehensive to enter the museum, as I heard it was biased against the US.  Honestly, after spending the majority of an afternoon there, I found quite the opposite.  The museum accurately displayed all the things that happened during the war, including all the invasions and battles initiated by the Japanese.  I did find that it was an emotional day.  I left feeling tired, not sad, but more aware.  I did feel disappointed that the US doesn't always seems forthright with its actions, especially involving nuclear testing. After contemplating, reflecting, and mourning for those lost in war, I walked back through this beautiful park thankful to be alive and confident that I will never make such a decision.  

Magical Miyajima

One of my day excursions from Iwakuni was to Miyajima Island.  Miyajima has been considered to be holy for most of Japanese history, which is why women weren't allowed on and the elderly were sent elsewhere to die in order to maintain the purity of the island.  Obviously, that is no longer the case.  Miyajima is famous for it's "floating" torii gate.  During high tide, it seems to float on the water, but during low tide, it is surrounded by mud.  

Here is a view of the island from the ferry.  

Here I am inside the Itsukushima Shrine.  

I loved seeing all the men and women in their traditional dress.  

I was even able to see this bride and groom getting their wedding pictures taken.  

As I meandered through the streets here, I saw many scenes like the one below.  The deer are sacred and wander about, but I found them mangy and pretty gross.  I am used to the beautiful deer in Illinois, these were pretty gross.  They didn't seem to ruin the scene below though.  

On my hike to the ropeway, I went through Momijidani Park.  Though it was beautiful here, it is more well known for it's autumn foliage.  

There were two steps to the ropeway to the top.  This was the first one, which lasted for over 15 minutes.  I was in a car with 2 young ladies and 2 older ladies.  One of the older ladies was apparently afraid of heights and curled up in a ball for the entire ride.  She was praying and her friend was rubbing her back the whole way.  I'm not sure how things would have played out had the car stopped or been stalled for a bit.  Thankfully, that didn't happen and I made sure to get in a separate car for the second half of the journey.  

Here's a view from the ropeway.  

After the second ropeway, I was able to have someone take a picture of me.  I thought that all the islands dotting the sea looked like another planet.  The view from the top was magnificent!

This area is known for all its small islands, including Hiroshima which is to the left of this picture.  

After leaving the 2nd ropeway station, I started hiking to Sanki Gongen Do, the temple on the summit of Mt. Misen.  The fire in this building has been burning for more than 1200 years.  In fact, the flame from the memorial in Hiroshima was lit from this fire.  

Rumor has it that holy water boiled by this fire works for all sorts of diseases.  

Here is the plaque outside the Reikado Hall.  

Seriously, after the strenuous hike to the top, I was parched and hungry.  I no more than opened my purse when this little deer came from nowhere to molest me.  He was nuzzling and nibbling and nudging.  I was having no part of it.  After taking a quick picture, I headed back down the mountain toward the ropeway.  

I was happy to get this shot of the ropeway where I originally hiked from.  It seems like a long way away, and that's because it was! 

After riding the ropeways back down the mountain, I came upon this photo opportunity.  Despite the fact that I think these deer are a bit mangy, this was a beautiful scene.  

Since it took so long to hike to the top of Mt. Misen, by the time that I made it back down the mountain, all the other shrines and temples were closed.  That's okay, I just took some self portraits before heading back to the ferry. 

Here is the 5-story pagoda...absolutely beautiful with the setting sun.  

As I walked through town on the way to the ferry, I saw this man grilling oysters.  I had heard that the oysters on Miyajima were famous, so of course I couldn't leave without trying them.  

I was ambitious and ordered two to accompany my Kirin Black beer.  Thankfully, I ordered the beer, because the oysters were disgusting!  They were gooey and full of black gunk...ewwww!  Since the owner was hovering over me asking how fabulous his oysters were, I choked them down without gagging.  Let's just say I won't be asking for more!

It was interesting to see how they were cooked.  This man, wearing flip flops I might add, cooked them on an open flame.  He pried them open while they were snapping and crackling.  Some of them even popped so violently that shell shards flew out into the street.  

This island was magical.  I know that I keep saying that about every place on my spring break, but it was seriously true.  I loved traveling alone and meandering at my own pace.  The only reason why I needed someone else was to take pictures of me in the scenes for my blog.  Ha!

Iwakuni

After exploring Osaka, Yoshino, and Kyoto I hopped another bullet train to head another two hours to Iwakuni.  I was excited that I would be meeting up with friends, but honestly I had enjoyed being alone. As much as I told myself that I wouldn't like vacationing solo, I did like getting up when I wanted, going where I wanted to go, eating when and where I wanted to, and just being okay when I didn't do everything on my lists.  It's quite the realization and it also helps me to know that I'm continuing to grow and change personally...and honestly, I like what I'm seeing.  

I arrived in Iwakuni and was met at the train station by friends.  We headed straight to Kikko Park where the famous Kintai Bridge is located.  I was lucky enough to make it in time to enjoy the first birthday party for a friend's daughter.  

I was also lucky enough to enjoy the cherry blossoms here too.  You would think that after seeing so many along the way I would be tired of them, but there is something magical.  Maybe it's that they only last a couple of days, or maybe it's that they are symbolic of the new beginnings of spring.  Whatever the reason, I couldn't get enough!

Here is the famous Kintai Bridge, which is famous for its five arches and the fact that there are no nails used in its construction.  It does create quite a beautiful scene.  In fact, there were many people there with photographers.  I had to wait patiently and edge my way into this scene just so I could get my own perfect shot.   

I love how each cherry blossom is different.  They come in every color from bright pink to peaceful white with many mixes along the way.  

After a great birthday cookout, my friend took me to the "big ball" in order to get my very own sake barrel.  After quite the experience at the factory and after making MANY new friends, we drove away with two new barrels.  

It was way too big for me to take on the train, so I had it packed up and shipped to myself in Yokosuka.  It was my only real purchase during my trip, so you can imagine how excited I was when I returned home and it was waiting at the post office for me.  Here I am...it was like Christmas!

After unwrapping it like an excited kid, I had to decide where to put it in my house.  No, it didn't stay at the dining room table, but instead next to my entertainment center.  I look at it and love it every day.  Can you see the Kintai Bridge?

On my principal's recommendation, I had to eat at the "chicken shack", which of course is not the proper name of the restaurant, but instead what Americans in the area call this place.  It is the gaudiest and most outrageously decorated place that I've been so far in my travels.  There were many different buildings and seating areas.  We had to stalk diners just to get seats when they came available.  

Part of the seating area was outside, which turned out to be fantastic.  The ambiance is unmatchable and the food was great too.  It really was chicken on a stick, except it was an entire thigh or breast.  They had many other things that were great too.  

After dinner, we had to get a group shot.  The only person missing is Mary, who insisted that she was in no shape to take a picture with us.  I had a great time and look forward to visiting again.  

I also had the opportunity to go on a Hash run with the Iwakuni crew.  It was a great hike in the woods near Onouri.  The scenery was beautiful and the company was great too.  It reminded me of my adventures in the river bottoms near my childhood home in Riverton, well, minus the beers.  

We hiked, climbed some hills, hiked, and climbed some more until we reached the top.  This was the view.  

You are looking at Miyajima Island and Hiroshima in the distance.  

It was quite exhausting, especially because much of it was sliding on my rear and climbing using the roots of trees to pull myself up.  

But, this view was worth it.  It makes me think of how many sights like this I am missing out on because I just don't know that they're there.  All the more reason to hike more in my neck of the woods.  

We hiked down some more and found another natural treasure.  Let's just say the water was freezing!

Here's the whole crew.  We hiked like rock stars.  I am so happy that I met such a great group.  I'm sad that we live so far apart, and that many of them are moving to Europe this summer, although that just means that I'll have many friends there when I move there in the future.