Hiroshima

We took advantage of Memorial Day weekend and traveled to historic Hiroshima for a few days. The trip took 4 hours by bullet train, Mike's new favorite mode of transportation. He was so excited about riding a bullet train that he was taking pictures of it like a typical tourist, and even a Japanese lady and her husband found his enthusiasm funny.













But I have to say, I was really impressed with how comfortable the train was. It was set up just like an airplane, but with much more leg room. They even had a stewardess who came around and offered drinks and snacks! Of course, we didn't need any because my mother has taught me to always travel with tons of snacks. It might be a Filipino thing--I don't know. To Mike's dismay, I filled his backpack with stuff that I bought at the Exchange the day before....dried mangoes, Nagaraya Crackernuts, Pocky, Crackerjacks, trail mix, the list goes on and on....

When we arrived at Hiroshima, we took a taxi to the hotel to put our bag away. Notice how I said 'bag' singular. I was very proud of myself for packing so lightly. That is not an easy thing for me to do. But I did use every square inch of that bag. Mike was afraid that it would randomly explode as we were walking through the train terminal because I had packed that thing to it's full capacity.

Our hotel room was a happy surprise because we lucked out and had a panoramic view of the city, as evidenced by the first picture on this blog. We started planning on what to check out first and we decided on Hiroshima Castle since it was smack dab in the middle of our view. The castle is surrounded by moats and within the grounds of the castle are the ruins of the military installation that once stood there, destroyed by the A-bomb. The castle was also destroyed, but later rebuilt and turned into a museum. The only reminders that this used to be a military base are the foundations where the buildings once stood.





Here's a picture of Mike sitting on the steps of was used to be the Hiroshima Imperial Military Headquarters building.












This was the Underground Military Communications room. After the A-bomb, when all of Hiroshima's telephone and telegraph lines were cut off, this was the only place left that was able to communicate the events at Hiroshima.


After Hiroshima Castle, we headed over to the World Peace Memorial Park where the A-Dome is found. This is the only building left standing after the bomb. There was controversy over whether or not to tear it down because it's such a painful reminder of what happened, or to leave it up as a memorial. In the end, the Japanese people decided to leave it as a memorial to remind the world of the consequences of war.

The t-shaped bridge behind Mike in this picture is a busy thoroughfare nowadays, but this was actually the target of the A-bomb.


The next day, we went to the museum where we saw lots of things, many of which were disturbing and scary when you think that the tragedy of Hiroshima might still be a possibility today. But one of the inspiring things that I saw was actually just outside the museum. After the A-bomb dropped, it was rumoured that nothing would grow for 75 years. But the tree in this picture was the first to bloom, just a few short months after the bomb. And it's still alive today! The Japanese people say that this tree gave them the courage to rebuild their lives after the tragedy. By the way, I am in this picture, amidst the school children who were on a field trip. They were all so cute in their uniforms and hats. And so well behaved too!!