New day, new city. Hiroshima was fantastic, and exactly the change of pace in Japan I was looking for. I swear that bad weather is chasing me; it was crazy hot when I was there (85 degrees F, 70% humidity) and I woke up the next morning ready to leave with it pouring outside, just like Osaka. One step ahead.
The two things I most wanted to see in Hiroshima were the two top tourist destinations – the Peace Park / A-Bomb Dome, and Miyajima. Both are places I’ve wanted to go to since my first time in Japan back in ’04, but I never seemed to make it any farther west/south than Osaka, so this time I made sure I budgeted the time to do so. I got in from Fukuoka at about 11am; the Shinkansen ride was super quick. I checked in to the hostel, Backpacker’s K’s House, which was only about 5 minutes from Hiroshima Station. I’m glad I brought a separate day pack with me even though it’s made my overall baggage way bigger; I packed the necessary items (camera, phone/tablet, tripod) and was off to the Peace Park.
I didn’t capture as much with my phone camera this time, so I’ve thrown in some select unprocessed pics from my DSLR which will still be processed and re-done when I get back.
I think this entry will get a little long. Oh, and I also had some awesome Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki which is at the end if you’re hungry.
To get to the Dome & Peace Park you have to take a streetcar, which sadly didn’t take my SUICA card. I actually haven’t ridden a bus here this time (which will change once I get to Kyoto) but this was the first non-train I rode on this trip. Once we pulled up to the dome it was a little surreal to see it in person. I’d seen a few pictures before, but here you have this perfectly preserved (from its post-bomb condition) pre-war building that just showed how insanely destructive the bomb was, sitting in the middle of a rebuilt city. The top of the building and much of the rest of it is just wire frame; the concrete that is left either held up incredibly well, or crumbled to the ground if not vaporized. There was a metal spiral staircase inside the building that was twisted and bent from the heat while looking to have been shielded by much of the concrete.
Just a short walk away is the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, which houses several monuments dedicated to the various victims – children, student laborers, Korean workers, and the cenotaph for all victims affected by the bomb – and each one was a sight to see. The children’s memorial featured a girl representing Sadao Sakai holding a giant golden crane above her head, and behind it were several windowed booths displaying the constant influx of origami cranes both in chain and art form. The reason for the memorial was definitely sad, but the beauty that comes out of it is a sight to see.
Behind that is the cenotaph memorializing all victims, regardless of nationality, that were killed by or as a result of the atomic bomb. Every name is included inside a chest under the arch, and it lines up perfectly with the eternal flame and the dome in the far background. The entire mission of the memorial is to push for peace and harmony, and the flame is supposedly meant to stay lit until the last nuclear weapon on earth is destroyed.
My next stop after was Miyajima, which has the Itsukushima Shrine and Torii, the world-famous floating temple. It’s about 30 minutes by train to the first station, and then a 10 minute ferry out to the island which thankfully was covered fully by my rail pass. Approaching the island from the ferry, you can see the giant orange torii in the water and it’s very pretty. Once we landed, I walked over to the shrine and encountered a lot of deer along the way. The deer roam the town freely and chase after people with food. It’s funny to watch them sneak up on people from behind and then startle them when they poke at the person’s butt. At least I laughed a little, like an ass.
The temple itself is bright orange as well, and for a small entry you can go in, walk around and also come out to the point at a pier in front of the center of the torii to look at it from the front. Unfortunately for me, it was low tide (had I gone the evening before, or that morning, it would have been high tide) so the temple itself wasn’t over the water at the time. I must go back when it’s high tide someday to see it in its full splendor. I spent a crapload of time taking pictures and setting up shots with the tripod. I spent a while there again after exploring the mountain for a bit, waiting for the night to fall in order to get some shots as they light up the temple in the darkness. The tide went even lower by then, and people started wading out to the torii to take pictures with it.
In between that, I went up the mountain a bit because I wanted to go to the peak of Mt. Misen, however it was about an hour too late and it would have been completely dark if I made it to the summit and had to go back down, so I just walked up the trail a bit into the forest and enjoyed nature. The whole island was a complete departure from the cities and towns I’ve frequented through Japan so it was a nice moment to just sit in silence and enjoy the water and trees.
I didn’t actually leave Miyajima until about 8pm, when there was virtually no one else left on the island except people who were staying overnight. I got back to Hiroshima around 9pm and went in search of Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki. I found an okonomiyaki stadium (10-15 different restaurants on one floor of a building) near the station and sat down at a booth. After reading up on it there are a few main differences between Hiroshima- and Osaka-style (what I had on Day 1) – whereas Osaka-style mixes all the ingredients (cabbage, egg, etc) in a bowl as a batter before putting it on to the hotplate, in Hiroshima everything is cooked as a stack. They first laid down some crepe-like batter, and then piled cabbage and moyashi on top and let it cook for a while. Then they put sliced pork on top and flipped it over, and started cooking yakisoba noodles on the side. Once the cabbage and moyashi started cooking, they mixed it a big, cooked an egg on the side, stacked the yakisoba on the cabbage and then the egg on top, mixing and compacting it into a little dome. Next they melted cheese and mochi in a pot on the side, covered the okonomiyaki with sauce and then poured the cheese/mochi on top, covered it in negi and shrimp (no, I didn’t eat the shrimp =P) and it was done.
It was AMAZING. I liked it FAR better than the Osaka style; it wasn’t as compressed and the flavor and way that the ingredients mixed together tasted so much better. Also since the egg was separated and not mixed with the cabbage it made it a little more layered, and the yakisoba was a great touch too. It was way more fun to watch it being cooked as well.
After dinner I was drained from all the walking all day, so I just went back to the hostel and chilled. I cleared out some space on my camera CF card, checked internet and FB, met some people from Canada and Israel, and went to sleep. My bunkmates were some French dudes this time, but they were not friendly at all.
This morning I woke up and walked back to the station to catch my next Shinkansen to Kyoto. I didn’t notice but the agent booked me on the super-slow Kodama train and it’s stopping at every station. I’m making sure they put on a Hikari or Sakura train for the rest of the trip. Anyway, off to Kyoto. Haven’t been back since ’04 so I am looking forward to it. Until then, peace.
