A Dark Day and a Japanese Inn

Well, with my sensitive belly it was bound to happen… I woke up about 3:00 am with my belly on fire. We had a 6:00 am wake-up call due to our early morning train to Hiroshima. The moment I got out of bed things turned bad… Apparently I ate something that didn’t agree with me… So between my food poisoning and Stacey’s bug bite, we weren’t the most attentive parents today.

The two hour train ride to Hiroshima went by fast, partly because of the Shinkansen Bullet Train, and partly because I keep nodding off to sleep. When we arrived at Hiroshima we found some luggage lockers to leave the bulk of our luggage in while we saw the sites of Hiroshima.

Today was by far the most somber day of our trip. Between the food poisoning and the bug bite maybe it wasn’t the best day to visit the site of the world’s first atomic bombing. Or maybe it was….

The first thing we saw was a building that is known as the “A-Bomb Dome”, this is the last remaining structure standing from when Hiroshima was attacked by the US at 8:15 AM on August 6, 1945. On that day the entire city was virtually flattened. The A-Bomb Dome was located about 150 meters from the Hypocenter of the bomb. The bomb detonated about 600 meters above the ground, and within a second the ground temperature was over 3000 degrees Fahrenheit. The extreme heat melted or set on fire anything any a 2 km radius of they hypocenter.

Remains of the A- Bomb Dome

A pocket watch from the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. This was recovered from a victim's jacket. The clock stopped at the time of the blast.

A tricycle that a 2 year old was riding at the time of the blast. The father buried the tricycle with the infant in the back yard. Several years later they removed the remains to give the infant a proper burial and the tricycle was donated to the museum.

This model shows Hiroshima before the Atomic Bombing

And after......

The stories, sites and sounds of the museum are haunting. The idea of war in general is gut wrenching, but to see the devastation after a few seconds of atomic bomb, leaves you speechless.

Peace Memorial Park

Hiroshima has led a campaign to eliminate all nuclear arms around the world by 2020. Every year, for several years running, the Mayor of Hiroshima has sent a letter to world leaders pleading for the abolishment of nuclear weapons.

There is a story of young girl that was initially fine from the blast, but became very ill a few years later. The Japanese have a legend that says if you fold and sew together 1000 paper cranes, your wish will come true. While this little girl was lying sick in the hospital she started making paper cranes, because she didn't want to die. She died at the age of 10 of leukemia that was a result of the bombing.

Children's Peace Monument

This monument was erected in the little girls honour, and for the hope of peace for all children around the world. Every year the monument receives hundreds of thousands of folded paper cranes from children everywhere.

After our time in Hiroshima we made our way to the island of Miyajima. Miyajima is about 30 minutes south of Hiroshima by train, and then 10 minutes across the water by ferry.

We spent our afternoon and evening relaxing in our Ryokan, which is a traditional Japanese Inn. It was here that we were really challenged on the culinary side....

Our Room was fantastic.

Outside of our sitting room was the most beautiful landscape, complete with natural waterfalls and deer.

The kids in their traditional Yukuta

The food was stunning..... to look at.

Exactly.....

Another great day in our journey comes to an end.

I am now officially a day behind, as we didn't have internet service in our first Ryokan. I will post the pictures from today at Miyajima (where the monkeys proved elusive), and tomorrow back in Tokyo after we go see FC Tokyo play soccer against the J League Champions, the Kashima Antlers.