We started out early in the morning, heading for our usual subway to Kyoto station. Breakfast in the form of donuts and cinnamon rolls from Starbucks was to be had on the go on the train to Hiroshima.
This information display on Kyoto station's shinkansen platform shows the different kinds of shinkansen, with the number of cars each one has. etc.
We arrived at Hiroshima a little later than usual since we got onto the wrong train that we realised pretty soon was not going to stop at Hiroshima. We got off at Himeji and transferred to a train to Okayama, from where we finally got a train to Hiroshima. Moral of the story, confirm all stops of the train before you get onto one.
We stowed our luggage in a locker and made our way outside to the tram, taking tram no. 2 to the Atom Bomb Dome stop.
The Dome and the Peace Memorial Park are a short walk from the tram stop.
The Dome is just 5 minutes away. This is the only structure that somehow survived the blast and its tattered remnants have been preserved as is. This used to be a minucipal government building.
This sculpture is the Children's Memorial, for all the children who died on that day, as well as the days and years later due to radiation poisoning.
These long columns of paper cranes have been sent by children from schools all around the world. This is to commemorate the story of a little girl who was exposed to radiation. Someone told her that if she folded paper in the art of origami in the form of a 1000 cranes, her health would be restored and the disease would fly away on the wings of the cranes. She folded many cranes, not stopping even after she completed a thousand, but she passed away from the after effects of radiation poisoning. The cranes have become the symbol of her struggle and perseverance.
The Peace Memorial Museum housing the artefacts and chronicling the story of Hiroshima's day of terror.
The arch in the middle of the park, framing the dome. People come here to pay their respects, leave donations and hold peace rallies against nuclear proliferation.
We made our way into the museum, which is split into two parts. the first part has short films, artefacts and lots of factual information about the science involved in the creation of the bomb, the decision process and historical timelines leading upto the actual detonation. This is a wristwatch donated by a victim's family preserving for posterity the moment time stood still for Hiroshima.
These models show the before and after views of ground zero. The first is before, the second is after the blast. The dome structure is clearly seen in the latter.
This model shows the extent of the area that was affected by the blast.
Although we started out taking pictures and looking at things in detail, it got a bit too much really quickly. It reminded me of our visit to Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, with the mood slipping ever so slowly into deeper and darker sadness. The second part of the museum housed in another wing chronicled the suffering of people exposed to radiation, and the photographs and artefacts were a lot to take in. After a couple of hours we were done.
Given the late hour, almost nearing 3 pm, going to a proper restaurant was impractical and so we grabbed lunch at this Italian cafe on the border of the park. Its a wonderful location, the food was good, and as we sat there, it was difficult to imagine this place being the site of such horrors just half a century ago.
This picture was taken by a Japanese gentleman who was treating his over 90 year old mother to lunch at the next table. What was really memorable was her joie de vivre at her age, she wanted the dessert platter and was really relishing the cakes and chocolates !
The original plan was to head to Okayama to see the Korako-en, one of the three most celebrated gardens of Japan. Given the time, we decided to postpone our trip to Okayama and head straight to Miyajima.
We took the tram back to the train station, retrieved our luggage and caught the local train to Miyajimaguchi, which takes around 30 minutes. The Miyajimaguchi train station is a 2 minute walk from the Miyajima ferry pier.
We walked to the ferry pier and waited for the JR Ferry which is free with the JR Pass. There is also another ferry company, and the tickets are pretty cheap, so can hop onto that one as well if there is one just leaving.
We could see the famous torii of the Itsukushima Shrine as we made our way across on the boat. The journey is pretty short, only about 10 minutes or so.
The floating torii is one of the three most photographed sights in Japan. It is the entrance gate to the shrine, and since it is built out into the sea, at high tide, it gives the impression of "floating".
We made our way by foot along the sea front, taking about 5 minutes from the ferry pier to reach our ryokan. They can come pick you up if you call them as well.
We arrived at our accomodation for the night, the Kinsuikan ryokan, which is situated on the waterfront. Its whats called a modern ryokan, ie, it takes the basic features of a ryokan such as tatami rooms, decor etc, and contemporises it for modern tastes. We had a huge room with a wonderful view of the seafront and the torii.
We checked in and got a general feel of the place, dumped our stuff and headed out for the amazing sunset and the gorgeous view of the floating torii.
The interior area of the Itsukushima shrine. The structure is suspended, and while the ground can be seen right now since it is low tide, at high tide, this entire area is submerged under water, leaving just the structure above to be seen.
We continued walking around the back of the shrine. Most things were already closed and there was no one to be seen.
Moonrise over Miyajima, a beautiful sight.
We made our way back to the sea front to see the torii all lit up in the night.
One of the icons for Miyajima is the rice paddle, and there are several available in the shops around town. This is the world's largest.
We retraced our steps back to the hotel and changed into our yukatas in time for dinner, which was a wonderful kaiseki meal. We started with shabu shabu,went on to tempura, accompanied by sushi and sashimi for Gordon, followed by several more courses of veggies, salads, miso and rice and ended with a wonderful lemon souffle. I was amazed at how much they were able to improvise in terms of providing me with vegetarian options.
After a wonderful dinner we rested for a bit and then made our way to the wonderful onsen in the ryokan. Although they are indoor, they are extremely luxurious with huge glass windows looking out on verdant greens and waterfalls. The water is hot spring thermal water and almost all creature comforts including two massage chairs are provided in the changing and lounge areas of the baths.
We went to bed completely relaxed and ready for the next day.
