Moving Day(s) Hiroshima

 Our last night in Niseko calls for dinner out. Ying and Juan are also leaving. Ying is from China and Juan is from Argentina. They are going to their house in Tokyo.  We meet this couple early on in our stay and have become friends. They come to Niseko every year to snowboard so they know it well. They have a season pass to Annapuri.

They have an interesting story. They both work remotely, he is in AI development and she is a manager with a French tech firm in Tokyo. 

Dinner was wonderful. Not really Japanese as we ate at a Canadian/British pub style place. Good food and four bottles of wine later we waddle home. Ying and Juan have never been to Canada so maybe in a future season they will visit. They seem pretty eager to ski the Rockies.

We are out of Niseko bound for Hiroshima. This part is to relax and let our legs and backs recover. Hiroshima, Kyoto and environs for about a week.

We got pretty lucky in our travels, the airport bus was large and new, very comfy. It’s more interesting when you can see what is around you. It’s not snowing down low away from the mountains. Oh my gosh, there is a lake!

We got a lunch of Soba at the airport for not a fortune. We checked in and got a window (except there was no window) not too far back in the plane. Upon arrival we walked out and the Airport Limousine line was right there. Ten minutes and we are on the bus to Hiroshima Station which is close to our hotel. As we pull into the station we pass right in front of our hotel! Short walk! We have lounge passes in the hotel, the Hotel Granvia Hiroshima, there are appies, wine and beer like an all inclusive! Whoo Hoo!

Nice collection! If you have to ask you can’t afford it!

Fresh honey for your tea or coffee. Also steak and salmon to order for breakfast!

We have decided that with only one day in Hiroshima we will limit our exploration to two things, the Itsukoshima Shrine and the Hiroshima Peace Park.

The shrine is very old, founded in 593 then enhanced in 1168. It is a beautiful site with a number of deities worshipped and several patrons enshrined within. We are lucky to be here at this time of year. This location is the most visited shrine in Japan, not too crowded today but in summer it’s very crowded. There is a five story pagoda but it is completely wrapped in hoarding so not viewable. This shrine has a torii in the water which makes it fairly unique.

Along the path/street there are shops and restaurants aplenty, the architecture is very traditional. One thing we weren’t expecting is the deer, when you exit the ferry they warn you about them. They will apparently eat anything they can get off you, tickets, bills or any other thing they can get a lip on. They are not very large and you can pet them, just don’t feed them. There are also hawks that will come after anything you are eating. We didn’t eat outside so no problem with the birds.

After the shrine we took a ferry to the Hiroshima Peace Park, about an hour boat ride. We have a Guru Walk booked. Lunch first, Okonamayaki is the local specialty. Noodles with cabbage and filling topped with oyster or shrimp among other things. Very tasty, even Jane didn’t mind the cabbage.

The guide was excellent at explaining what happened, why it happened and how it happened. There are a lot of factors that went into the selection of Hiroshima. There is way too much to cover in this blog. The sites and stories are very moving. How the city and its residents survived is almost miraculously. There are a number of monuments commemorating certain events and people, too many to list. There are several clocks and watches dedicated to the time of the bombing, 8:15 August 6 1945. All the memorials are dedicated to peace and achieving it in the future.

Above is the walk of Ten Gates, glass on the sides to represent the fragility of peace and metal structure to represent the strength of peace.

This is a tomb, there are books inside that contain the names of all the victims of the bombing, just under 350,000. Some people that are victims of the event are still alive so more names will be added. In the background is a flame held between two stylized hands. It is not an eternal flame, it is to be extinguished when the last atomic weapon on the planet is dismantled.

This clock is styled after the gantries that were used to test the bombs.

There were a number of buildings that survived the blast, at least in part. This building was the tallest one to survive so it became a focal point for those coming to assist and search for survivors. It is now a World Heritage Building. It is only a few hundred meters from the hyper centre of the explosion.

There is another very poignant monument to the children, it’s a long story so you’ll have to google it. Sufficed to say, there is a tradition about a young girl who developed leukaemia due to the radiation and in Japan anyone who folds 1000 paper cranes will be granted their wish. This you girl folded over 1400 before she died. Now many people fold cranes and bring them here. There are so many that the kiosk behind the monument are filled with them. In summer school children come to the park with their cranes and can fill one of those kiosks in a matter of hours.

This is a humbling place, the desire for peace is very strong. A resilient, strong people.