Hiroshima

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I was so lucky that I got to spend this past weekend in one of my favorite cities in Japan...HIROSHIMA!

The trip was part of my Peace, Development, & Democratization class, and my professor, Dr. Scott, had arranged for one of the last survivors of the Hiroshima bombing to speak to us. So this really was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I was so fortunate to be able to experience it. I had been to Hiroshima once before, when I came to Japan with the DENSO exchange program when I was 16, and I had fallen in love iwith the city back then. I just remember looking out my hotel window at the Peace Bridge crossing over the rivers and being amazed by how beautiful a sight it was. I couldn't believe that this same city had been completely destroyed in a matter of seconds not that long ago. So, needless to say, I was really excited to visit Hiroshima again, being a little older this time, and more knowledgeable of the bombing that took place there.

To get to Hiroshima, we took the shinkansen, or bullet train. It's the fastest train in Japan, taking only 2 hours to reach Hiroshima from Osaka. And it's also really nice and comfortable inside, almost like being on a plane, but even more spacious. Leilani came with me on this trip even though she's not in Dr. Scott's class, but a lot of students that weren't in his class decided to come as well. Our friends Bas, Anton, and Eugene also came. The 5 of us had booked a hostel together so we planned to stay together the whole weekend...

So on Saturday morning we got off to a very early start. Our shinkansen left at 8:51 AM from Shin-Osaka Station, which meant we had to leave our seminar house at 7 so that we could take the bus to Hirakata-shi, the train to Yodoyabashi, and then get on the subway to finally reach Shin-Osaka. Well, we had actually decided to catch the 6:34 bus to Hirakata-shi just to make sure we made the 7:24 train there...because the bus only ran at 6:34 and 7:00 that morning. Well, for some reason my alarm decided not to go off that morning (or maybe it did and I just turned it off and went back to sleep...there's a very strong possibility that's what actually happened!). So I wake up to a knocking on my door. I open it up and see Anton standing there, and he didn't even need to say anything...I was just like "Oh crap! I'll be down in a minute" and so I closed the door and frantically tried to get ready as quick as possible. Luckily I had packed and prepared everything the night before, so all I had to do was change and grab my bag. So I rush downstairs to the dining room and everyone's still just hanging out down there, in no hurry at all. And so they tell me that we're just going to wait for the 7:00 bus since missed the 6:34 one. Well that gave me about 10 more minutes so I went upstairs again and tried to make it look like I hadn't woken up just 5 minutes ago. But we did manage to get on the bus and get to Hirakata-shi in time to catch our train. So we made it to the shinkansen station right on time. We even had time to buy some snacks, like the Dessert Pocky me and Leilani found. We ate it on the shinkansen, and it was by far the best Pocky I've ever had! There was so much frosting on the pocky stick that it was actually kind of heavy, at least for a pocky stick. It was absolutely oishii!...dessert pocky ga daisuki desu...yokatta deshitayo!!

Since I didn't get a lot of sleep the night before, I ended up falling asleep on the shinkansen, and when I woke up we were 5 minutes away from Hiroshima! Well we got off the shinkansen at Hiroshima station and walked out to the area where all the trams were. We were pretty much free to do whatever until we had to listen to speaker at 12:45. So our group decided to go find out hostel first and leave our bags there. We take a tram to Dobashi station, and following the directions I carefully researched online, we managed to find our J-Hoppers Hiroshima Hostel. It was on a little backstreet that seemed a bit shady, but it was actually very nice once you got inside the building. So we checked in and put our bags down, but didn't stay long because then we were off on our way to the Peace Park and the Peace Memorial Museum...

It was such a nice day in Hiroshima! The temperature was about 50 degrees and it was pretty sunny, so that made everything just so much better! Well we managed to find our way to the Peace Park, and I immediately recognized the Museum building. So we went into the museum and began to look around. I learned a lot about the history of the city and how it developed, and also saw some horrible photographs and images of the atomic bombing. They had a model of the entire city on display, showing it before and after the bomb was dropped. It was incredible to see the whole city completely wiped out, and it made me sad to think of all the people who were in the city at the time. Buildings that once stood vanished in just seconds. Our professor told us that at Hiroshima Station (about 2 km from the hypocenter of the blast) where we had gotten out of the shinkansen, the clothing on people burst into flames. The temperature on the ground reached 3000-4000 degrees celsius, which is more than hot enough to melt iron! So you can see how the bomb just completely destroyed the city and the people. They had a watch on display in the museum that was stopped at 8:15 AM on August 6, 1945 when the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.

After looking around the museum, we headed to the room where Ms. Matsubara, one of the last survivors of the Hiroshima bombing, would speak to our group. We were early enough to get front row seats, and I was really interested to hear what she had to say. Everyone was already somewhat emotional from looking through the museum, so we knew this would be even more difficult to listen to. I didn't really know what to expect...

Finally Dr. Scott introduced Ms. Matsubara and she walked up to the front of the room. She looked like any little old Japanese woman, and you couldn't tell that she had even been through such a horrible experience. However, as she began speaking, she showed us her hands and we could see how her fingers were awkwardly bent, and the large burn scar on one of her arms. She told us about her life and her family, showing us where they lived and where she went to school. Since she didn't speak English, she had translated her speech into English and memorized it. So she told us her story of what she experienced when the bomb was dropped. As she told her story, she showed us drawings she had made, which made it so much more powerful. On that day Ms. Matsubara was at school, not too far from where the bomb was dropped. Her and her friend were outside when they heard planes flying by, so they stopped to look up and saw a plane flying by. They didn't think much about it, since those types of activities had been common during the war. But then she heard a sound and this flash of light that completely enveloped everything around her. When she awoke, she discovered that nearly all of her clothes had been burnt off, and her arms and face were also seriously burnt and bloody. She managed to make her way to the river, where other injured people had also gone, and wanted to wash herself off, but there were dead bodies in the water and people seriously injured all around her. Then she heard someone yelling her name, but when she saw the person she didn't recognize the face because it had been so damaged by all the burns. She finally realized that it was her friend who had been standing beside her when the bomb was dropped, and they started to walk back to the school hoping to find someone who could help them. But on the way there, here friend stopped and layed on the ground, saying she needed water. Ms. Matsubara didn't have any water and there wasn't water anywhere, but her friend wouldn't move. So she was forced to leave her friend and keep walking. She kept walking, all the time just thinking "I want to go home," and eventually found a place where people had begun to gather and where she could get help. Ms. Matsubara said that if she hadn't left her friend, she would have made it this place, and would probably have survived. She said she still carries that guilt and pain with her today. Luckily, Ms. Matusbara's family all survived the bombing since they were farther away from the city at the time. However, her father died from cancer due to the radiation shortly afterwards. And Ms. Matsubara herself had a difficult life after the bombing. Her face had been mutilated from the burns, her eyelids were completely burnt off, and her arms and legs were also covered in burns. It was hard to go out in public. She said people wouldn't sit by her on the bus and would stare at her, and she was never able to date because of the way she looked. She was eventually able to have corrective surgery that greatly improved her appearance and reduced the visible effects of her injuries. Even after those procedures, though, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. And after undergoing surgery to remove the cancer, doctors found that polyps had been developing on her stomach. So the effects of the bombing have lasted all throughout Ms. Matsubara's life. She also never married. However, the one source of happiness she had came from raising her brother's children. Her older brother, who had fought in the war, became an alcoholic, and when he died she took care of his children. When she looks back on all that has happened to her, she wonders what her life would have been like if the bombing had never happened. After eventually losing all of her family members, all she wanted was to have them back and get back the happiness she missed. Now she finds happiness in telling other about her experience and all the pain that she went through in hopes of making others see how dangerous nuclear weapons are so that something like the Hiroshima bombing will never happen again. By the end of her speech, everyone was deeply moved by her story. I just kept thinking to myself how horrible it would be to have experienced the things that she had to endure, and of how many other innocent people just like her were killed, and how unfair it was that she had missed out on so many things in life, and that she had all her happiness taken away. But despite all she had been through, she did not become a hateful person. She was able to find some happiness in her life and devote herself to a greater cause in teaching people about the horrors of nuclear weapons. She was truly an amazing woman, and I amso fortunate to have had the opportunity to meet her and hear her story!

After hearing Ms. Matsubara speak, we all left the museum and went to explore the rest of the peace park area. The park was so beautiful, and the views of the city with all the rivers and bridges were absolutely breath-taking! After seeing such horrifying images of total destruction in the museum, it was incredible to walk around the city. I just kept thinking how all of this could be gone in a matter of seconds, and the thought was very terrifying. But at the same time it was also inspiring. To see the city so beautifully rebuilt and thriving was very moving for me! I just felt very comfortable and relaxed walking around Hiroshima. The people seemed very friendly, the roads were spacious, the buildings were so tall, and everything was just so amazing! It was the most peaceful place I've ever been in my life!

We walked around the city for a couple of hours, visiting all the statues and memorials. We saw the cenotaph just outside the museum dedicated to those killed in the bombing, and the huge torch that was burning as a symbol of lasting peace, the Genbaku-domu mae (A-bomb Dome), and countless other memorial statues. Everywhere you went there was a reminder of what had happened. Yet there wasn't a sense of sadness in the city. There was more a sense of hope. Hope that one day there will be peace throughout the world, and hope that the world will learn from Hiroshima so that something like that will never happen again.

After we saw all of the Peace Park, we were very hungry so we got some dinner. I have to write a separate entry for that one though, because it was such an awesome experience! So that will be coming soon...

But after dinner we decided to go to Hiroshima Castle. Well we got lost trying to find it and came to this little garden area. So we walked around the garden for a good 30 minutes. It was so pretty. The landscaping was absolutely gorgeous, and we all took a ton of photos! After we had taken a shot of the garden from about every angle possible, we started walking to Hiroshima Castle. When we got there, the sun was starting to set, which made for some more great photo opportunities. We first walked around the castle grounds, playing on the little rock gardens and just having fun. There was a cute little dog this lady was walking, and Eugene pointed to it and yelled "Niku!" which he thought meant dog in Japanese. Then the lady gave him a strange look and walked away quickly. We all started laughing because the word for dog was "enu" and "niku" means meat! So the lady probably thought he wanted to eat her dog lol. He said he got it confused because the word for cat is "neko" which is similar to "niku" but then again, it wasn't a cat, it was a DOG! So anyway, we finally made it to the castle. Inside the castle was like an exhibit with a bunch of artifacts from ancient Japanese times. Unfortunately, photos were not allowed inside,b ut we managed to sneak a few! We had to climb about 7 stories to reach the top of the castle, but it was so worth it because at the top there was a balcony you could walk all the way around the castle on and see the city from every single angle. It was an amazing view! Although, I am afraid of heights, so I was really scared to go out on the balcony since it was so tiny. But I was brave and did it anyway, even though I was shaking and had to hold on to something at all times. But the photos and the view I got from there definitely made it worth it! Then before we left, there was an area where you could try on Japanese outfits, like a kimono and sumarai outfits. So me, Leilani, and Eugene got dressed up and had a lot of fun with that!

After the castle, we decided to head to the downtown area and do some shopping off of Hondori Street. So we took the tram to downtown and got off at DeoDeo, which is one of the main shopping areas. We started looking around, but soon it was pretty obvious that me and Leilani had serious shopping plans in mind while the others didn't. So we decide to go our separate ways, since we could go back to hostel whenever we wanted and didn't need to stay together. So me and Leilani went to this awesome clothing store, and I found this striped summer dress that I completely fell in love with! The only problem is that it was about 4700 Y, or about $45 dollars, which is more than any clothing I had bought in Japan before. But I decided I had to have that dress, so I bought it, and I'm so glad I did!

We had only been shopping for maybe an hour when we realized that everything was starting to close. It was only 8, but apparently the whole city starts to close pretty early. So we decided to pick up some food and go back to the hostel. We went to a grocery store (the best part is that it was in the mall where we had been shopping) and bought some ice cream cones because we had been craving it all night. We also picked up something to eat for breakfast the next morning. Then we went to a 7-Eleven and bought this little thing called a "pizza-man" It was like a roll with pizza filling in the middle. And we also stopped in another store and bought FOUR chocolate bars!! And I bought this drink called Cool Mint Cider because the bottle said it tasted "chewy" and I was curious to see how chewy tastes. So after buying all our junk food, we went back to the hostel and spread everything out on the table. We tried all the chocolate, and they were all sooo very oishii. The pizza-mans were also good, and my "chewy" drink was incredible! I can't describe the exact taste, or how it tasted chewy, but it actually did. It was kind of like Sprite, but with a more fruity flavor...almost like you Starburst in drink form. It was really good! But we felt so horrible afterwards when we thought of how unhealthy all of it was, and how much we had eaten. After our little junk-food binge, we decided to start planning out the rest of our semester! We made a list of all the things we wanted to do and all the places we wanted to go, and basically planned out each weekend for the rest of the semester. It was crazy, but we somehow managed to fit it all in. But our list keeps growing every day...After that we got ready for bed and went to sleep. It was only about midnight, but we ended up talking for at least an hour before we actually went to sleep. We talked about the things we had done and about our experiences here, so it was a nice conversation. I'm glad I found someone who I have so much in common with!

So that was the end of my first day in Hiroshima. We did so much and saw so many things, it was really a wonderful day. But that's only half of the trip...the next day it was Shukkeien Garden and Miyajima. But I'm also going to have a separate entry for that day. I have so much to write about because we did so much and I took so many photos...almost 300, just from this weekend! But I can't wait to share all of those stories, because it was definitly an amazing experience 😊

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Photos

On the Train...
On the subway to Shin-Osaka Station...watch out, gaijin taking over!

Shinkansen Station
The entrance to the shinkansen station area

Waiting
Me and Leilani waiting in the station until we could go to the platform

Here Comes the Shinkansen
On the platform, waiting for our "shink" to arrive

Shinkansen
There's our shinkansen!

On the Shinkansen
Me and Lani on the shinkansen train

Dessert Pocky
The best Pocky I've ever had in my life!

Hiroshima
My first view of the city when we walked out of Hiroshima Station

Tram Center
Hiroshima uses a tram system for public transportation, so we took a tram to reach the hostel

More of Hiroshima
Another view of the city as we were walking to the hostel

Another one...
And yet another shot of Hiroshima

Bridge View
Here's a view of the bridge we crossed on our way to the museum!

Monument
The first monument we saw, on our way to the museum.

Another Monument
Another monument along the way...

Our Destination
The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum

At the Museum
Here I am at the Peace Memorial Museum!

In the museum
First floor of the museum

Old Hiroshima City
An old photo of Hiroshima. I thought it was interesting because we walked in that same area that day!

Watch
The watch that stopped when the bomb was dropped...sorry it's a bit blurry!

Bombing
Here's how the city looked after the bombing

Hiroshima-Before
Here's beautiful Hiroshima city before the bombing...