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Published: November 21st 2012
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Day 5
Our wake up call at 6.15am was not very welcome, but the guide was insistant. We went for breakfast on the top floor of the hotel, in the Sky Lounge, which had a 360deg view of Hiroshima bay. We watched the sun rise above the mountains, whilst enjoying a good breakfast of fruit, rolls and yogurt. We even had the option of an omlette if we wanted.
We met in the lobby at 7.45 for an 8am departure. The temperature had certainly dropped, and although there was a clear sky and it was sunny, it was cold. We set off for the Hiroshima Peace Memorial and Museum. When we got off the bus, the first thing we saw was the ghostly image of the A Dome building. It was very close to the hypocentre of the bomb detonation and the twisted metal dome and some of the building remains as a permanent reminder of the power of nuclear destruction. Over the years, the structure has been stabilised to ensure it remains for future generations.
The Childrens Memorial that has been built houses a bell and crane. The significance of which is that one of the survivors
of the original bomb developed leukemia 7 years after the event, and whilst she was reciving treatment, and to give her a purpose to her existence, started to fold paper cranes. She wanted to fold 1000, but unfortunately died before she could reach her goal. Children from all around the world made the remainder, and still make them today and send them to hang in special cabinets around the memorial.
We walked down the boulevard, and passed a flame which will remain lit for as long as there are nuclear weapons in the world. At the end, is the Peace Memorial, which contains the ashes of unidentified victims of the blast. Whilst we were there, some Government workers were cleaning it and putting out fresh flowers.
We then went into the Museum and were able to walk round at our own pace. There were plenty of exhibits, all of which had english translations, that vividly showed the bombs destruction. There were also extracts from some of the military correspondence on the lead up to the bombing, which gave background into why Hiroshima was chosen as the first target, one of the reasons being that there was no allied
forces POW camp close by. There was also a watch, donated by a surviving family member, which had stopped at the exact time of the bombing - 8.15am 6th August 1945. There was a replica of the city before the bomb and then afterwards, showing how every building was completely vaporised. Approx 140,000 had died by the end of 1945, but the radiation meant that there were lots of people that had lasting medical problems, including bone marrow problems, and those that had birth defects as they were born just after the boming. Some of the exhibits were quite disturbing, which is the point, and showed charred clothing, photos of injuries sustained, scarring and burns. There were also eye witness accounts, paintings drawn by survivors, and video testamonies.
We had some free time, before we needed to meet with the rest of the group, so went to the Memorial Hall. This has 140,000 mosaic tiles in a freeze showing the Horishima skyline after the bombing, and lists the areas affected by the bombing. There is also a large library, where people can research their ancestors, and view their photos and information about them that has been gathered.
From
here, we returned to the coach for the short journey to our cookery lesson. This was at a cooking school, where we were going to make our own lunch - okonomiyaki. We had great fun watching and trying to replicate the demonstration on the hot plate. The basic ingredients were lots of cabbage, bean sprouts, noodles, bacon, egg and okonomi sauce. Our efforts looked fairly amateurish in comparison with our teacher, but the end product couldn't be faulted - excellent. They also gave us a bottle of the sauce to take away with us, together with a guide to be able to try it at home. There was also a small cake for dessert for us to try. let's just say the cake part was nice, but the red bean paste inside was awful.
After lunch, the plan was to visit one of the most famous gates in Japan, or tori On Miyajima Island. The gateway to the Shinto shrine, it appears float in the water. It was a short ferry ride across to the island, which is also famous for the tame deer which roam round at will. No one is permitted to give birth or die on
the island, as the whole island is considered sacred. We were given some free time to wander round the shrine and take photos. Unfortunately we didn't have time to visit the five story pagoda, which was built in 1587, or go up Mount Misen on the cable car. There were lots of stalls and shops making the small filled cakes, which smelt lovely, but this was accompanied by the smell of grilled oysters. Almost 50% of Japan's oysters are caught in Hiroshima. We saw the bamboo boats in the bay which put down 400 10m steel lines and bait them with scallop shells, each line cultivating 15-20 oysters.
We returned to the mainland, and back onto the coach, heading towards Iwakuni. Here we walked over the five arched bridge, which is constructed using no nails. It has however, had some work done to it, with steel reinforcements being added to stop typhoons washing it down river. Across the other side, most people sampled an ice cream, and there were some weird and wonderful flavours - royal tea, soya bean, pudding.....! We returned to the coach, and set off for the railway station. We were catching the bullet train which
would shorten out journey time to Fukuoka, and our luggage was following in the coach later.
Whilst we were on the station, a number of bullet trains came though, at high speed, and as with all trains in Japan, it was on time and stopped at the position on the platform that was marked for the that carriage number to stop at.
Once at Fukuoka, it was a quick hop on the subway to the hotel. We checked in, and met the guide 10 minutes later. He showed us a place in the shopping centre where we could get good Ramen-noodles. It was an unusual concept, of lone dining, in small cubicles, where you can't see into the kitchen, they pull down a blind, and your neighbours are screened off from you. When you arrive, you insert your money into a vending machine, selecting the basic meal you want. All the places in the restuarant are shown on an electronic board, and when a space is available it lights up green. Once you are seated, you can choose any extras you would like, eg a beer, before selecting the basics of your meal - garlic, firmness of noodles,
strength of stock etc, That said, the ramen and stock were excellent, and we couldn't fault it. We returned to the hotel to wait for the bags to arrive, with another early start and full days programme ahead.
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