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Published: November 12th 2007
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The Floating Torii
One of the 3 most scenic sights in Japan …This is the motto of Mito Kosei, one of the youngest survivors of the Hiroshima bombing and my tour guide, taken from traditional Japanese tea ceremonies.
I had to choose between taking a trip to Tokyo or going to Hiroshima and I am so glad that I chose Hiroshima. With two days to get everything in, Sayuri and I headed for the island of Miyajima to spend day one. Miyajima is a small island known for the Itsukushima Shrine, which contains the floating Torii, one of the three most scenic sights in all of Japan. The ten minute ferry boat ride over to the island gave us a great view of the Torii and the mountains behind it, all of which has become an UNESCO World Heritage Site.
After viewing the Torii, we headed up the mountain via the ropeway (chair lift) where the clear day provided amazing views of the surrounding islands. Instead of taking the ropeway back down, we decided to walk down the backside of the mountain through several shrines along the way, one of which contained a fire which has been burning for over 1100 years! Two hours later, we made it back to the
By the Torii
Sayuri, my Japanese Family Torii and the tide had gone out so we could walk out to it on the sand beds.
Miyajima was beautiful, but it did not compare to my experience at Hiroshima. We began Hiroshima by looking at the A-Bomb Dome, a building where only the dome survived the blast. While I was reading about the building a man came up to me and asked where I was from. He was one of the volunteer tour guides for the park and was one of the youngest survivors of the bombing, as he was in his mother’s womb when it occurred. It was amazing to have him walk us around the park and take us to places otherwise we wouldn’t have known about. The actual hypocenter of the bomb was about a block away from the park and there was also an old cemetery where you could see effects of the heat on the stones.
It was so interesting to hear the story of his family. His father did not make it one month past the incident but his mother lived to be 90 years old. I really appreciated his perspective on the incident; it was an atrocious event that
many people are still angry at the Americans for today but he liked the change that the United States brought to Japan in the form of democracy. He also acknowledged that the Japanese had been involved in some very evil events prior to the bombing but he really wanted an apology from the US government.
The actual museum was very well put together. It began with an overview of Hiroshima before the bombing, a town known for education and its military presence. It then went into the development of atomic weapons and provided documents from US government communications as to why they followed through with the bombing and chose Hiroshima. These documents were of course all in English so just certain key phrases where translated into Japanese. Being able to read the entire document, I was a little disappointed because I felt like some of the sentences being translated were taken out of their original context.
The museum did a very good job showing the horror of the attack and nuclear weapons in general. There was a large artifact section of objects and articles of clothing in their condition after the bombing. Pictures of the acute effects of
From the Top
A view of the surrounding islands. radiation and the stories of individual experiences were enough to make me feel a little nauseous. I could not imagine being in Hiroshima on that day with the confusion, horror and uncertainty of life. The museum and the city are big supporters of eliminating nuclear arms worldwide. Every time any nation does any nuclear testing the mayor of Hiroshima writes a letter to them pleading them to stop. Also the park houses the Flame of Peace which will be ablaze until all nuclear weapons have been eliminated worldwide.
Next to the museum is the Memorial Hall for Atomic Bomb Victims. This houses thousands of testimonies written by survivors of the atomic bomb. I spent over two hours going through and reading these accounts of the incident. I couldn’t get past the common theme throughout, the guilt of not being able to help more people and the guilt of being one that survived. Many mentioned family or friends who they were with trapped under buildings or debris unable to get away. Many talked of trying to help but had to give up at a certain point to save themselves. I could have stayed and read these accounts for another few
Reiko-Do Eternal Fire Hall
The flame is said to have been burning for over 1200 years! hours but for the benefit of my companions enjoyment I pried myself away.
At the time of looking through these testimonies, this quote really struck me, written by a survivor at the 50th anniversary of the event: “I say this on behalf of the dead. I feel deep rancor toward the American military. But for the peace and safety of mankind, no revenge whatever must ever be taken for such rancor.”
The Hiroshima Peace Park is also contains the Children’s Peace Monument where school children from around the world send in paper peace cranes that they have made. This monument began when Sadako Sasaki developed Leukemia after being exposed to the radiation. She believed that if she folded 1,000 cranes her wish to be cured would come true. She ended up dieing from the illness but her classmates came forward and helped with the cranes and created this monument.
I am so glad that I got to spend the day in Hiroshima. It was amazing to hear the story of the city and the individual accounts of those who were there on that day. I highly recommend a visit to the Peace Park if you ever have
Torii
From the beach the opportunity of breaking away.
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Farbs
Sarah Mariko Farber
Sugoi
Hey Jess, Hiroshima looks so interesting and Miyajima looks beautiful! I am so glad that you are getting to travel around and see some interesting places since I dragged you out here to work for a dying company! Gomene!!!