Blogs from Hiroshima, Hiroshima, Japan, Asia - page 8

How to describe feelings arriving in Hiroshima? As soon as you arrive you feel that you’re somewhere special and significant. Going round the Peace Park and the museum and looking at the Dome, the one building that has been left as a memorial, all fill you with questions and horror at what we are capable of doing to each other. The remarkable thing is how the city has become what it is today after such an enormous tragedy. The park is lush with trees and shrubs, covering a big area around the detonation site. The city has grown up around it and is vibrant and colourful. As well as the Peace sites we took a short ferry ride out to the pretty island of Miyajima, known for its big red tori and ‘floating’ temple. Climbed Mt ... read more

Well first thing whilst still in Nara we went on a guided tour of of Todai-ji which is the Great Buddha hall. It is an amazing sight the Buddha is the beggist in Japan and it is supposed to be one of the greatest sights in the entire Japanese history. Our guide was 74 years old and his English name was "OK" he was a really nice man and had studied many years ago at Cambridge University. We are getting really embarassed about how well a lot of the Japanese speak English and our Japanese is crap/non-existent. I must admit I kept my eye on Mike, especially after last night with him reading about Buddhism. I kept on expecting him to go missing and then turn up in a trainee Monks robe - thank goodness that ... read more

Hiroshiman historia lienee kaikille tuttu, ainakin silta osin, mita tapahtui 1945, jolloin atomipommi tuhosi kaupungin. Kavimme tanaan rauhanmuseossa ja -puistossa. Museossa kerrottiin tapahtumista ennen pommia, uhrien ja silminnakijoiden kertomuksia ja atomipommien kehityksesta. Museo keskittyi erityisesti rauhantyohon ja ydinaseiden vastaiseen tyohon. Tavoitteena on havittaa ydinaseet maailmasta. Museoissa on aina kiinnostavaa nahda, milla tavalla ja mita historiasta valitaan kerrottavaksi. Petraan teki suuren vaikutuksen se, etta museossa tarkasteltiin kriittisesti Japanin menneisyytta kolonisoijana ja sotien osapuolena myos vihollisen nakokulmasta. Museossa mm. tunnustettiin Nankingin veriloyly, jota Japani ei ole virallisesti tunnustanut saati sitten pyytanyt anteeksi... Mainintaa veriloylysta ei loydy koulun oppikirjoissa eli tapahtuma on pyyhitty pois virallisesta historiasta. ... read more

Hiroshima - distressing, Miyajima - majestic Himeji - I'd been Sakura-ed! KIX - the most amazing airport... read more

M – At 8am on August 5th 1945 the world’s first Atomic Bomb was detonated 600m over the center of Hiroshima. It destroyed virtually every building within a 3km radius. The blast and the illnesses causes by radiation have killed more than 300,000 people, effectively the whole of the city. Apart from the memorials and the museums, to visit Hiroshima today you would not believe these facts. The city is a modern bustling city and the people are as friendly to a visitor as anyone we have encountered on our travels. However the museum and the memorials are a pretty sobering reminder of how destructive man can be. Apparently our modern day weapons are more than 3,000 more powerful than the first Atomic Bomb. The genie is certainly out of the bottle on nuclear weapons but ... read more

We were sad to leave Kobe, one day didn't feel quite enough, but we had Hiroshima and Miyajima Island to look forward to. It took pretty much a whole day of travelling on local trains, with several transfers, to get to Hiroshima from Kobe, so it was early evening by the time we got to our hotel. Off the back of a Rough Guide recommendation, we tracked down an area in the city called "Okinomi-Mura" (okonomiyaki village), my idea of food heaven! Two floors of basic diner-style eateries that serve up Hiroshima's famous local dish. It was an excellent place to eat like locals, sat on swivel stools at an unpretentious counter, with our food cooked right in front of us. Hiroshima style is different to the Osaka style I was used to. It contains more ... read more