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Published: March 4th 2006
9:30 a.m.
We’re back on the bullet train, Hiroshima at our backs and Kyoto in front of us. We had a full two days in Hiroshima. The city is very comfortable, the people are friendly and, at least in our case, extraordinarily hospitable, and the local cuisine delectable.
Hiroshima is so synonymous with the conclusion of World War II that it is redundant to mention it. August 6, 1945. Atom Bomb. It’s s little surreal coming from a culture that uses atomic terms to sell Mountain Dew and going to a place where the entire city remains consumed by the reality of the atom bomb.
Our first afternoon we walked around town, finding our budget accommodations near the train station, exploring the shopping areas, and meandering through the Peace Park. We ended up checking out a pair of internet cafes, Popeye’s and Futaba Café, that were simply mind blowing. There are a variety of computer terminals ranging from open cubicle terminals to small private rooms. You pay a fee based on the type of space you want to use and are turned loose. The main room and alcoves are lined floor to ceiling with thousands of well organized
volumes of Japanese comic books and DVDs. Some of the cubicles feature sofas, recliners, computers, and DVD players. The drinks are free and the staff is happy to place food orders for you. At Futaba the cubicle to our left was occupied by a guy who fell asleep playing a video game and the cubicle to the right was being used strictly for reading comic books by a woman.
The internet cafes are often used by people who do not want to pay for a hotel room and even feature showers. Wall to wall comics, computers, DVDs, games, free tea, Coke, and other beverages, and food. Drool drool. We have read that because of the high cost of living in Japan many young adults live at home with their parents. We’d assume that the internet cafes provide some privacy and refuge for those without their own private space.
We looked for two different recommended restaurants (more on the difficulty of navigating Japanese streets later) before giving up and eating at Mos Burger, a Japanese burger and coffee spot. Our “burgers” were served on rice buns (like a sushi rice patty) with some type of meat (we think) product
and a curry-like sauce and a mayonnaise-like sauce. It was really good and we would be surprised if we don’t eat at Mos again before leaving Japan.
Our second day in Hiroshima we visited the Peace Park and accompanying memorials. The park is situated in the center of town on the tip of an island that splits the river in two. The northernmost tip of the island features the T-shaped Aioi Bridge, connecting the island with both sides of town. The “T” was the bulls-eye for the crew of the Enola Gay. They dropped the bomb at about 9600 meters and it exploded at about 580 meters above what was then Shima Hospital and is now the a part of the river and vacant stretch of river bank near the Peace Park and accompanying museum buildings. The ground temperature accelerated to 4,000 to 6,000 degrees Celsius almost immediately and everything in a two kilometer radius was blown over or burned out within seconds. The damage extended in all directions much further and was later compounded by the radiation-heavy black rain that poisoned survivors and rescue workers. By December the Japanese claim 140,000 lives lost in Hiroshima, though various counts
Cenotaph
Contains names of all Japanese victimsthat include fatalities in later years reaches to 300,000. December is used because by year’s end the acute effects of the radiation had subsides.
The Peace Park includes the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, the Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims, and a few service buildings. The central alley of the park is built around a reflecting pool with an ark at one end which contains the names of all the dead and an eternal flame at the other. The flame will burn until all nuclear weapons are eradicated. In line with the pool but on the opposite bank of the river stands the A-Bomb dome. The dome, a few crumbling brick walls, some twisted iron, and the skeletal dome, represents the only structure in Hiroshima that remains in the state it was in following the bombing. The dome was declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations on December 7, 1996 (Pearl Harbor Day).
The Peace Memorial Museum was laid out in a way as to report the life and history of Hiroshima from feudal times, through its industrialization, conversion from commercial industry to military industry, and its complete mobilization for the Japanese
war effort. The city housed tens of thousands of Korean slaves forced to labor for the Japanese war machine and thousands of children who also worked in the factories as part of the total war effort (these are referred to as “mobilized children.”). Though Hiroshima’s school aged children were evacuated from the city in anticipation of air raids, the high mortality rate of children on the day the a-bomb dropped is due to their work in the factories.
The bulk of the museum focuses on the actual day the atom bomb dropped and the immediate after effects on the inhabitants of the town. It transforms from the big picture to being an intimate view of those impacted by the bomb. Photos and clothing of victims, samples of melted glass, warped iron, and anecdotal histories are all included and paint a powerful portrait. The museum concludes with video testimonials of survivors. In many regards it reminded us of the Holocaust museum in Washington, D.C. for its stark portrayal and inclusion of intimate, personal stories. Several artifacts - roof tiles that bubbled at 1300 degrees Celsius, melted glass bottles - are available for the touch, providing an odd connection to the
day.
The National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atom Bomb Victims was a far more serene experience. As you enter you wind down a spiral hallway, ending in a large, round underground chamber. Supported by twelve pillars, the chamber houses a quietly bubbling fountain shaped to resemble a clock at 8:15 (the time of the bomb dropped) and little more. The high walls are covered with a 360 degree mural of the devastated city made up of 140,000 tiles representing the lives lost. Below the mural are bands, spiraling upward, list the names of the various neighborhoods that existed on the day of the bombing (the closer to the ground the closer the neighborhood was to the hypocenter). The memorial maintains a certain serenity and dignity that the museum can not provide as it bubbles with school children and tourists, inspiring for us a feeling similar to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.
It is important to mention that both the museum and the memorial acknowledge the many “national policy mistakes” that led Japan to start the war in the Pacific. Numerous accounts of the forced labor of children and prisoners (mostly Korean) are present, as are
Samurai Amy
Highlight #1 of Hiroshima Castle comments specific to the Japanese engagements with China and Russia prior to the war. Further, there are statements included by Japanese military leaders that there would be no surrender, but “100 million noble deaths.” Nothing could be construed as to accept what American policy makers determined was in fact the least lethal way to conclude the bloody war, but we were impressed with how forthcoming the Japanese are in terms of their actions. In addition, there was nothing blaming the United States for what happened. Instead of laying blame the museum focuses on eradicating nuclear weapons and ensuring that an event like this never takes place again. It was surprising to us that the museum focused almost entirely on Hiroshima and did not include any statistics or information about the bombing of Nagasaki.
After spending half the day at the Peace Park we visited the Hiroshima Castle (rather, the grounds where the castle stood - visitors are greeted matter-of-factly with the disclaimer that the castle was destroyed by the a-bomb and rebuilt). The castle was very pretty but the inside has been set up as a museum rather than a replication of how it actually looked when it was
Samurai Roger
Highlight #2 of Hiroshima Castle used. Unless you are a Japanese feudal history buff, you might want to save the $3 and just admire the outside. The views of Hiroshima from the fifth floor were quite nice, though.
Dinner was at Okonomiyakimura Village which is really a building with four floors, each floor holding approximately seven different counters. Each counter consisted of about 10 seats and a grill where your okonomiyaki was prepared right in front of you. Okonomiyaki consists of a batter, meat and vegetable toppings (pork for Amy; pork, cheese and onions for Roger), noodles, an egg and a sauce. We were presented with plates and small spatulas and carved off hot bites of food as we wanted to eat them, transferring them to our plates and then to our mouths. Apparently some Japanese eat their food directly off the burner and those who do not may be referred to as having “kitten tongue.”
Our bodies haven’t quite adjusted yet and so we fell asleep to the sounds of a Japanese dating show (it seemed similar to Blind Date) by 8 pm. Roger has started to dream in Japanese, though this could just be because we have left the TV on
all night each night because there’s something soothing about falling asleep to sounds you cannot comprehend.
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Pam McNally
non-member comment
It is quite wonderful
this is like being with you and I love the description of everything. The pictures are just great but you both don't quite look right in the garb..but I love seeing you there. This was such a great idea for your mothers and dads to survive and actually enjoy your trip. Love you, MOM