Blogs from Hiroshima, Japan, Asia - page 5

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Asia » Japan » Hiroshima » Miyajima September 23rd 2016

Hungry deer, a mountain to climb, a dipstick and bizarre weather in Hiroshima Let's start with the weather. I'm half way down the stairs of the hostel and I think 'hang on I've forgotten my raincoat.' No-one in their right mind is going to go out in Japan without a raincoat. I have my umbrella of course. But no raincoat as well would be madness. And then, in what must be the first time ever in Japan....it hasn't rained!! All day!! I've used my brolly though to keep the sun off because of course I didn't bring a hat or sun cream with me. It's been really hot so it was nice to get some shaved ice late in the day. I haven't had that for a while and some effort and half a block of ... read more
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Asia » Japan » Hiroshima » Miyajima September 23rd 2016

Today was a first in that I relaxed on the beach with a few deer. It was also a first in that I saw three small dogs and a cat all being pushed around in a pram by an elderly man. But as I'm in Japan, I'm getting used to experiencing 'firsts'. We were a bit worn out due to many long days of exploring Japan, so I decided we could have a lie in, oooh at least until 8.30am! At Hiroshima station, an employee whose job is to direct tourists in the right direction placed us on the correct platform for Miyajimaguchi Station where we planned to catch a ferry to Miyajima Island - all of this was free with our JR pass. The train was ram packed full of tourists so we had to ... read more
Deer on Miyajima
Chilaxing with deer on the beach
Itsukushima Shrine

Asia » Japan » Hiroshima » Hiroshima September 22nd 2016

From a cat cafe that wasn't a cafe to the horror of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, today has been a strange one. The trains from Kyoto to Hiroshima were fairly simple, although the lady reserving our seats was telling us that we couldn't make reservations, despite reserving us some seats - it was all a bit confusing. There was one change, easily done in 9 minutes because everything is on time.... more or less. Arriving at Hiroshima we were looking for Hiroshimaeki Station to catch a train to Dobashi Station (where our J-Hoppers hostel is located) - I'd looked it all up on Google maps previously. But it turned out that we were already in Hiroshimaeki Station and what we were actually looking for was trams. Oh Google maps, you never told me that! Hiroshima ... read more
Children's Peace Monument
Shukkei-en Stroll Garden
Cat cafe

Asia » Japan » Hiroshima » Hiroshima September 22nd 2016

A sobering experience at Hiroshima with a peckerhead at last And I forgot something from yesterday....again! So our first stop yesterday was at the University with the English architecture and Jamie our guide made a big thing about not having to lock up the bikes. Wow we thought, you wouldn't be able to do this back home. You can't fart in public in Stoke without someone trying to nick it off you....and as for those thieving gits in Barcelona....don't get me started again!! And we get back and the bikes are fine. So our next stop is a Buddhist temple and Jamie decides he's going to lock up the bikes!! 'I do lock them sometimes' he says. What's that all about? And then Kyle, an American remember, makes a witty comment saying 'so you trust students ... read more
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Asia » Japan » Hiroshima » Hiroshima July 19th 2016

Venir à Hiroshima, c'est comme venir constater, non sans émotion, l'incommensurable horreur qui s'est passée ici, il y a 71 ans dans quelques jours. Sous un ciel plein bleu, nous sommes débarquées avec en tête les souvenirs de vieux films de guerre, le gigantesque champignon, l'image de Little Boy et surtout le désert de ruines et de vies qu'il a laissées. Inimaginable de constater que 200,000 vies ont été perdues ici en quelques minutes, des dizaines de milliers d'autres détruites par d'innommables séquelles. Tout de suite, on est saisi par l'irréalité: le Dôme de la Bombe-A qui est resté debout et que l'on ne cesse de solidifier pour qu'il continue de demeurer le symbole de la ville de la paix. La ville d'Hiroshima continue de préserver contre les tremblements de terre, les ruines de ce qui ... read more
Les enfants devant le cénotaphe des victimes
Arbre poilu dans le parc du mémorial
Les ruines du dôme

Asia » Japan » Hiroshima » Miyajima April 14th 2016

While preparing for our trip to Japan, Danny and I listened to a Japanese history podcast. The image for the series was the floating tori gate of the Itsukushima shrine so it was a special treat to see it today. The gate stands in the Inland Sea as the entrance to the shrine on the island of Miyajima, near Hiroshima. Its foundations are sunk in the sand so it appears to float when the tide is high. The rest of the shrine, a sprawling structure of orange pillars and curved rooftops, is on the water's edge with canals lapping around it like a Shinto Venice. Miyajima is a beautiful island. Much of it is a nature preserve and there are wild deer who try to eat anything tourists have but are otherwise docile. The island has ... read more
Floating Tori gate
Wedding ceremony, Itsukushima Shrine

Asia » Japan » Hiroshima » Hiroshima April 13th 2016

Danny felt we could not visit Japan without paying our respects at Hiroshima, the city whose name has become a metonym for the devastation of atomic warfare. The memory of the A-bomb is a constant shadow in this city, not just at the Peace Park and Peace Museum. Random trees, for example, are marked as having survived the bomb, which flattened most of the city. The most visible memorial is the well known Atomic Dome, originally a trade building with a domed roof near the hypocentre of the attack, which unlike all other buildings in the vicinity was still standing albeit in shreds. Today it has been reinforced to ensure it remains in the state it was on 6 August 1945, as a witness. The Peace Park has a great many memorials to different groups of ... read more
Peace dove, Hiroshima Peace Park
Atomic Bomb Dome
Moss-covered tree, Hiroshima Peace Park

Asia » Japan » Hiroshima » Hiroshima April 10th 2016

The word conjures one event, one image: the mushroom cloud rising after the first atomic bomb was dropped on 6 August 1945. When I mentioned that I was going to Japan, I was surprised to hear how often Hiroshima was described as a must-see, and by whom – a retired Royal Navy officer, a long-term Australian resident of Japan, a New York lawyer-colleague, amongst others – and so it went on the list. I’ve seen my share of memorials to the sickening horrors that man can inflict on his fellow man – Phnom Penh’s notorious security prison S21 and killing fields, a plethora of genocide memorials in Rwanda, the convict incarceration centres in Port Arthur and Fremantle – and steeled myself for one more. But Hiroshima is not just one more. In the wake of the ... read more
Children's Peace Monument
Children's Peace Monument
Peace Memorial Park

Asia » Japan » Hiroshima » Miyajima March 31st 2016

After a heavy day I was up for some hiking. So I took the bike ( for free :D ) as a true Dutch person should to the island. The weather wasn't all that nice but it was warm enough for a shirt, so I'm content with that. I biked through the small town up to the famous 'floating' torii gate. Floating because in high tide the torii gate appears to be floating. Anyway, it was a nice view but meh. I checked out a few temples but they looked far too basic to go in. So I went for a coffee. Best coffe I have had in Japan so far and the staff was very nice. After that I went for some homemade ice cream, flavors: green tea and black sesame. The black sesame was ... read more
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Asia » Japan » Hiroshima » Hiroshima March 30th 2016

Hiroshima city. Okay so, I went to the castle and had okonomiyaki which was really good as well but the focus is the atomic bomb. Well known for the first ever atomic bomb target in the world. The city completely demolished after the detonation of "Little Boy". I began my day by going to the atomic bomb dome. One of the few remaining buildings after the bombing. Of course, as expected, an insane amount of tourists, which in my opinion SUCKS. But hey, it is high season so fuck it. After that I made my way to the victim memorial museum. Intrigued by the design of the museum and the memorial hall, I decided to look at some photo's and videos. There is a huge accessable archive of victims sharing their story and photographs. I was ... read more
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