Hiroshima
August 6th 1945, 8:15A.M., a day that forever changed Hiroshima, Japan……..As an American, if you didn’t know that day as the day the United States dropped the atomic bomb on Japan, SHAME on YOU!! Ok, actually I didn’t know either prior to my visit to Hiroshima. If you asked me what year War World II ended, there’s a possibility I might get that wrong too! If I wanted to know about history and especially about War World II, all I have to do is ask my history major roommate from college or have him look it up! Anyway, it was rather suiting that my first visit to Hiroshima coincided with the 60th year anniversary of the bomb dropping. It would be pretty cool to tell my kids one day that I was in Hiroshima 60 years later since the incident took place… or maybe not! Anyway, after a year in Japan, my ability to recognize some Kanji (Chinese characters) has allowed me to understand that Hiroshima in Japanese means wide or large (hiro) island (shima). It’s not an island per say but a very wide and flat piece of land with many canals or rivers running through it. Being in Hiroshima was a little surreal for me because I never knew if I would make a trip out to Hiroshima. Geographically, it is quite far from Tokyo or from where I live in Saitama for that matter. So my friends and I flew there! It still took about 1.5 hrs., but compared to the Shinkasen(bullet train), which is about 3 hrs., and for about the same fare, the plane was the best choice. First thing we saw in Hiroshima was the famous “Atomic Dome.” This is the only building left in the original condition after the bombing devastated and wiped out Hiroshima city. Hiroshima today is considered a new city with relatively new buildings. The condition of the building is left there as a memorial but also to remind the world never to repeat this atrocity ever again. The building is in ruins with bricks on the ground but some metal infrastructure has been placed inside to prevent the complete crumbling of the building. I didn’t know what to feel when I first saw the dome. I was still full of excitement to be in Hiroshima and then suddenly to see something that is suppose to remind you of great sadness; it just didn’t come right away. It seems like I needed a switch to turn off happiness and a switch to turn on serious mode. Taking picture with the dome was awkward. I usually smile in my pictures but somehow smiling in front of the dome seems unrespectful. Next we visited the nearby memorial peace museum with history and artifacts found after the aftermath. Some things were pretty gruesome. There were pictures of how the city looked and how the people looked and I’m sure you can all imagine what they would look like or actually have seen some footages or images from textbooks, magazines, or documentaries. Seeing actual items found and left behind were the things that interested me the most. I tried to imagine and visualize the people that might have owned these items. Many charred school uniforms and school bags were also donated to the museum by parents who lost their child. There were also locks of hair that the parents cut off from their child after they died. One exhibit was gruesome but also amazing. It was a complete nail with skin attached to it that was easily pealed off from the child’s hand. The coolest item I saw was a watch that stopped exactly at 8:15AM. The museum did educate me more about the incident at Hiroshima and why the bomb was dropped there. At that time scientist including Albert Einstein who had helped created the bomb did not know what consequences the bomb would have on human beings and it was the first time in human history that an atomic bomb was used on humans. Did you know that?!!
The next day, we visited a nearby island called “Miyajima.” It was a nice ferry ride to the island and as we approached the island, I saw something that I always associated with Hiroshima. It was the giant red “Torii” gate in the waters. If you take a look at my pics, you’ll know what I’m talking about. This gate is actually a gate to a shrine called “Itsukushima jinja.” It is a beautiful shrine built right by the water. When it is high tide, water runs underneath the shrine. According to what I read, Miyajima is a sacred place to ancient Japanese people. Today, it’s just a tourist attraction! There are deers all over the island and you can buy deer biscuits to feed them so they’re not afraid of humans at all. We climbed the mountain at Miyajima and the view from the top was gorgeous with the help of good weather. Finally on the third and final day, we visited Hiroshima castle. The castle was cool and all but not too impressive. Maybe it’s the fact that I’ve seen a castle elsewhere in Japan before and they all look the same or the fact it’s not really the “actual” castle when it was first built but just a replica because obviously, the castle was also wiped out due to the A-Bomb.
Overall it was a fun and educational trip concerning both America and Japan. I’m very fortunate to have this opportunity to visit Hiroshima. Most of my Japanese friends from the Tokyo region have not even been to Hiroshima themselves either. Hiroshima city definitely feels very different to Tokyo. I made the analogy that Hiroshima to Tokyo is like the San Francisco to Los Angeles. Hiroshima is more relaxed and calm and it has street cars! I don’t know if I’ll ever get another chance to go to Hiroshima but I recommend that anybody that stops by Japan to try and visit Hiroshima if you can. Once I got back to Saitama and back to school on Monday morning, instead of asking me what I saw at Hiroshima, the Japanese teachers asked me, “What did you eat at Hiroshima?”
Tags: Travel
Tony