Our Trip to Hiroshima and Miyajima

On Sunday we went to Hiroshima and its neighboring island, Miyajima. We had an amazing trip, even though it was really sad to see the Peace Museum, which takes you through the events of the war, the dropping of the A-Bomb, and everything its victims suffered, not only at the time, but years later. What's left of the building dubbed the "A-Bomb Dome," one of the few buildings in Hiroshima that was made of concrete (most were made from wood), has been left standing and is preserved as a tribute to those who lost their lives, many of them children, and also as a reminder of our desperate need for peace. The museum remains very neutral in its views on what happened, and urges all parties (including Japan) to accept responsibility for the terrible atrocities committed before, during and after the war. Hiroshima seems to be big on advocating peace and the complete disarmament of all nuclear weapons. Seeing what the city looked like before and after the A-Bomb (aside from a few trees and buildings, it was practically leveled), and knowing the current state of our world and that we are now in possession of weapons at least 200 times more powerful than the ones used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it's scary to think about what sort of devastation will occur if such a thing is used again.

Miyajima is a pretty little island. We took a ferry over to it and walked around a few of its temples, tried some local treats, and saw the famous "Gate of Japan" or "floating gate," which was built out into the water. When the tide comes up, the bottom of the gate is submerged and so it appears to be floating. Despite it being Golden Week here, which means that everyone and their mother and grandmother and great grandmother are out and about, we had a really nice time. There was a huge festival going on in Hiroshima, and there was plenty to do and see. We took some beautiful and interesting photos. See below!

In the morning, waiting at the bus stop, tired from having to get up at 4am

My first trip on the Shinkansen, Japan's bullet train

The A-Bomb Dome

You can see the damage (cracks) from the impact of the bomb on the walls of the building

A statue for peace where people pray and can make little offerings

Another A-Bomb memorial

One of the many cranes made by children outside the museum - A tribute to Sadako, who was two years old at the time of the blast. She died 10 years later from Leukemia caused by exposure to radiation. Sadako had folded over 1,000 tiny paper cranes while she was in the hospital in hopes that it would help cure her illness.

Urging peace for the sake of the children

A statue of a mother trying to save her children after the blast

An insane sea of people at the festival

A very mild example of some of the weird outfits here

Part of Hiroshima Castle

Another part of Hiroshima Castle, with a museum inside

A view from the top of the castle, you can see a Hiroshima Carp baseball game going on

More from the top - everything is so lush and green!

People lined up for a Koda Kumi concert - many were dressed in ridiculous outfits and wearing leopard print towels draped across their bodies, which has something to do with her new album

The ferry ride to Miyajima

When we first walked onto the island

A popular Japanese Tanuki statue - someone put a cigarette in his mouth

Andrew trying some "rolled" fish on a stick

A really neat pagoda

The deer on Miyajima roam freely with the people




The "Gate of Japan" when the tide was out

After the tide came in

Hiroshima-yaki - it might look gross, but it's delicious!