Today, I left Okayama and travelled to Hiroshima, where I visited the Peace Memorial Park.
When we left Okayama, the coach took us all to Kurashiki before continuing to Hiroshima and Miyajima, and then back to Hiroshima to the Peace Memorial Park.
Kurashiki.
Kurashiki is a charming city located in Okayama, Japan. It's renowned for its well-preserved historical district and picturesque canals. Our coach dropped us off in a car park about a 10-minute walk away, and our guide led us through the beautiful city alongside the canal. We were given brief details of many of the beautiful places we walked past before our guide left us and told us to be back at the coach in 40 minutes.
I quickly looked at an alleyway with lots of street art painted on the walls in the Bikan Historical Quarter. I then had a look at one of the old textile mills where denim used to be made, and it is now a covered artisan market. With such a short time to look around, I had to hurry back through the small streets and alongside the canal, but I was able to take a few photographs. Unfortunately for me, the heavens opened, and it started to rain heavily.
I made it back to the coach and was soon joined by everybody else as they all found their way back. We left the pretty city behind us and drove towards Hiroshima and Miyajima.
Miyajima.
Miyajima, also known as Itsukushima, is a small island located in Hiroshima Bay, Japan. It's famous for its stunning natural beauty and cultural heritage. Our coach dropped us at a car park a short distance from the ferry terminal, where we would catch a ferry to the island.
The rain stopped as we were dropped off, and we walked a short distance to the ferry terminal and waited to catch a ferry. As we got on the ferry, our guide went to take us to the upper deck, but a ferry employee stopped me and took me to a warm room that was for disabled people. It had comfortable seats with expansive picture windows. The crossing was only a short one, but I got a good view of the Itsukushima shrine as we passed it on the way to the island ferry terminal.
When the ferry arrived, I left it and waited for the rest of the people and the guide to leave the ferry. When we left the terminal, our guide led us across the island to the entrance to another shrine. Unfortunately, this shrine was closed to the public, and we couldn't see it. We were given 40 minutes by our guide and told to meet back at the ferry terminal.
I began to slowly walk back towards the ferry port, stopping to look at the different buildings and fascinating stone shrines en route. I took some photos of the Itsukushima shrine that "appears to float on the water". I guess the weather conditions have to be correct to make it look like it is floating above the sea because it was pretty clear that the supports of the shrine weren't painted at the bottom and that the wood was painted from above the water level. I guess if the sea was flat and the sun was shining in the right way, it would look like it was floating above the water.
One of the shops I passed was selling oysters, so I stopped and tried two large grilled oysters. They tasted great, and I wished I had more time to explore this beautiful island. After eating my oysters, I walked back to the ferry terminal and waited for the rest of the people from the coach to arrive before reboarding the ferry for our crossing back to the mainland. Once again, I sat downstairs while the guide led the rest of the party upstairs.
When we got back to the mainland, we walked back to the coach and drove back to Hiroshima.
Hiroshima.
Hiroshima is most famously known for being the first city in history to be targeted by a nuclear weapon. On August 6, 1945, during World War II, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, leading to massive destruction and loss of life. After the war, Hiroshima was rebuilt and has since become a symbol of peace and resilience. The city is now a bustling urban centre with a population of over a million people.
When we arrived in Hiroshima, we were dropped off at the Peace Memorial Park and led straight into the museum. We were only given 40 minutes to walk around the museum, and unfortunately, when we arrived, there were coach loads of children there. The children were obviously not interested in anything there and just got in the way of people trying to see the displays.
I slowly pushed my way through the groups of children who were milling around in large groups, talking to each other and not looking at the exhibits. Some of the exhibits were very good. The display that mapped the site of the bomb and showed the devastation as the bomb detonated and the shockwaves and destruction quickly moved out from point zero to destroy everything was excellent.
The other exhibits were interesting, but the children blocking the path through the museum made it challenging to see them in the short time we had there. Many of the exhibits I had seen before because they have been on the Internet, TV and other exhibits around the world.
I waited outside the exhibit and bumped into someone I had met earlier on the tour of Japan, who had moved to a different coach and tour a few days ago. When our guide reappeared, he led us through the Peace Memorial Park.
Near the centre of the park is a concrete, saddle-shaped monument that covers a cenotaph holding the names of all of the people killed by the bomb. The monument is aligned to frame the Peace Flame and the A-Bomb Dome. The Memorial Cenotaph was one of the first memorial monuments built on the open field on August 6, 1952. The arch shape represents a shelter for the souls of the victims.
The Peace Flame is underneath the Memorial Cenotaph. It is another monument to the victims of the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima, but it has an additional symbolic purpose. The flame has burned continuously since it was lit in 1964 and will remain lit until all nuclear bombs on the planet are destroyed and the planet is free from the threat of nuclear annihilation. Many people, including myself, patiently queued to take photos and get a selfie at the cenotaph before we moved on to the next stop in the Peace Memorial Park.
There are three Peace Bells in the Peace Park. The smaller one is used only for the Peace Memorial Ceremony. Except for that day, it is displayed in the east building of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. The more well-known Peace Bell stands near the Children's Peace Monument and consists of a large Japanese bell hanging inside a small open-sided structure. Visitors are encouraged to ring the bell for world peace, and the loud and melodious tolling of this bell rings out regularly throughout the Peace Park. The Peace Bell was built out in the open on September 20, 1964. The surface of the bell is a map of the world, and the "sweet spot" is an atomic symbol.
Our guide stopped next to the large Peace Bell but seemed in a hurry to bypass it and show us the Children's Peace Monument next to it. The statue is dedicated to the memory of the children who died as a result of the bombing. The statue is of a girl with outstretched arms with a folded paper crane rising above her. The statue is based on the true story of Sadako Sasaki, a young girl who died from radiation from the bomb. She is known for folding over 1,000 paper cranes in response to a Japanese legend. To this day, people from around the world fold cranes and send them to Hiroshima, where they are placed near the statue. The statue has a continuously replenished collection of folded cranes nearby. The monument mainly affected our guide, who, by the time he had finished telling us the story, was crying. On the coach on the way to the memorial park, he showed everyone on the coach how to make origami cranes. Now we knew why, and those of us who had been able to make one left it at the Children's Peace Monument.
When we left the Children's Peace Monument, we walked to the A-bomb dome. Visiting this monument was my main reason for wanting to come to Japan, and although I had wanted to get there earlier in the day to spend more time there, I was glad to be there at that time of day. The lighting around the dome that came on as dusk fell cast eerie light and shadows over the dome. The dark storm clouds overhead added to the atmosphere and the feeling of remorse around the dome. It was very strange standing at the spot where the atomic bomb dropped 22½ years before I was born and which had such a profound effect on all humanity. Unfortunately, mankind's leaders do not learn and still wage war over land, religion and petty disagreements instead of settling their differences peacefully.
We weren't given much time at all at the dome before we had to walk back to the coach. As the adrenalin and excitement of being at the Peace Memorial Park slowly drained from my body, the pain in my legs, exasperated by all the walking and stairs I had to climb over the last week, suddenly overtook me. Luckily, I had my walking stick with me, and it held me up as my knees and legs began to give up on me. As usual, the guide never once looked around to see if anyone else or I was okay, but I managed to follow him, made it back to the coach, and slowly climbed back on board.
When we left the park on the coach, we drove through the City of Hiroshima before going to our hotel for the night. As soon as I got into my room, I took a shower and then collapsed on my bed before falling asleep.
Hilton Hiroshima Hotel.
My hotel tonight was the Hilton Hiroshima Hotel.
Address: 7300043, Hiroshima, 11-12 Fujimicho, Naka-ku, Japan.