Hiroshima Peace Park

We started fresh and relaxed this morning

We both took our very first tram ride from Hiroshima station to the inner-city where the Peace Park is.. we started at the ‘A-Bomb Dome’ which is a building that survived the blast – one of about 4 in a 3km radius - that still stood. It was very close to the ‘hypocentre’ of the bomb.. which is why they think it still stood. (sorta like the eye of a hurricane? I dunno..). Lots of money has gone into its restoration and ensuring it remains for a very long time – the Japanese people see it as a reminder that we should strive toward world peace!

The Peace Park itself is very beautiful.. and Hiroshima is actually a smoke-free city! Here are some photos of the Peace Park (surrounding the Dome and the Museum)

Hiroshima Peace Park VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

We moved into the Museum.. which, at least for me, was really quite emotional! The Museum itself took us about 2 and a half hours to walk through, there was lots to read, lots to see, lots of history, lots of information about nuclear weapons, information about what led to the bombing itself.. If I had one judgment to make on the Museum.. it would be that the story is told as very one-sided. I know this sounds heartless.. but throughout the two hours of reading I believe I only counted twice that Japan was perhaps not innocent – a mention of a massacre that the Japanese army performed in China leaving 200,000 dead.. and on one sign, it mentioned “although Japan itself inflicted quite a lot of damage”.. other than that, and I feel a little cold-hearted for saying it, they certainly make the whole thing out as if Japan was unsuspecting and innocent. No, of course I do not believe that a city deserved to be wiped out.. just perhaps, that the story being provided is quite biased. Enough of the politics – it was truly interesting .. by far the most interesting Museum I have ever visited. There’s quite a lot of photos – and lots lots more in the Museum itself to read, I only took photos what I thought was most interesting.

Peace Park Museum VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Oh, and I bought this shirt as a souvenir – I absolutely love it.
Jesse chose a book for his souvenir.

As we left, we spotted a place that sold a type of food which our Lonely Planet travel book highly suggested we try while staying in Hiroshima.. I forget what it is called.. um. Regardless, it was very filling and very nice. Not to mention, we both had cocktails and they were delicious!

The food itself was mm.. noodles, pork, egg, cheese, sorta in like a pancake form.. The cheese wasn’t very cheesey though. We added mayonnaise and this brown thick sauce that we have tried a few times before and loved (as shown in my grinning picture below). Delicious. We gobbled it down.

After lunch, we headed to Hiroshima Castle.

I think the highlight for me, here, was trying on the Samurai suit – luckily I offered the Japanese couple before us to take their picture together – in return the woman helped me put the suit on, I had absolutely no idea.. there were ropes.. anyway that’s who the random lady is!

How sexy am I.. *fwah fwah!*

We walked past a tree that survived the A-bomb blast, and once again the Japanese people have decided to preserve them.

And, here are the remaining photos from in and around Hiroshima Castle.

Hiroshima Castle VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Jesse was absolutely in love with these weird rabbits they seem include in their roadworks.. (.. why.. WHY would you bother?)

The remainder of the afternoon was spend wandering around the Hiroshima CBD, looking in all the interesting shops we could find. Jesse bought a gift for his mum, I bought a gift for my mum.. I still haven’t found anything appropriate for anyone else.

We found ourselves needing to sit a lot.. we’d go through a shop, then stop for a coffee.. as it is a non-smoking city, peh, would you believe.. I wanted a cigarette, so we found a coffee shop and we went inside so that I could have a cigarette.. ?!

Now we are home, and after having spent a lot of money today, we have decided to spend much less tomorrow and to try to have a cheap dinner.

Our lower backs are incredibly pleased that we are no longer walking or even standing.

And here is a super cute toy bullet train set..