Day 10 – Yay no more Super Typhoon Lan so off to Hiroshima

This is my blog for day 10. 

What about days 8 and 9 I hear no one ask?

Apart from my darling Sazzle who did actually check, thank you 😃.

Well... day 8 was a (kind of) planned lazy hotel day, we usually have one of these when we are on a long holiday, but this was forced a bit as we had been warned about travelling due to the incoming Typhoon Lan, also The Spy wasn't feeling too good, so I dosed him up on ibuprofen and lemsips, I wrote my blog about Nara, and we watched Series 1 of Stranger Things on Netflix :).

However, Lan didn't arrive until Day 9, when we learned the really important lesson about Japanese people, what happens when there is a deadly typhoon coming your way on a Sunday? Go shopping of course! There are quite a few shopping centres (malls for my less European friends) in what we would call office blocks (again, things built and spread vertically, great use of space). And we had a bit of cabin fever... Ilya had wanted to travel to Koyasan, but as most trains were cancelled and it was absolutely bucketing it down, we just joined the rest of the locals. When in Osaka!

On to Day 10 when we were back to the plan... off on the Barbra Streisand train (Shinkansen) to Hiroshima, then a local train to Miyajimaguchi and a short ferry to Miyajima (this was on The Spy's list as it is another World Heritage site, the second of this trip, getting the culture all packed in).

I wasn't that fussed, until I saw it looked like the island in Jurassic Park!

Oh and for a change, it wasn't raining... at all!

The ferry kindly took us past the Torii Gate which looks like it is floating on the water. And kind of indicates you are in for something special, so I stopped my stroppy child face, and put on my “this looks interesting” face.

There is actually a lot to do, and as is our way, we spent this first visit just wandering and getting a feel for the place, seeing if we liked it. We did. The first of the shrines you see is next to this beautiful 5 storey pagoda.

It doesn't look like much, but the Senjokaku shrine (Hall Of One Thousand Tatami Mats) which is still unfinished (they gave up when the warlord it was dedicated to died after 11 years of work), was initially built for the monthly chanting of sutras, but the there are some really interesting pieces of traditional art, including this sexy clock thing (really I have no idea, just making it up!).

And this dragon (my first of the holiday, I have to say I am quite disappointing with the availability of dragons on offer, I mean real ones obviously).

But for me, the most beautiful aspect, was this view. You can see why this place was chosen as a place for reflection.

Took a little stroll down to the floating Itsukushima Shrine, which again is so peaceful, and made me feel very thoughful, you some more great views of the Torii gate from here.

As well as of the island's virgin (not that kind!) forest.

And here are two very non-Kardashian (as in we are terrible at taking selfies) tourists.

After vowing to come back again, we took a little trip amongst the tourist shops, tried a couple of the local maple leaf (style) cakes (yummy when fresh and warm, bit cloying when not), Ilya met his Japanese hero Totoro again

We took the ferry back to Miyajimaguchi, and then the train to Hiroshima. Starving, we found another okonomiyaki place in the station, which has a shopping centre aptly named Asse, we have no idea what this place was called, but it was packed full of locals, there were only a couple of other white faces in there, it was perfect, bustling, noisy, and the food was so good.

Time for a serious bit. We visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, the first part is the remains of the building (Atomic Bomb Dome) which was almost directly below where the blast happened. The Japanese people have chosen to keep the remains of the building forever as a reminder of the first ever time a nuclear device has been used against people, and of the devastation war causes.

The memorial spreads over quite an area and you walk through it like a park, however each part guides to to reflect on another effect of war, such as the Children's memorial.

The cenotaph, which frames the Atomic Dome.

And the Peace Bell.

However the most affecting part for me, was the groups of Japanese school children doing one of those godawful surveys they force kids to do when they are on trips. This survey was questions about our thoughts on Peace and War, and they asked so politely, in very broken English, where we were from, and to write down our own thoughts on Peace and War, and then they offered a beautiful little origami stork as a thank you. I have to say, this struck me as the most perfect place for this, and I adore kids so much, I was so moved by their courage in doing this in a clearly difficult language to complete strangers, I may have shed a few tears.

Finally after we were approached by the third group of kids, we had our photos taken with them. A really positive end to an extremely poignant memorial.

  

Headed back to the station on a tram, like in my spiritual home of Manchester, took bloody ages though, could have walked quicker.

Found a new team to (not) support, after adopting the South Carolina Gamecocks afew years ago (Go Cocks!) I have now taken on the Horoshima Carp, baseball champions extraordinaire. Mainly because I thought their merchandise was cute... actually that is the only reason.

Then back to Osaka on the Shinkansen :).