is a pretty place with the autumn leaves! like osaka, it has a river running through it, but i think it could be seen as somewhat prettier than osaka because the river runs though the some of the major sights, like the Atomic Bomb Dome and Hiroshima Castle.
the primary mode of transport is the tram system i think, although it has the subway as well. the trams come rather frequently, and are definitely more convenient than the subways that osaka has.. how can you beat trams that always appear soon after u arrive at the stop?
some of them are new, some are older
i think melbourne kinda familiarised me with trams somewhat, in the sense that i was totally cool about walking on the tram tracks when there're no trams in sight to get to the stop quicker, whereas the angmohs were kinda timid about it. and oh, jaywalking as well! some of them were like "we're not in osaka anymore!!" - cos most people in japan dont jaywalk, although osaka folks do it quite frequently - when i led them across the road when the signal was still red, which really amused me cos i'm the singaporean here and meant to be the one who's law-fearing and law-abiding!
we stayed in this place called J-Hoppers. it's a pretty nice place and they have a branch in osaka fairly near my place too, and i certainly have to agree that japanese hostels are nice, clean places. it makes a lot of difference when you have to take your shoes off at the front, and when you have a good cleaning crew i guess. apparently, japanese in general are clean freaks, which is great. i like that!
a jamaican restaurant near the hostel:
apparently Jerk Chicken is the name of a jamaican dish, but this really cracked us up. and we wanted to make the irishman stand beneath the sign for a picture. haha.
the atomic bomb dome is one of the main sights in hiroshima, and our hostel was quite near it. about 3 or 4 tram stops only?
the entrance to the park, and a sign on the railings surrounding the dome..
the atomic bomb dome is actually the remnants of a building that was hit by the bomb but remained standing due to the angle of the blast.
it was weird standing in front of such a sombre reminder of the war and smiling, but it was weird not to smile too.
the river running through the peace memorial park..
many people jumped into this same river after being hit by the blast of the atomic bomb to cool off from the intense rays, and the river was full of floating corpses after the blast..
there's also the children's peace memorial for children affected by the bomb too..
the bell having a crane attached to, the crane being a symbol of hope and peace
the many paper cranes and peace displays made by school children and other people from all over, as well as this really cute little girl whom i spoke to for a short while:
there were quite a few people, but it's nowhere as crowded as osaka can get..
there's also this memorial to this girl who suffered from after-effects of the bomb... she folded lots of paper cranes in the hope that doing that will help her to survive, but she unfortunately passed away from bone cancer (i think) and this memorial was constructed in her memory as well as to all the other children who died due to the blast..
people still fold cranes and make things to commemorate the A-bomb victims..
pretty flowers at the memorial
the purple chrysanthemums were really big!
this is the cenotaph, with the flame of peace burning in the background. the latter will remain burning till all nuclear weapons in the world have been destroyed:
another picture of the flame of peace, with the hiroshima peace memorial museum in the background. the flame is burning above the rectangular box-like thing in front of the arch which is the cenotaph.
the fountain in front of the museum (the museum isnt in this pic):
isnt this picture cool? i really love it. can u guess which pair of feet belong to me?
we visited the museum on the last day.. i kinda knew quite a bit of stuff from history books, but the section where they showed artifacts from victims of the blast was the most depressing, as each article was accompanied by a short description of the person whom that thing belonged to.. the museum also tries to promote peace, and mayors of hiroshima have a pledge to try to encourage the dismantling and destruction of all nuclear weapons for the sake of world peace and humanity.
in the park, we also met this lady whose mother was a victim of the blast.. the lady is training to be a guide, and offered to give us a free explanation so that she can practise her english.. it was really enlightening and we were thankful to her, but i think some of us kinda felt that japan in general keeps emphasising their role as a victim of the atomic bomb.. it's definitely true that the bombing was an awful, awful thing that no one and no country should have been subjected to and we certainly feel for the victims and their families and the entire aftermath of the blast, but i think it should not be forgotten that japan was the party that started the whole war in the first place, and that if there wasnt any war there wouldnt have been any reason at all for the americans to drop the A-bomb... so unfortunately unlike some other friends who have visited the place, i dont think i was all that sentimental about hiroshima in general and the A-bomb. it's different when you take the A-bomb and its effects down to the individual level - i can certainly feel for that - but when you talk about japan and hiroshima and the A-bomb, the argument changes somewhat i think..
anyhow. more on hiroshima soon!
