A little lolly-gagging today before getting out of the hotel today. We caught a bus directly in front of the hotel to the city center and walked a little bit to the Peace Memorial Museum. Hiroshima was the first target of the A-bomb. On August 6, 1945, the US dropped the A-bomb on Hiroshima in retaliation for the bombing at Pearl Harbor. 3 days later the US dropped another A-bomb on Nagasaki. Hundreds of thousands died as a result of these first nuclear attacks.
The pictures and stories we saw and read about were devastating. The effects of the bomb on the human body is nothing short of horrific. Children still in utero were born with life-altering disabilities. Children born years later to parents who had survived, usually died before reaching adulthood. We saw artifacts, pieces of clothing worn that day, large pieces of metal, girders, bottles, notebooks, all sorts of items from victims and survivors were on display and shown with the aftereffects of the bombing.
There is a building nearby that the Japanese have left in tact from the day of the bombing. Now called the A-bomb dome, the building was originally used for art and educational purposes. From Wikipedia: "Because the explosion was almost directly overhead, the building was able to retain its shape. The building's vertical columns were able to resist the nearly vertical downward force of the blast, and parts of the concrete and brick outer walls remained intact. The building's durability can also be attributed to its earthquake-resistant design; it has held up to earthquakes before and since the bombing." Also from Wikipedia: "Hiroshima was chosen as a target because it was an important port on southern Honshu (the island where Hiroshima is) and was headquarters of the Japanese Second General Army, with 40,000 military personnel in the city, and was the only large city that was not known to have a POW camp."
The dome wasn't the intended target, the nearby Aioi Bridge was selected as the target as it was easily recognizable from the air. The Americans missed their target by about 800 feet. An estimated 80,000 people died instantly.
It was a gut-wrenching experience, one that Kenji and did 21 years ago when we were here. It was one we knew we wanted Leo to experience and Mom is always all in on museums and history. I was struck by the silence everyone going through the museum held. There were many school groups on tour, many tourists with earpieces telling them about the exhibits. No one was speaking to one another. At all. We all were just absorbing the horror of it all together. We spent 2 hours walking through the different rooms, reading the stories of the people who were killed, those who survived and what they endured for the rest of their lives as a result of the first A-bomb destroying their city.
When asked what he thought of the museum and what he saw he simply replied "It's a lot." Yep. Indeed. It was a lot to take in. On the huge lawn outside the museum they were preparing for this year's 80th anniversary commemoration on August 6th. Large tents are being set up for the seats to face the stage for the speeches.
After the museum was walked a little ways to a ramen chain Kenji & I had heard about that we wanted to try, Ichiran (pronounced: each-ee-ron). It features single, forward-facing seats with dividers between diners. There's a window in front of you and a roll up-down bamboo screen. You never see the server's face in front of you, rather just their torso as they speak to you. We ordered from a touch screen and were seated next to one another. We each put our tickets from the machine on the table in front of us, the server took them and shortly after the food was placed in front of us. Very novel, and quick & efficient if you're a Salaryman (read: business person) in a hurry and not wanting the chit-chat from a restaurant. The ramen was good, but hot and made Mom and I hotter. I'm glad we did it, but man, it's hard to eat hot food in this weather!
After lunch we wandered into a capsule store (ah, air-conditioning!), sort of large gumball machines that dispense little toys in large Easter eggs-type plastic capsules. Rows and rows of the machines! We looked around at all the different machines and toys offered. The thing is about the machines that there are several different toys in each machine and you never know which capsule you're going to get. The idea is that if you don't get *the one* you want that you'll keep putting money in until you do. I found a machine with Winnie the Pooh figures in it. I said I wasn't going to jinx it by saying which one I wanted. I put my money in, turned the knob and lo and behold! I did *not* get the one I wanted. (wah, wah) But, I did not put more money in to get the one I wanted. It was 400 yen ($2.70) as it was for the tiny figure.
We walked back towards the Peace Park and spent a fair amount of time at and walking around the A-bomb Dome. It is a sobering icon standing in stark contrast to the newer, modern skyscrapers. A little further into the Peace Park and we found the Children's Peace Monument, in memory of the children who died as a result of the bombing. There is a statue of a girl with outstretched arms and a dove on her head. The statue is surrounded in a half circle with clear structures that are filled with origami cranes, a symbol of peace. We also saw a Memorial to the Mobilized Children who died because they were working for the government. During World War II, Japanese students were mobilized for labor to compensate for the severed labor shortages caused by the wat, particularly in industries vital to the war effort. The Government enacted the Student labor Service Act in 1944, requiring students in middle school and higher to work in factories and other facilities. This mobilization included building demolition to create firebreaks and other tasks, with many students losing their lives due to being outside when the A-bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.
The Cenotaph gave us a focused view through the Peace Park, past the eternal flame to the A-bomb Dome. There were beautiful flowers in front of the Cenotaph.
It was beginning to sprinkle so we made our way out of the Peace Park towards the bus stop. We stopped at 7/11 to get snacks and pick up breakfast for tomorrow (today, as I type this) and got back to the hotel just before a big downpour. Yay! We cooled off and relaxed for a bit before heading out for Okonomiyaki (pronounced: oh-koh-no-mee-yah-kee) dinner in a tall building that has 3 floors of just Mom & Pop type food stalls with about 10 seats each and all they all make is Okonomiyaki. They each may have different variations, but basically everyone makes the same thing, all day, every day. Leo had looked at the list of places and decided he wanted to eat at Ron. That's the name of the place. Ron. So we took the elevator to the 3rd floor, looked at found that, Ron was closed. (wah, wah) So we wandered to see who had open seats. None on the 3rd floor near Ron so we walked up to the 4th floor and found a place with what appeared to be an older husband & wife working the teppan grill.
We were greeted warmly and immediately felt welcomed. We were given menus in English and Mom and I asked if we could share and were told no, sorry, each person must order something. Another running pattern we've found in this country. So we found the most basic one for Mom and I ordered the "Plenty of Pork", as did Kenji. Leo got a little more adventurous, ordering kimchi and garlic to his. Kenji's & mine came with a scrambled egg on the bottom and a steamed egg, with a beautiful runny yolk, on top. Kenji & each ordered an alcoholic drink and we enjoyed watching the preparation of our meals on the griddle in front of us as we sat on stools around it. Unlike Osaka style Okonomiyaki, which has all the ingredients mixed together in a batter and then griddled, Hiroshima style is built in layers. First the batter goes down on the griddles in a thin layer, then a large handful of shredded cabbage is added. A little dried seaweed is added then some crunchy tempura bits. We all has sliced pork (like bacon, just not smoked) added, Kenji's & mine just had more.
Then the whole thing is flipped over so the pork can cook. Noodles were cooked separately, 3 of us ordering soba and Leo ordering udon (thicker noodles). The woman had been doing all of this up to this point then the man took over and scrambled the eggs and moved the whole pile on top of the noodles. It got flipped a couple of other times and finally the brown/red sauce was brushed on top. A steamed egg was added on top of mine & Kenji's and each person's individual "pancake" was moved to the griddle right in front of us. We were each given a small spatula to use to cut slices off to move to the small plates we were given. It was so yummy! Oishi! When I didn't recognize an ingredient that was being added to other Okonomiyakis being made for other diners I asked "nani desu ka" (pronounced: naan-dis-kah) (meaning: what is that)? One time I was told mochi (pronounced: moh-chee) which is a sweet, sticky, glutinous rice cake. We saw squid and shrimp as common choices as well as a beautiful bundle of asparagus (which the woman took the time to peel the stems) wrapped in a shiso (pronounced: shee-soh) leaves and wrapped with sliced pork (bacon) and then griddled.
We rolled out of there in time to discover on Google Maps that we had just missed the last bus back to the hotel. Oh well. That means there's time for dessert! We found a place serving from the front counter tayaki (pronounced; tye-yah-kee) which are waffles in the shape of a fish, sliced open and wither custard, mashed sweet potato or red bean past added to the inside. Leo wanted one with sweet potato. I got an ice cream sandwich which was made with cracker thin wafers. I was disappointed they didn't serve ice cream in the fish waffle and my "ice cream" tased and felt more like ice milk. Oh well. It was cold, which was most important.
We walked out to the main street, found a line of taxis, got in the first one and were back at the hotel in short order. Mom and I started watching the local baseball team, the Hiroshima Carp play the Yokohama DeNA, but the game got rained out and got called int he 6th inning and ended in a tie 1-1.
It was a full and exhausting day, emotionally and physically, and Mom and I were in bed by 10 pm.
