It was time to say goodbye to the lovely landscapes of rural Kumamoto-ken today and head back for the busy streets of big japanese cities. Or so I thought. I headed for Hiroshima this morning and the friend who helped me out in Kumamoto accompanied me until we reached Hakata, the train station of Fukuoka.
From there the shinkansen only needs about one hour to reach Hiroshima and there I met up with a friend at the main station, who would help me out today. At first she invited me to have dinner and we walked to what looked like a huge shopping mal street with lots of restaurants. They had one street there which only featured okonomiyaki, the local brand of the popular kansai dish. In Hiroshima they add some noodles to the pancake-like style which is very very tasty. With a lunch like that we first went to the hotel (which is very cheap and spacy. I got a double room for the price of one) and from there one rushed to Miyajima, the picture postcard motive for all Japan tourists. Miyajima is a small island located to what I think was the west of Hiroshima. It’s a short train ride and then you take a ferry which only takes a few more minutes. Before reaching Miyajima Harbor the ferry takes a small turn so tourists can take pictures of the famous gate in the water. Although the sport is very famous there weren’t that many tourists on this day, but that might also have been because of the bad weather as it was raining from time to time. It has to be said that today was the rainiest day of my trip so far and the outlook for the baseball game in the evening looked rather dark.
But that’s another story. When we reached the shrine the flood was only beginning so we weren’t able to see the temple in its entire beauty, but it was impressive nonetheless. Because the whole island is considered a holy and sacred place, all inhabitants are considered sacred as well. Which is why, just as in Nara, there were a lot of deer on the streets. We took a walk behind the temple to a small park where there were no tourists at all, which was very nice as well. Going back we headed back to the main city.
Our next stop was a bit more somber as we visited the Memorial Park, the site of the atom bomb explosion. There is one building left standing was a memorial, the former Hiroshima commerce exhibition hall and the sight of the skeleton of the roof is very frightening indeed. I couldn’t help but feel a bit awkward. The whole place tself has a rather comfortable and relaxing feeling to it as it is constructed just like any other park. It’s set very beautifully with a river dividing the park into two halfs, but each time your view falls back on the ruins of the hall, you are reminded that this is no usual park at all. going down south a bit further we reached another memorial for a young child who died because of the radiation she got when the bomb exploded. Sasaki Sadako wanted to fold at least 1.000 origami paper cranes before she died, but didn’t mange to do so as she passed away, aged only 11. Her memorial is covered with paper cranes from all over the world as students from lots of different countries send the cranes to Hiroshima to be placed at the memorial.
From the Sasaki Sadako memorial the next stop is an eternal flame that will be put out once all atomic weapons are banished from the face of the earth. It lies on a straight axis which leads from the commerce hall memorial to the Peace Museum. The museum depicts every aspect of the atomic explosion and shows to the visitors what happened on August 6th 1945 and in the aftermath of the explosion. It’s rather depressing and uncomfortable, but on the other hand also encouraging as the message is that the whole wolrd needs to unite in its fight to banish nuclear weapons. Also my guide’s grantparents’ house was located only a few metres away from the peace museum which again was only a few metres away from the place of the explosion.
I left Memorial Park with a somber feeling only to replace with a more happy occasion as I was about to visit my first professional baseball game. The local Hiroshima Carp were to play the Yokohama Baystars and I was excited to see the new stadium. On our way we were asked by an american couple if we could show them the way to the stadium so they just tagged along and we had a little chat as we walked for a few minutes. After reaching the stadium, which in reality doesn’t look as impressive as on the screen, we headed for the main cheering section. We were a bit late so we missed the first inning in which the Carp already scored four runs. But we were in time to see them add a few more in the 2nd. The cheering section went nuts but was quited by the Yokohama relief corps afterwards. Yokohama was able to get some runs, but the Carp always looked like they were in control. A lone solo homerun to our right field seats was all they got in the 9th, wasting a chance with bases loaded earlier. The experience was very impressive as there was noise all around, but my biggest surprise came when we left. In Germany after such mass events there is always trouble getting out of the facility and back to the train station as there’s always tension in the air. Forget about that in Japan, everybody walks slowly and patiently until they reach the place they want to go to. It’s very nice to see things work out that way.
My guide was kind enough to take me back to my hotel and there we parted ways after a small conversation in front of a “conbini”. Hiroshima was a lot of fun, but although I will leave for Tokyo tomorrow I am looking forward to see familiar faces again. This one week trip was really great though as I was able to see a lot of different things which you simply cannot find in Tokyo alone.
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