The Nuclear Legacy of Hiroshima

A visit to Hiroshima was a non-negotiable destination in Japan. How could we not visit a place that the United States destroyed and view how the city has risen from the ruins of that tragic day. While we were not alive when the U.S. dropped the atomic bombs, we can’t help but feel connected with what happened. We’ve had many opportunities during our trip to reflect on history, colonialism, and the impact of US foreign policy and war. Hiroshima provided yet another chance to consider our place in the world and how we are so fortunate.

Hiroshima is a large and thriving metropolis now. It has been completely rebuilt and its population has grown significantly from its pre-WWII size. Historically, even during the Shogun era, the city was a place where military supplies were organized. Now, however, the city has become a dedicated advocate for peace and many of its sites are focused on this mission.

We spent one day visiting the peace-related sites. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum tells the story of the city just before, during and after the bomb. The museum is surrounded by numerous monuments and markers, including the Flame of Peace, Cenotaph and National Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims.

Several markers of importance could easily be missed if you aren’t paying attention, including one showing the hypocenter (the point above which the bomb exploded) and others noting residual shadows of the impact of the bomb, like the buddha statue in the photo.

We enjoyed speaking with Mito Kosei, one of the youngest survivors of the bomb. His mother was four months pregnant with him at the time. Amazingly, at 104 years old, she is still alive. Mito is a wealth of information and a passionate anti-nukes activist. Mito volunteers his time as a guide in front of the A-Bomb Dome, the most famous surviving building in Hiroshima, which has been left exactly as it was after the bombing.

Inside the museum is a clock that is reset each time a nuclear bomb is tested. Next to the clock was a sternly worded letter from the mayor of Hiroshima to President Biden, taking him to task for the test that reset the clock most recently. Perhaps, the mayor will have a chance to restate his message this year with the G-7 leaders' meeting taking place in Hiroshima. Ironically, while Biden and other world leaders are meeting, a US Marine will carry the “nuclear football” to a city that wants nuclear weapons eliminated. (The photo Mito had of Obama speaking in Hiroshima about peace and nuclear disarmament with the football behind him is the definition of irony and hypocrisy.)

Our second day was less contemplative. We visited the rebuilt Hiroshima Castle, which is an example of a flatland castle. The original was built in the late 16th century. We were lucky to watch a hawk or falcon soaring above the five-story castle.

We also enjoyed the Shukkei-en Gardens, a traditional garden in the center of the city dating back to 1620. The name translates to “shrunken-scenery garden”. Some of the plum trees were just starting to bloom, which was a treat as the January scenery was otherwise barren.

Hiroshima is a worthy destination and we were glad we went. It is unfortunate that the world has not  learned much from the destruction wrought by nuclear weapons, especially when the current bombs are far more powerful than those dropped on Japan in 1945.

Peace,

Shana & Jeff 

Sleeping on the Floor on a Delightful Island Called Miyajima

When we started planning the Japan portion of our trip, Jeff discovered that there are traditional Japanese hotels, called ryokans, that offer a uniquely Japanese experience. Ryokans are often in historic buildings, have onsen (hot baths), and offer traditional meals. We wanted to experience this type of lodging, for at least one night, and I found a well- regarded ryokan named Iwaso located on Miyajima – an island in the Seto Inland Sea / Hiroshima Bay. Iwaso was founded in 1854.

We travelled by high-speed Shinkansen trains from Kyoto via Shin-Osaka to Hiroshima, where we transferred to a local train to Miyajimaguchi, and then took a 10-minute ferry to Miyajima. While the route seems complicated, it wasn’t difficult at all. And the ferry provided amazing views of Miyajima’s famous floating Torii gate.

Iwaso picked us up at the ferry terminal and our ryokan experience began. We received a warm greeting, were shown to our room for green tea and were provided Yukata and Geta sandals to wear during our stay. A Yukata is a summer weight kimono and can be worn almost everywhere, including around town. We learned to wrap the right side first and then the left side over as the top layer – you don’t want to do it the opposite way because that is how the Japanese dress their dead.

We headed to the onsen to relax. The onsen are single sex and used naked. Before entering the baths, you use a washing station – open, seated showers to lather up and rinse off. Iwaso has both interior and exterior onsen. Although it was chilly out, especially when we visited in the morning, sitting in the hot bath in the beautiful setting and seeing wild deer walk by was amazing.

For dinner we had a kaiseki coursed meal that was beautifully presented and included a lot of raw fish. We were quite comfortable dressed in our Yukata.

While at dinner, our room was prepared for sleeping. The low-table and floor level chairs were moved and futons were waiting for us. Yes, we slept on the floor!

The traditional Japanese breakfast – more raw fish for Jeff; porridge for me – was interesting and even included dessert.

We spent the day exploring Miyajima, starting with a walk through Momijidani Park to the cable car that took us most of the way up Mount Misen, and we hiked the rest of the way up, with our new friend, Sophie, a British exchange student studying Japanese in Kyoto, who tagged along. The views were spectacular. 

Of course, there were shrines and temples to stop at and enjoy, as well as wild deer.

We hiked down and enjoyed Daishoin Temple, founded more than 1200 years ago and the oldest temple on the island, where we met the 500 little Rakan buddhas – note their winter hats to keep warm.

Our final stop was at Itsukushima Shrine, which hosts the floating Torii gate.

Our 24 hours on Miyajima were enchanting. The experience there will be considered as one of the most memorable days of the “Big Trip.”

More to come soon,

Shana & Jeff 

Kyoto Part 2

One of the unfortunate things about many tourists sites in Japan is that you cannot take photographs inside. As a result, much of what follows is just a description of what we saw along with outside photos, which are beautiful, but it makes it more difficult to convey how impressive some of these sites are.

Given how many days we were in Kyoto, and our inability to take day trips given train cancellations, we really saw a lot in the city. One of the most impressive sites is Sanjusangen-do, a temple originally built in the 12th Century. Today, it is a relatively spartan place, but this building is key:

You can see from how the building dwarfs Shana (in the ever-present and highly effective pink jacket purchased in Vietnam to keep warm in Japan) that it is impressively large, but what is most impressive is what it contains: 1001 virtually-identical, gold statues of Kannon, the Goddess of Compassion, in her 1000-armed incantation. Note that the statues do not actually have 1000 arms, but that is the intent of the multi-armed statues. In addition, there are 28 statues of Buddhist guardian deities, each different from the other. Really an amazing display, but no pictures allowed. This temple is outstanding in every way.

Nijo Castle was built beginning in 1603 as the Kyoto residence of the first Shogun of the Edo period (1603-1867). The grounds and gardens are the castle itself are beautiful.

The Ninomaru Palace, which served as the Shogun's residence and office has very impressive wall screen paintings, especially of tigers and other animals. We were amused by the fact that the paintings were done by artists who had never seen a tiger, especially by the one containing three tiger cubs one of which was a leopard (apparently, it was believed at the time that every third tiger cub was a leopard).

One note about both the Palace and the temple hall with the Kannon statues. In addition to not being allowed to take photos, we were required to take off our shoes to enter, and as you can see the weather was quite cold. Much to our surprise, there was no heat in either building (not even one space heater), and by the time we left our feet were freezing! Another difficulty created by the weather. While it was worthwhile to see the inside of each building, we reckon our feet have never been so cold as we spent more than 30 minutes in our socks on very cold floors. Another memorable winter in Japan moment.

The Kyoto Imperial Palace was the home of Japan's Imperial family for 1000 years until 1868 when the Emporer moved to Tokyo. Today, it is a number of traditional buildings surrounded by beautiful gardens. The main building has been used for many important ceremonies and is still used today.

The Philosopher's Path is a beautiful walk along a stone path in a quiet part of Kyoto (lined with Cherry Blossom trees, it is much-visited when they bloom in the spring). The Path got its name from a famous Japanese philosopher who walked the route on his daily commute to Kyoto University. We took the peaceful walk starting from Ginkakuji (The Silver Pavillion, which is not silver).

Along the path, as in much of Kyoto, there are many (MANY) temples and shrines, but after a while they all start to look/feel the same, so we did not bother to stop at more than one of them. We were stopped by this gentleman who was making bamboo boats and inviting tourists to select one and drop it into the canal that borders the path. 

Both of our boats floated, which he said was a sign that we are lucky, but we think it was a sign that he was good at making bamboo boats.

At the end of the path, we chose not to visit the interior of the Nanzenji temple (we just couldn't remove our shoes again), but we did get some photos of the nearby aqueduct and surrounding buildings.

We saw many women wearing traditional Japanese kimonos on our travels, and even got some pictures at Nanzenji/the aqueduct.

Chionin Temple complex is a really large temple complex right up against the mountains in Kyoto. There are many impressive buildings, and beautiful gardens as usual:

But, the best part of our visit was that there was a service going on with a monk chanting and striking a large metal bowl that makes an amazing gong-like sound. It was the first time in our week in Japan that we saw a temple being used for a religious service (even though we really had no idea what exactly was going on).

Finally, we visited the Kyoto National Museum, an art museum that focuses on Asian art along with handicrafts and other objects. The Museum was very "Japanese" in that it was sparsely filled and well organized. We especially enjoyed the beautiful scrolls that tell stories (not that we could read them) with illustrations.

Despite the difficulties created by the weather, we really enjoyed our time in Kyoto. The food was fantastic, and the city has a relaxed vibe that we came to enjoy over our time there.

More to come soon.

Jeff and Shana

Nara and Osaka Daytrips

We chose to spend 9 nights in Kyoto because it is an excellent springboard for several destinations that can be visited as easy day trips by train, including Nara, Osaka, Kobe, Himeji, Nagoya, etc.

Nara served as Japan’s first capital in the 8^th century and is home to the famous sacred deer. In the Shinto religion, deer are believed to be messengers of the gods and for this reason they are revered in Nara. There are hundreds of wild deer roaming freely and they don’t just stay in the park. Due to the absence of tourists during COVID, they reverted to more natural behaviors, including foraging for food, but based on our observations that didn’t last long after tourists returned.

It was fun to walk along and greet the deer with a “hello, Bambi.” We chose not to feed them as we saw they get a bit aggressive when they know someone has purchased deer crackers. It was entertaining to watch those who did buy crackers freak out when they were suddenly swarmed by deer, dropping the crackers as they ran away from their Instagram moment.

The deer are not the only highlight of Nara. Kasuga Taisha is a large Shinto shrine complex that was a pleasure to wander through. It sits within a very old forest, where you’ll find more deer, of course, and many stone lanterns. You can even make prayer offerings on deer shaped wooden cards. The natural beauty blended with the spiritual is enchanting. 

Todaiji Temple is one of the largest wooden structures in the world and Japan’s largest Buddha statue sits inside. The stature of the building and the Buddha is astounding.

As we wandered our way back to the train we saw other temples, traditional gardens, and more deer. Our trip to Nara was a delight.

Inspired by our day in Nara, the next day we headed to Osaka, Japan’s second largest metropolitan area. We started with coffee at a small café where the elderly owner made amazing lattes and performed a few magic tricks for us – he passed a handkerchief through his cell phone! We then headed to Osaka Castle, a 16^th century shogunate stronghold built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, whose life story and role in Japanese history was dramatically told in the museum. This hagiography was undermined later when we looked up the history of the Mimizuka – an odd monument in Kyoto. It holds thousands of severed noses of Koreans and Chinese killed during Hideyoshi’s invasions of Korea between 1592-1598. Japan’s history is filled with violence and war, not unlike many other countries.

The castle sits in the center of the city and offered great views of the modern metropolis.

We visited Osaka's large market where Jeff had grilled eel, and then meandered through the city’s central commercial zone. You’ll never guess what the restaurant in the photo below serves.

We knew that snow was predicted and had seen a couple of flakes during the day, but we had no idea that back in Kyoto it had been snowing A LOT. 

The train trip between Osaka and Kyoto is all of 30 minutes, but it took us 6.5 hours to get back! First, we waited more than an hour and a half in the cold on the Osaka Station platform because of extensive delays in service. We finally got on a train that moved slower than normal. The train then stopped on a bridge outside of Kyoto where we sat for more than 2.5 hours. There were many announcements, which we could not understand. The entire time the Japanese were silent – seriously, not a peep, and no one offered any information to us. Using Google Translate I surmised that it was unknown when we would get moving again. We finally moved off the bridge, to wait another 45 minutes or so, and then we arrived at a local station one stop away from Kyoto Station where a kind Japanese man told us the train would not go any farther. While another train at that station was supposedly going to Kyoto Station, we were done with trains for the night and chose to walk to our hotel in the fresh snow – about a 30-minute walk (we would have had to walk 15 minutes anyway) – arriving close to midnight.

It turned out that we had gone to Osaka on the day that Kyoto experienced its worst snowstorm in at least 10 years. Thus, our outing to Osaka did not end well. Moreover, the trains in and out of Kyoto had service interruptions for the next several days as the area received more snow as it tried to recover from the original dump. This meant we did not take any other daytrips. It's a good thing we took these daytrips early in our Kyoto stay!

Fortunately, there is enough on offer in Kyoto that we kept plenty busy, even though our pace was hindered by the snow, ice, and cold. We did our best to stay warm and entertained but traveling in January can be tough.

Keeping it real in Japan,

Shana & Jeff