Ishi e no yoki shinai tabI Soshite Hiroshima no hi ni chokumen

Sunday 3 July 2016

I started off the day with a run around Hiroshima Castle and along the Ota River. It was warm and humid but an enjoyable and I ran about 12kms. When I got back to the apartment, I talked Joel into doing a short jog with me along the river, just to keep his fitness up for his footy, when we return to Australia. 

We jogged along for about 2 and a half kilometres, chatting about the holiday and footy as we ran.... We had a stop a a traffic light and it all went pear-shaped. Joel said he felt crook then went the light changed  he straggered forward then fainted, unfortunately banging his head on metal crash barrier beside the road as he collapsed. He was lying on the road with blood pouring from a deep gash in his chin. A couple of locals assisted me to move him off the road into the shade and helped me with some first aid - they were very kind. Joel came around quickly but the gash on his chin was  deep and bleeding profusely - obviously needing sutures. We staggered slowly back to the apartment to assess the situation.

This was confronting and frightening - needing a doctor to treat my child's injury in a country where I can barely speak the language and don't understand the healthcare system! We spend a bit of time on Google and found a nearby hospital, Funairi, that we could access by streetcar. So Em came with me to take Joel to see if there was an emergency department or doctor on call. 

We arrived a Funairi only to find that it was a paediatric hospital and couldn't provide treatment for Joel. However they kindly directed us to a nearby surgery where there was a doctor on duty. 

I really found out how limited my Japanese is at the doctor's surgery but with the assistance of Google translate, I was able to explain what had happened and organise for Joel to received the much needed medical treatment. The doctor was great - he had a bit of English, mostly by writing - and did a good job stitching Joel's chin. With the help of Google translate, I told the doctor that Joel now had an interesting souvenir from Hiroshima!

Kerryn and Ben caught the streetcar over to the doctor's surgery, as I didn’t have enough yen in cash to pay the bill and credit cards were not accepted. We also gave the doctor a small kangaroo toy and he kindly accepted our gift with much mutual bowing and duomo arigato gozaimashita (from me).

Surviving that ordeal, and with Joel patched up and feeling a bit better, we returned to the apartment for a late brunch. Fortunately we had a not so busy day of sightseeing planned and with everything we wanted to visit being a short walk from the apartment, so we still had plenty of time to set off to see the Peace Memorial Park and Museum.

The Peace Park offered a time for reflection and paying respects, with a number of statues and monuments. To start us off, on our journey though the Peace Park, Ben rang the Bell of Peace.

The Children's Peace Monument is inspired by the hope of Sadako Sakaki, 2 years of age when the A-bomb was dropped, who surviving this went on to develop leukaemia at age 11. She aimed to fold 1000 paper cranes in the hope this would grant her wish to survive. Although she died of this cancer her paper crane folding and the monument has become a symbol of the hope of all children for peace.

The central feature of the Park is the Pond of Peace which leads to the cenotaph – an arched monument that covers a vault that holds the names of all know victims of the bomb (although there are many many thousands of unknown victims too). At the head of the Pond is the Flame of Peace, which continues to burn until all nuclear weapons are eliminated from the world. 

The Hiroshima Memorial Peace Museum displays a collection of items salvaged from the aftermath of the A-bomb along with grim and graphic images of badly burned victims and an obliterated city. The ragged school children’s clothes, charred personal effects and, in particular, the images of suffering people, who were almost burned beyond recognition or who subsequently suffered greatly due to the radiation, were highly confronting and deeply disturbing. A grim reminder of the devastating and indiscriminately cruel power of nuclear weapons, will stay with me forever. Anyone who thinks war is a good idea needs to come here, then take a good hard look at themselves!

We then visited the National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims. A monument depicting a clock at quarter-past eight (the time the A-bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945), marks the entrance and we walked down a circular ramp to a central space the displays a 360o panorama of the devastation on 140,000 tiles (representing the know victims). In an adjacent room are photos and names of victims and video and written testimonies from survivors – gut-wrenching!

Last stop for us in the Peace Park was the Atomic Bomb Dome. This world heritage site is  probably the best known and haunting symbol of the awful destruction of Hiroshima. This civic hall was very close to the epicentre and shell of this building was one of the few structures left standing in the wake of the devastating explosion.

We to the long way back to the apartment, to have a look at Hiroshima Castle and grounds. The castle building is a reconstruction, as the original was totally destroyed by the A-bomb, but still quite impressive.

On our way home, we reflected that Hiroshima reminded us a little of Melbourne – perhaps it was the wide tree-lined streets, the rivers and gardens, and, not to forget, the trams (streetcars) or maybe it is the style in which the city was rebuilt matching a time of post-war growth in our home town in Australia. But disturbing to think that just over 70 years ago, unlike our hometown, this beautiful city and its people were obliterated….. 

Kyūjitsu no tanjōbi

Today is my birthday and I am keeping up a tradition of being on holiday for my birthday. I highly recommend this!

This year I am very luck to be celebrating my birthday on holiday in Japan. 

We celebrated with a delicious Japanese feast of gyoza, norimaki, inarizushi, teriyakichikin, gurīnsarada and gohan (with a bīru for me)

Followed by purin, momiji manju and chokorētosurutanakēki

Couldn't find any candles for the chocolate sultana cake, but there was a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday to You" (and "Owen da Saints" - a Gosbell tradition).

Watashi wa gojuni-sai imasu Hito wa furui imasu ka  

Kyō Watashi no tanjōbi imasu. Watashitachi wa Miyajima ikimashita.

Saturday 2 July 2016

Another warm and humid day in Japan. Based on our previous experience of hunger-pangs on busy days of sightseeing, today we stocked up on breads, snacks and cans of coffee from our local supa, before taking a local JR train to Miyajimaguchi then a ferry to Miyajima. 

This small island, in the Seto Inland Sea, just off Hiroshima is a National Park and world heritage site. It's also a very popular tourist destination with the most famous, and oft photographed, attraction being the vermilion Torii (shrine gates) of the Itsukushima Shrine. 

When we arrived it was low tide, so we were able to walk out to the Torii across the mud flats. This impressive structure, while looking like it has foundations deep into the seabed actually sits on the surface under its own weight and, at high tide it becomes surrounded by water and almost appears to float in the small bay in front of Itsukushima.

In Melbourne we have all experienced pesky seagulls at the seaside, hanging around in the hope of scavenging a hot potato chip or food scrap. Well at Miyajima, instead of seagulls they have wild deer. These are everywhere around Miyajimacho (the town on Miyajima) and when you first get off the ferry, it’s all very cute; but the novelty quickly wears off! As it was late morning, we were a bit hungry so Joel opened his backpack for some sweet bread rolls - big mistake, as suddenly we were being stalked by two or three of these persistent deer intent on taking anything they could straight from our hands. Only a quick march onto the mudflats managed to rid us of our unwanted ‘new friends’.

We took the two stage ropeway (gondola cable cars) up Mt Misen, the highest mountain on the Island. There was a lookout at the top of the ropeway but, with the overcast conditions and sea hazy, photographs didn't do justice to the spectacular views across to Hiroshima bay and the surrounding islands.

We walked the summit trail to the Misen Hondo Hall which marks the place where Kōbō-Daishi, the founder of Shingon Buddhism, meditated for 100 days following his return from China in the 9th century. Adjacent is the Reikado (eternal flame) Hall that contains a flame that has burned continuously since it was lit by Kōbō-Daishi. (It was also used as the pilot light for the “Flame of Peace” of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.) There were a bunch of beanie clad, spectacle wearing Jizo statues around the area of the halls – very cute!

We didn’t walk all the way to the summit observatory as the conditions weren't that favourable for the views. However, rather than returning on the ropeway, we chose to hike down the mountain on the Misen Climbing Course beside the Momijidani River. This was great, as it got us away from the rest of the tourist hoards and the trail took us through the primeval forest on the mountainside, with picturesque view of the cascading river. The descent was only a bit over 2kms and took about an hour down stone steps and slippery gravel path, but really enjoyable.

After a treat of Melon Pan Ice, we headed back to have another look at the Torii. 

The tide was coming in now, and while not quite as spectacular as high tide, we could see the effect of the Shrine Gates ‘floating’ in the bay….

We did the tourist thing – wandered down Omotesando, the Main Street, poking around a few souvenir shops and buying some momiji manju, a local specialty – small maple leaf shaped cake filled with sweet red bean (or other flavoured) paste. We also checked out the worlds largest shakushi (rice scoop) – not quite the same scale as Queensland’s big pineapple….

On the way home we stopped off at our local supa to stock up on a range of yummy Japanese foods for a big feast for dinner…. after all it was my birthday, and what better way to celebrate than to be on holidays with my family!! (Only thing we couldn't find were candles for the cake, but this didn't stop the singing)

Food we really enjoyed in Japan (Part 3)

There is a wide range of sweet baked breads available in Japan, but you can't really go past Melon Pan - either plain or choc chip is delicious.....

However a little food stall we found on Miyajima Island took it to a whole other level of deliciousness with their Melon Pan Ice. A fresh baked melon pan filled with vanilla ice cream and cookie.

TOTEMO OISHII DESU NA!!!!!!

Food we really enjoyed in Japan (Part 2)

Dango - rice dumplings on a stick covered in sweet red bean paste or sticky sweet and sour mitarashi sauce or flavoured. We got them from the supa for around 100 yen for a 3 pack. They made a delicious snack on the go!

Food we really enjoyed in Japan (Part 1)

Everyone knows about the amazing Japanese food - sushi, ramen, tempura, okonomiyaki, etc - but here's some food items we have stubbled across in our supa (supermarket) shopping in Japan!

These wafer pods filled with vanilla ice cream have quickly become a favourite for our kids and the first thing they look for when we visit the supa....

Shinkansen wa Himeji to Hiroshima ni ikimashita

Friday 1 July 2016

Today we said goodbye to Kyoto, leaving with a feeling that we had really only caught a brief glimpse of this amazing city, 

and hopped aboard the Shinkansen heading for Hiroshima, but with a stopover in Himeji to visit is famous castle. 

Despite mixed advice on availability of luggage lockers at Himeji Station, we had no difficulty finding large and medium sized for our suitcases. Plus there were machines to change money for 100 yen coins needed to rent the lockers. 

Himeji Castle is imposing - you barely step out of the station and the castle keep stands before you in all its might. In contrast to the opulence of Nijo-ji, Himeji Castle is all about war - defeating invaders and surviving any challenge to its defences. (Even as recently as WWII, when the rest of Himeji was razed to the ground by allied bombing raids, miraculously the carefully camofuged castle survived).

Himeji Castle, a world heritage site, is a beautiful white wooden structure on a stone wall base. The main keep rises to 6 stories (and also has a basement). The expansive castle grounds, a number of keeps and towers, and inner white mud walls with shooting holes (for arrows and guns) are all surrounded by high stone walls with thick iron-reinforced wood gates watched over by guardhouses.

Fortunately these days the "guards" are friendly ticket sellers, who were very forgiving of my attempts, in very poor Japanese, to ask for 3 adult (san-nin), 1 student (hitori gakusei) and 1 child (hitori kudomo) tickets and we were soon through the gates and climbing a steep path to the main keep, which was a bit of a challenge as the sun was out and it was quite hot.

Shoes off at the front door, then we were allowed in to climb the main keep all the way to the top (6th) story. It is an amazing wooden structure with huge posts and beams but with all the trappings of a castle built for war - double locked doors, weapon racks, hidden chambers for warriors to ambush any intruders, rock throwing platforms and window grills to repel arrows and bullets. The view from the top floor was expansive and inpressive - hard to sneak up on this castle! All very interesting!

The guidebooks suggested a 90 minute visit for the castle - woefully inadequate - but we where there for over 2 and a half hours and still didn't go to many of the outbuildings or grounds. It was hot and we were very hungry, so walking back to the station we stopped off at a little teishoku, despite the slightly dodgy window display, for a very late but delicious lunch (ordered in my poor Japanese and much finger pointing, as the waitress didn't speak any English and there were no English menus either). 

We were back to the station in plenty of time to reserve seats on the train (this is proving to be very easy to do with the JR rail passes) then a moment of panic as we tried to remember where the locker bay we had stored our luggage was located in the busy Himeji station (Of course Joel remembered). Then back on the Shinkensen bound for Hiroshima. 

About an hour later we arrived in Hiroshima then spent several disorientated minutes trying to find the train route to our apartment, as per the instructions that had been emailed to us. We needed to get to Tokaichi-machi but no trains seemed to have a station with that name! Confused, we managed to find the information office and an English-speaking assistant who explained that we needed to take a streetcar. Aha - trams we exclaimed and, laughing, explained to the assistant that, as we were from Melbourne in Australia, we understood about teams/streetcars. She pointed in the direction of the streetcar terminal and explained which routes we could catch to get to Tokaichi-machi and that it was a set price fare of 160 yen. 

With a sense of familiarity, and more than enough yen in the purse, we set off to ride the Hiroshima trams. Unlike Melbourne trams, the longer Hiroshima streetcars have a conductor. The conductor on the tram we boarded, quickly summed us up - confused foreign tourists - and explained that we paid the  fare on alighting at our destination and confirmed that the streetcar was indeed going to stop at Tokaichi-machi. 

Off we went but, being peak hour, the streetcar quickly filled with passengers, and we foreign tourists, with our bulky suitcases, stuck out like a sore thumb!  Arriving at Tokaichi-machi, the conductor marched down the central aisle of the car to clear a path for us. We were very grateful but I suspect he was just glad to have us off his tram!

It was a short walk to our comfortable apartment. We quickly settled in, then off to the nearby supa to hunt up supplies for a curry and rice dinner.