Another day, another trip. This time, it was off to Hiroshima - the city that felt the devastating impact of the first Atomic Bomb on August 6, 1945. Much has changed since then - now, when you go to Hiroshima, you will see an active, modern city that is progressing towards the future. However, nothing can ever change the destructive past the city had to endure nearly 60 years ago.
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You will notice a LOT of these square symbols around Japan. If I remember correctly, you can take a cell phone picture of this square and get discounts or special deals at the advertised business if you get it scanned or something like that? |
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At Shin-Kobe station waiting for the shinkansen to Hiroshima. And you gotta love a kiosk that sells coffee and beer. |
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At Hiroshima, where there's a whole bunch of taxis waiting to pick me up and make me lose a ton of cash. Taxis are SUPER EXPENSIVE - avoid them unless they are your ABSOLUTE LAST RESORT for transportation. |
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Hiroshima's public transport specialty - streetcars. |
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Taking a picture inside a streetcar. Obviously, I have forgotten Yoshiko's advice of not taking pictures in public places... actually, now that I think about it, I did take a few pictures of public places like restaurants and so forth - oops. Gomen nasai! However, I did ask Mie to ask the chef at the Kobe restaurant if I can take a picture of Kobe Beef and all was good there! |
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The A-Bomb Dome. This used to be the Industrial Promotion Hall before the Atomic Bomb hit. This was one of the very few structures that remained standing (albeit ruined) after the bomb. |
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A stone tablet with information about the A-Bomb Dome. |
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Overlooking Peace Memorial Park. Unfortunately, the bust in the middle has been bird-crapped. |
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Another view of the ruins of the A-Bomb Dome. |
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The bridge to cross over to the Peace Memorial Park. |
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The Memorial Tower to the Mobilized Students. Many students had to sacrifice their education to take part in helping in the war; therefore, many were mobilized to Hiroshima to work in factories. |
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The Flame of Peace Fountain. The fire that burns will be extinguished once all the nuclear weapons are removed from the face of this Earth. After going through Hiroshima, I do hope nuclear weapons will be abolished and let the flame burn out soon. |
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The National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims. This place was quite emotional for me - you can see over 11,000 archived pictures of people who perished in the tragedy. It might seem a lot of pictures, but this collection represents less than 10% of ALL the people who died in the nuclear holocaust. Also, there are many stories and artifacts that are stored in this place for public viewing. It was a very somber experience to go through this place. |
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Strolling through the park. In the background is the cenotaph for the victims. |
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The Monument in Memory of the Korean Victims of the A-Bomb. Under Japanese occupation during World War 2, Koreans were forced to work for the Japanese. Some Koreans where shipped over to Hiroshima to work in the factories. |
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The Atomic Bomb Memorial Mound. Thousands of victims were cremated or buried in this spot. |
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The Children's Peace Monument. |
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The Peace Bell. |
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Hiroshima today. It's very striking to see how Hiroshima manage to grow so much after the tragedy. |
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Going through the streets of Hiroshima. One place I ended up going to was a building where EVERY floor had a number of shops that sold a special version of okonomiyaki called hiroshima-yaki. What's the difference? Hiroshima-yaki adds on soba noodles. But it's just as tasty as regular okonomiyaki! Another excellent Japanese cuisine! |
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Another outdoor shopping strip. |
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STUPID BRAIN THOUGHT: "Heh heh heh... they spelled ASS wrong... heh heh heh..." Anyways, I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be called Asse (ah-say). |
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A pic of all the different shinkansen trains in service. |
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A display recognizing the 30th anniversary of the JR company which started on this day. Unfortunately, I did not get any free stuff. :P |
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Finally, I returned to Kobe at night. One picture I wish I captured was a man that dressed in a full panda costume driving a convertible on the Kobe streets. When I got my camera, he took off his mask and the traffic signal just changed for him to go. SHIT! |
I am really glad that I visited Hiroshima - it was a really surreal moment to learn and experience first-hand more about the history of the city; especially the well-documented Atomic Bomb and all that has been done since. It's a shame that in today's world, peace seems so far away with all the wars and political and religious tensions everywhere. I've said it before and I will say it again - society is really fucked up.
Ok - no more political stuff from me - it's time to concentrate on the rest of the vacation.
