Hiroshima part 2

Abe Suzuko-san, a survivor of the 1945 bombing of Hiroshima, spoke about her experience of the blast and her recovery that followed; most of us were on the brink of tears when first listening to the horrors that she went through. Our umbrellas that we bought at the 100 Yen shop in Nara proved to be a good purchase when it rained during our walk to the Bomb Museum after the speech. Here we met Clarke Sensei and Michael Mooney who had thankfully recovered his Rail Pass. The Hiroshima Bomb Museum was extremely moving, confronting and informative. It consisted of information on the creation of the atomic bomb and the morning of August 6, 1945, a rather graphic wax sculpture of a mother and her two children demonstrating the effect the blast had on skin and a step that contained the shadow of a man that remained after the bomb. We exited the Museum in a straight line that went pass a memorial of the victims of the bomb, the eternal flame that will be extinguished when all atomic bombs are rid from the world and the Dome building that survived the blast, still preserved today. We also saw the memorial of the young girl who died from radiation poisoning 10 years after the bomb. Sadako believed that if she made 1000 paper cranes she would become healthy. Although reaching her goal, she died at the age of 12. The nation was moved by her story and children from around Japan made paper cranes in memory of her. After buying lunch at the local 7/11 we mistakenly took a 48 minute tram to the Miyajima Guchi instead of catching a train. Arriving on Miyajima Island by Ferry, we were greeted by many deer, ‘shika’, to which we took several photos with. The main attraction on the island, however, was not the deer; the large shrine in the water (‘Itsukushima’) was what brought Japanese and other tourists to Miyajima Island. Another long and dreary tram ride later we ate dinner at an ‘okonomiyaki’ restaurant after 15 minutes of searching up and down for a free table. Everyone seemed to enjoy Hiroshima’s famous dish, as seen in the groans as we walked down the stairs and the belief that we were about to throw up from too much intake of food. Despite the exhaustion felt by everyone, Hiroshima and Miyajima Island proved to be one of the most memorable places any of us had ever had the privilege of seeing.