Japan Day 20: Hiroshima Explorations.

The 25th floor turned on a sumptuous feast for breakfast. After nearly 3 weeks of Japanese breakfasts I was ready to put down my chop sticks and indulge in something a little different, and here was my opportunity. Cereal, croissants, pastries, fruit salad, bacon, eggs, plus all the Japanese breakfast dishes, there were even my friends the fermented soy beans. I left the slimy little things alone and had another croissant instead.

 We started our first day in Hiroshima with a lap around town on the Hiroshima Loop bus. We complicated the procedure a bit by jumping on the wrong bus and then spending some time dithering at Bus Stop No 2 on the south side of the station when we should have been at Bus Stop No 2 on the North side. Once we got the geography right we were all systems go for a lap around town and very nice it was too, mainly because the bus was heated and it was cold outside.

This is the correct bus. Finally.

We had a deadline because at 2pm we had to meet a guide for a walking tour of the Gogoku Shrine, Hiroshima Castle, and the Peace Memorial.  We left with plenty of time which was good because, true to form, we got on the wrong bus and went for another tour of town before we got ourselves organised and in the right place.

It was a very cold day. I was glad I had finally found a beanie back in Osaka. Roger wept for the want of summer temperatures. The weather spat rain at us and threatened more. Our guide (Akiko was her name) arrived with bundles of energy and took us on a quick trip through Shrine etiquette and behaviour.

There was lots going on at the shrine. Shiny new cars were there to be blessed. Lots of very well dressed families kept arriving. Little girls in full kimonos bounced around on clattery traditional clogs, followed by mothers trying with questionable success to keep the little kimono-wearers clean. 

We didn't stay there for long: no sooner had we got our heads around Shrine rules than we were on to the castle. As castles go it was middle grade and quite new, having been rebuilt as a faithful reconstruction after the war. Unlike the other castles so far it was not on a hill, Hiroshima being built on a flood delta without benefit of high ground. Hiroshima castle compensated by building an intricate series of moats, preferring to drown and bog their enemies rather than drop rocks on them. Akiko knew her history and shared it eloquently.

From the castle we moved on to the Peace Park, which quietened everyone down a bit. This was where the first atom bomb dropped on 6th August 1945. Akiko shared the facts and the broader picture without embellishment or undue emotion.  Surrounded as we were by other groups and individuals all doing the same thing, we were quiet.

An Australian eucalyptus tree which survived the bomb blast, with a picture of it immediately post blast. How did this tree come to be growing in Hiroshima in 1945? No one knows.

Akiko was quite clear that modern day Hiroshima looked forward to a bright future and we must tell our friends to visit. She recommended good places to eat and Hiroshima speciality dishes, alluding to rivalry between Osaka and Hiroshima with regard to oniminiyaki (the pavlova battles between Australia and New Zealand sprang to mind).

 We walked home from the Peace Park through Hiroshima's streets, rebuilt 80 years ago from ashes. The bones of bombed Hiroshima popped up in memorials in all sorts of places. 

The 25th floor offered soft serve ice cream, tea, and coffee, segueing into wine and nibbles after 6pm. We very effectively ruined our appetites and then went out for Japanese fast food which was surprisingly healthy and tasty.

Solid chopstick skills required.

25th floor pudding will have to wait until tomorrow.