The United States dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima in August 1945. Hiroshima was a city known for education with multiple universities, and its historic military facilities. The city was chosen as target for several reasons including: 1) no Allied POW camps were in the Hiroshima area, 2) unlike most other major Japanese cities, Hiroshima had not yet been firebombed by Allied forces, which means that the city had visible "targets" remaining, and 3) the city was a military stronghold. After the nuclear attack, Hiroshima was rebuilt as a "peace memorial city". The city government continues to advocate for the abolition of nuclear weapons, the mayor writing a letter of protest every time a nuclear weapon has been detonated anywhere in the world (including tests) since the city's bombing, and has advocated more broadly for world peace.
Within our first few hours in town, we went to see "it". The Atomic Bomb blew up just over this government building, which survived the blast. However, nearly every other building was leveled within a kilometer diameter.
After taking some quiet photos, we sought food. Okonomiyaki is one of our favorite Japanese foods, and the people of Hiroshima make a unique style much-contested in the rest of the country. We had to try it at the epicenter: the Okonomiyaki Mura. This is a small building full of okonomiyaki restaurants, about five shops on each of six floors. That's a LOT of yaki.
The Hiroshima-style is layered and includes noodles (soba or udon). It's interesting... but kinda dry and not my favorite. We needed a lot of beer to wash it down. Don't tell that to the locals, peaceful as they may be.
The morning after, slightly hung-over, we walked back into town early. The Hiroshima flower festival was in full swing, with lots of vendors and cultural activities to enjoy. These guys were pounding rice into mochi in the traditional way.
They invited Mom to join in the fun! (She nearly pounded her assistant's hand in the process - oops!) As she pounded, a small crowd gathered and cheered her on. I was highly aware of the graciousness of these people to welcome an American woman in such a public way... it brought tears to my eyes.
Then she joined the ladies in rolling out the mochi balls, which they fried and offered us to eat. So kind!
The children's memorial was a touching monument to the international yearning for peace. In the center is a bell, which children and adults line up to prayerfully ring as a clarion call for peace. Surrounding the bell are glass boxes FILLED with millions of paper cranes made by children from all over the world. You and your class or organization can make cranes to contribute to this memorial! http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/
This sculpture of mother and child is ringed with thousands of paper cranes.
This is the central monument in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. The giant coffin under this arch contains unidentified remains of hundreds of people.
After prayers and tears, we sought refuge at sea. It was said, after the Bomb, that "nothing will grow for seventy-five years". And yet the spring after the bomb, some grasses and trees put out green. What an incredible miracle for the savaged survivors of this crime against all that is Good!
We visited nearby Miyajima island, famous for monkeys and temples and bamboo rice paddles and... lots of other stuff we didn't see. It was our last day of intense travel and Mom was threatening to have a "temple tantrum" if we went to one more tourist spot. So we took the high road in the opposite directions of the hoards, to some quiet beaches. Fire meets water. It was so good for my soul to be there.
Avoiding the tourist spots proved to be most rewarding. We were invited to join three men, middle-aged triathletes from Hiroshima, in their beach picnic. In an amusing mix of Japanesie, Engrish, and gestures, we spent hours getting to know eachother.
It seems that Miyajima, too, has friendly local deer.
Our new friends hosted us at a great sushi restaurant that night and then took us to see the *very famous* Miyajima Torii Gate. The "floating torii" here is the third-most-beautiful view in Japan, so the prerequisite picture (through a dirty lens, sorry):
The next morning we flew together from Hiroshima to Sapporo.
P.S. Of all the (many) posts I wrote about our trip, this one was the most difficult to convey. After several years of intentional "peace work" in the Pacific Northwest, and my growing inclination toward spiritual pacifism, it is possible that my trip to Hiroshima will be my single most impressive day in Japan. I imagined that my job as 'teacher' and 'internationalizer' would enable me with numerous opportunities to convey my wish for peaceful relations between East and West. Instead, I fear that during this painful year I may have widened the gulf. My heart is broken. Of course, my students and co-teachers generally-hopefully know me to be a loving and intentional teacher. My Japanese friends know me to be curious and communicative. But my heart is not peaceful here. I have so much to learn about peacemaking. And more to process later, when I am healed and can be more generous of heart...
