A Japanese Thanksgiving

[Pack a lunch; this is a long one]



Thursday, November 22, 2007 itself is not much worth writing about. I was at junior high, and class seemed to never end. I came home and ate leftovers. I watched TV. At 8:40 pm, I thought it might be prudent to start cleaning my apartment. I cleaned until 11. I took a shower and went to bed. Ye-haw.


Friday, November 23rd was a holiday, thank goodness. And it was the start of another Jamie-Allison-Wendy adventure. This time we escaped north, leaving Kyushu entirely (gasp!) and went to Hiroshima.


We had a pretty packed itinerary, which involved the usual Jamie-Allison-Wendy activites: primarily some sightseeing, lots of picture taking, and frequent stops for food. We arrived in Hiroshima around lunch time and set off. The weather was really nice, and we actually got, dare I say, hot, walking around in the sun. Why Hiroshima was warmer than Kurume I don't exactly know, but maybe it has to do with their location next to the inland sea.


One thing I never learned in history class was that Hiroshima is built on a river delta, so there are many bridges throughout the city spanning 4 large rivers as they make their way out to sea. The bridges were attractive by themselves, but were made that much more senic by the abundance of fall color along the edges of the water. See below:





First up on the itinerary was the Peace Park and Memorial Museum. In a rather uncharacteristic fashion, we sight-saw (?) right through lunch to make sure we got it all in. The park was really beautiful, and amazingly lush. After the bomb was dropped, it was said that nothing would grow in Hiroshima for 75 years. At the center of the park is the Children's Memorial, where childern from all over the world have placed paper cranes. Some are in long strands of 1000, others are arranged in patterns like this:




For pieces of paper, the cranes have a powerful, emotional message of peace. The whole city of Hiroshima seems to be dedicated to spreading this message.



The iconic A-bome Dome is a short walk across the river from the actual park and is one of those places that you can hardly believe you are looking at in person. It resembles the pictures so exactly and has so much importance connected with it, it still doesn't seem real.





We couldn't put off our visit to the museum forever, so with a few deep breaths we headed in. Our first stop was the underground Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims. Above the hall is this statue of a clock, forever frozen at 8:15 AM, the time the bomb was dropped. Inside was very modern, and after seeing the memorial room itself, you were led into a smaller room with computer screens which contained testimonies from surviors about that fateful morning. It was a lot to take in, and we still hadn't gotten to the main museum.




The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum was packed with tourists and Japanese people alike. I got the audio tour, which I think was essential considering I could hardly get close enough to many of the exhibits to read the text. There were a lot of dioramas, showing the city before and after and lots of artifacts, like concrete walls with glass embedded in them from the explosion. Towards the end was a whole room dedicated to the human costs and health effects associated with radiation. It was a necessary stop on our itinerary, but after just over an hour there, we couldn't take much more.




Heading my mother's favorite piece of advice, "You'll feel better after you eat" we grabbed some soft cream, to re-energize us for the trek to the next spot of interst, Hiroshima Castle.




One the way to the castle, we came across the first of what would be several amazing signs in Hiroshima. I think it looks like the bike is trying to escape from the rider.





Hiroshima Castle is only the second castle I have visited in Japan, but I am already starting to sense a pattern. Japanese castles are tall and well fortified. We ran up the several flights of stairs to the top to catch the view before it got completely dark, then walked down a bit slower to take in the displays of samurai weapons. At the bottom was a dress up corner (Kumamoto Castle did not have this!) where Jamie humored me and dressed up with me.




As we left in search of dinner, we passed by this torii gate in front of a shrine right next to the castle. I thought it framed the last bit of daylight quite nicely.

For dinner, we sought out some Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki in the basement of a department store. It was alright. Dessert was much better, crepes served out of the back of an old bus. We had to wait in line before they even took our orders, and then wait again while the two people working inside made them. It was worth the wait though. Soft doughy crepe filled with all sorts of creamy goodness. I ordered Tiramisu flavor. As I recal, Allisons had something to do with blueberries, but it looks more like ecstacy to me.

We bedded down for the night in a hostel, which was much nicer than our apartments. The tatami mats were newer, the bedding was warmer, the heater worked, and the shower rooms were actually designed for showers. Damn, we thought. Until we remembered that the cost of two nights there was equivalent to about half of a month's rent in our subsidized apartments. You get what you pay for I guess.

Day 2 we got up bright and early and set out for Miyajima, a small island easily reached by ferry from Hiroshima. It took almost 40 minutes on impossibly slow street car to get from downtown to the port, and like the Peace Park the day before, it was packed. So many people stealing our great ideas for weekend activites.



Boat!

There are three reasons to visit Miyajima: to see the famous red torii gate in the water, to see
momiji, and to see monkeys. We accomplished the first two with ease, but the monkeys were being difficult.

The red torii of Itsukushima Shrine is one of the "Three Views of Japan" so I am sure you have probably seen a picture before. The picture I took below of the gate at high tide is almost identical to the postcards they sell in town. Yes, I am that good. For more on the "Three Views" check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Views_of_Japan


After our gate viewing, we started up towards the cable car, or "ropeway" that would lead us to monkeys. We passed this sign (amazing sign #2) on the way up.


We didn't run, and instead we took many side paths meandering through lots of lots of red leaves which took the better part of an hour. When we finally reached the ropeway station, we were given a number and told that it would be another hour before our number would be called allowing us to board. So we ate some snacks, and took some pictures.

Me hoping to attract the monkeys below. But is was all in vain. When we reached the top a.k.a monkey territory, there was a hand written sign on a white board that said "Monkeys have gone to the forest to eat." Stupid monkeys.


At least we saw another good sign as we got ready to be crammed 8 people into a small swinging car. Please wait in quiet while suspended indefintely in impossibly small car above deep ravine...uh sure.



The view. Hiroshima in the distance.



After the monkey-less mountain ascent, we rushed back down to the water to catch the gate at low tide. While the ground was still quite soggy and covered in lots of green seaweed, everyone and their mom was squishing through it to go take pictures and stick coins into the waterlogged wood for luck.

The shrine was not the only red thing on Miyajima. There were millions of red leaves, or momiji, as well. So many, in fact that there is a park named for them, Momijidani Park. So of course we had to take pictures. Lots and lots of pictures.

Some with just trees in them...


...and some with us in them, enjoying the leaves.


And another postcard worthy one. I bought a postcard that looked identical. Ask my grandma if you don't believe it.



Then we walked around town. Which was slightly less packed in the afternoon than it had been in the morning. Even though it was 3 ish by the time we finally got around to lunch, we still had to wait for a table. This time, the okonomiyaki was worth the wait. I ordered mine with mochi inside, and it was delicious, all warm and gooey.


Then it was more photo ops with other "landmarks" like the golden Hello Kitty outside of the Sanrio store, where Jamie bought almost $100 of her beloved Hello Kitty cell phone charms. I must admit though that the Hiroshima/Miyajima ones were especially cute. Hello Kitty on a paper crane, Hello Kitty with a leaf hat, wielding two okonomiyaki paddles, Hello Kitty under the torii gate....and on and on.



There was also Hello Kitty sitting on a rice paddle, because Miyajima is home to Japan's largest rice paddle or something like that. I am not sure exactly of its claim to fame, but it is a large rice paddle. Pretty impressive, but would have been better with a giant bowl of rice next to it, or at least a few big grains stuck to it.


After the last round of pictures, it was almost dark, and we decided to head back to the city for dinner. One last view from Miyajima:


Back in Hiroshima, we tried to walk off our late lunch and scout out a place for dinner. We went to take purikura (which is so amazing that is deserves its own post, look for one later) in a store?/building dedicated to photobooths decorated in bright colors playing obnoxious music. If I recall correctly, there were four floors to choose from. It was glorious. We are becoming purikura masters.

Day 3 was just a half day, so we could get home in time to digest and prepare for the JET Mid-Year seminar on Monday and Tuesday. So after some breakfast, we stashed our bags in a locker at the station and walked to Shukkeien Park for a last look at the leaves. The park was beautiful, done in the tradional Japanese style. We even saw girls in kimonos!



Glorious reds and oranges


Can you spot the tourist amidst the leaves?


And sun shining on more leaves

It may not have been Thanksgiving in the turkey and mashed potato sense, but it was a great weekend, and it helped me realize how much I have to be thankful for, which is quite a lot.