Day 14: Hiroshima Peace Park / Miyajima

Sebastian:

We arrived in the Hiroshima Peace park and took a look at an instantly recognizable building. It was the A-Bomb Dome. The A Bomb Dome building was almost directly under the hypocenter of the nuclear bomb, and is one of the few visible remnants of the bombing.

Not too far from the A Bomb Dome is a tower with several portions that gradually get bigger as they go up. This tower is dedicated to the children that were lost in the second world war.

There is a Peace Bell across the river from the A Bomb Dome that we rang.

There is a statue of a girl holding an origami crane. This statue was dedicated to Sadako, who got leukemia from the bomb, but wanted to make a thousand paper cranes before she died.

There is a concrete arch that is near the Pond of Peace and Flame of Peace that is a cenotaph for the victims whom died in the bombing of Hiroshima. Looking through it, you can see the A Bomb Dome, the Pond of Peace, and the Flame of Peace.

There is a memorial hall for the victims of the bombing of Hiroshima, listing the names and images of the people who died.

The peace memorial keeps 2 day counters, one counting the days since the initial detonation over Hiroshima, the other counting the days since the latest nuclear test. 


Other people's observations on the peace park:

Anna said she was extremely depressed in the museum.

Hannah said that the museum was very sobering.

Megan said the museum was very sad.

Cole said the museum was a lot like the holocaust museum.

Korr said the museum was eye opening and interesting. He also said that reality is harsh.

Hailey said the museum is super cool.

Tanner said the museum was fairly cool, and the peace pond and peace fire were cool.

Amy said that the peace park was devastating and sad.

Kang said it was sad seeing all the artifacts from the A Bomb.

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Tanner: After the Peace Park, we got together for lunch at a very nice restaurant and we all had different delicious meals. 

After we went together on a ferry to Miyajima, when a group of school kids on shore yelled and waved to us as the ferry pulled to the dock. We all walked to the large gate that was in the ocean and looked through the temple near it. 

We even saw a Shinto wedding

Next we hiked over the another nearby temple area [Daisho-in] where there was several different interesting activities. 

There was a pitch-dark maze under the temple that we all slowly walked through to the other side. You couldn't even see your hand in front of your face, so you had to walk by feeling the walls to move forward. 

Next we walked to the top of a temple and walked around the the outside far above the ground.

There was also a large room where the roof was covered in lanterns where all the deities from all across Japan had statues where you got a blessing by rolling a wooden prayer ball that represented praying to the god.

Another shelter was in the middle of a pond, and inside there was seven household gods that all granted you different wishes for you, health, money, etc. 

This temple was very interesting, even the Dalai Lama visited it, and there was a lot of memories of him being there like an intricate sand Mandala that was preserved there as well. Today was very fun!!

We ended the day by getting all together to eat some really good okonomiyaki. They made it in front of us and it was very cool, I would love to eat some again if I ever had time.