Hiroshima - Sept 04

Hiroshima - September 5 + 6, 2004

Cassandra and I were worried about reaching Hiroshima in time for the big typhoon headed to southern Japan, but we beat it. When we arrived at Hiroshima Station, it was drizzling lighly and we headed directly to the A Bomb Dome. On the very top of the dome sat a heron, rather majestically--it almost looked like part of the dome. We then headed to the A Bomb Museum. It's hard to come away from there without shedding a tear. As we left the museum, we came across the Hiroshima Citizens' Stadium, and there was a baseball game going on, so we went in during the 4th inning. It was the Hiroshima Carp vs. the Chunichi Dragons (No.1 this season) Carp beat the Dragons 8-4. All the Japanese baseball teams have corporate sponsors, except for the Carp which is sponsored by the citizens of Hiroshima. So they're the team with the least money and the smallest stadium. But they're popular, because of or despite that fact. If it was hotter and the sun was shining, I would not have been there. But fortunately it was nice and overcast, but not raining. Perfect.

After walking around all day, we were dog tired and took a long bus ride on the wrong bus, then got on the right bus to the hotel which was down by the bay. Ironically, two foreigners asked us if this was the right bus to the Prince Hotel. But this time, we confidentally said, "Yes it is!"
Incidentally, the famous local foods are oysters, "okonomiyaki" - which is an assortment of meat or fish and/or vegetables in a batter, pan-grilled, with a sauce on top, and "momiji manju" - a sweet confection with assorted fillings like cream, chocolate, bean paste etc. The only thing we tried was the momiji manju. Pretty good.

The next morning we got on a ferry to Miyajima, a beautiful little island, 20 minutes away. At the ferry terminal, We were greeted by tame deer which decided to eat my newspaper right out of my hand. Miyajima's considered a world heritage site, principally because its the home of the Itsukushima Shrine, which was originally built in the 1100s. It's built right on the edge of the bay, with its support pillars in the water. The shrine is famed for its floating "Torii" shrine gate in the sea. We were just in time to witness a bride and groom in traditional wedding kimonos proceeding down the halls of the shrine.

There was a choice - walk three hours to the top of the mountain or take the cable car. We chose the cable car, but thought we'd walk down (one hour). The cable car runs up a long hill densely covered by forest. At the top is Monkey Park, an open natural park with trails and overrun by monkeys and deer. It's recommended that you put your belongings in lockers before walking around, because the monkeys will tear your packs or bags away from you. We headed out and found monkeys grooming deer, picking parasites out of their fur. Cassandra got a little too close to a monkey mother and baby, and the mama monkey threatened to decorate Cassandra's ankle with its teeth. Cassandra backed off as she apologized, "Sorry-- I didn't mean to piss you off!" There was one boy of about eight who had a plastic bag with snacks, and a big male monkey decided to confiscate the bag. Well the boy with the bag ran for his life, down the hill, with the monkey in hot pursuit. The boy's father was trotting behind them, yelling "Drop the bag!!!!" We watched in horror and decided we better not walk down the hill with our backpacks, because we didn't want to be helpless victims of a major monkey attack.
OUr trip home on the bullet train was interrupted by an earthquake, measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale in Kansai. As I was sitting at Hiroshima station, I wasn't sure if the ground was shaking, or it was just trains rumbling by. The earthquake delayed our arrival in Shin-Yokohama, and we were lucky to catch the last local train home.

Two days later, the typhoon swirled through Hiroshima and flattened Itsukushima Shrine.