#5: Hiroshima and Miyajima

A few weeks back I went on a trip with the school to visit the Peace Museum in Hiroshima and hear a talk by an Atomic bomb survivor.  Several of my friends and I visited the nearby island of Miyajima that afternoon to see the iconic floating torii and say hello to the friendly deer (friendly deer are surprisingly abundant in Japan).  We stayed in a hostel that night and took the train home the next day.

Visiting the museum and hearing the talk by the survivor was compelling.  As you might expect, the dropping of the bomb is framed a little differently from what I learned growing up in American schools.  I may have more to say about this part of my trip at a later point in time; I’m still turning it all over in my head.  The speaker’s optimism and resilience in the face of incredible hardship was truly inspiring.

To get to Miyajima we took a tram and then a ferry.  On the island we got to check out the temple and associated torii, and experience the Hiroshima okonomiyaki (differentiated from the Osaka okonomiaki by the inclusion of soba noodles).  We also tried out local specialty Momiji Manju, a stuffed pancake sort of thing in the shape of a maple leaf.  Yum.

To get to Hiroshima we took the Shinkansen, which took about 90 minutes.  In a flash of inspiration, a friend and I decided to take the local trains home to save some money.  The trip was a little more than we bargained for — getting home took seven hours and eight different train transfers (so 9 trains total).   Trying as it was, our epic journey did allow for some lovely views of Japanese countryside and lots of  interesting people watching.  Many adorable obaasans (grandmothers) wearing hats.

Misc notes:  I have yet to confirm this, but I have been told that going out with wet hair is considered scandalous.  Also, if you get directions from adorable middle school girls in jogging suits and then proceed to immediately go the wrong way, they may chase you down and walk you to your destination.   Thanks again to the girls who helped me out at Hirakata station, I would never have made it to the Mos Burger without you.