Hiroshima 14th - 16th May

Arrived in Hiroshima on a smashing bullet train. They really are cool, in a train spotting kind of way. One downside is the cost. About 50 pounds each for the one and half hour journey.

Hiroshima immediately felt like a pleasant and laid back city. The main purpose of our visit was to see Peace Memorial Park and the Peace Museum.

The experience was educational and emotionally overwhelming. The world's first atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on the 6th August, 1945, and flattened the city, initially killing over 80,000 people, followed by a further 60,000 deaths caused by burns and radiation poisoning.

The Peace Museum gives a comprehensive run up to the events that proceeded the bomb attack, its purpose is as an agent for worldwide peace. Throughout the Peace Park there are memorials for the victims, a Flame of Hope, which will be extinguished when all nuclear weapons are removed from the earth, a Children's Memorial, where children today leave thousands of origami cranes, a symbol of longevity and hope in the Japanese culture.

Above: The A-Bomb Dome serves as an eternal reminder of the tragedy. The bomb exploded directly above the Industrial Promotion Hall. It was not flattened, unlike all other buildings for miles around.

Hiroshima was inundated with school kids all of whom had been tasked with practising their English with any passing foreigner. We signed hundreds of school books, attempted to create origami cranes, had photos taken by the dozen. We had a small taste of what it would feel like to be famous! It's not for me. Found ourselves hiding in the hedgerows to avoid the attention after a while.

Close to Hiroshima is one of Japan's most photographed sites, the floating 'tori' or Shinto Shrine gate, at Itsukushima Shrine. The Shrine's pier like construction was the result of the islands holy status. Commoners were not able to set foot on the island and had to the approach the Shrine by boat, entering through the floating 'tori'. Today they do let the commoners on the island, so we took the short hop ferry ride and added another 100 or so photos to our collection of snaps from Japan!



Above: Floating Shinto gate at Itsukushima Shrine

Something to be exported from Hiroshima, Okonomiyaki - egg-based savory pancakes filled with noodles and fried egg. Absolutely delicious!! Only a million calories in every bite.