Hiroshima and Miyajima

The 2 major reasons for visiting Hiroshima are the Peace Park and the island of Miyajima.  The city itself is quite nice, nestled in a valley surrounded by mountains with the sea on the eastern side.  It’s not a large city by the standards of Tokyo and Kyoto, but wide boulevards with trams and excellent public transport, make it easy to get around.

The city was the site of the dropping of the first atomic bomb on August 6, 1945 and the Peace Park is dedicated to remembering that occurrence and the wish that such an event should never happen again.  The Park’s major feature is the preserved remains of the only significant building left standing within a radius of 1 km – the A-Dome as it’s called.  Pictures of the devastation around it are quite eerie and surreal and the historical record indicates that the Americans seemed to use the dropping of the bomb, as a test to determine what effect it would have, as they also dropped testing equipment and the war was in its last days anyway.  However, that discussion is one for others and I for one don’t involve myself in the politics.  The Peace Park also contains a museum of articles recovered and a photographic and historical record of the event and it is an extremely moving and emotional feeling, walking through the museum.  The A-dome was an exhibition hall for the local prefecture before the bombing and the epicentre of the bomb’s blast was some 600 metres above it and about 100 metres to the east.  The dome on the building was covered in copper and the copper melted instantly and fell into the building, but the dome structure in steel remained standing, as did many of the walls of the building, whilst almost everything around it to a radius of 2km, was destroyed.  The blast killed around 140,000 people!  I’ll say no more!

Hiroshima is the city of origin of the cuisine known as okonomiyaki, which is essentially a huge pancake containing fish or meat, vegetables and egg, cooked on a hotplate, but the variations we’ve had up ‘til now haven’t captured the dish’s true character.  Last night, however, we visited a restaurant which is renowned as THE place to taste the original and best and it didn’t disappoint!  The place is called Rei Chau and was extremely crowded and noisy, but the okonomiyaki was superb!  The original contains lots of finely sliced cabbage, which many versions don’t seem to repeat.  The taste is divine, particularly as we had it with shrimp and squid. I think we may go and do it all over again tonight.

This morning we caught the train to Miyajimaguchi which is the ferry terminal for the island of Miyajima, only a couple of k’s off the mainland in the Sea of Japan.  The island was first established as a Buddhist retreat in 593 and the first torrii gate for the shrine was built at that time, in the shallows of the sea at the entrance to the shrine.  The image of this torii gate is known around the world and the place is hugely popular with tourists from all over the world as well as large numbers of Japanese tour groups.  The shrine and the torii gate are also heritage protected.

The island’s other attraction is a climb to a cable-car station and a ride to the top of Mount Misen but the view today was a little hazy as it was overcast and a little dull, but non-the-less was well worth doing.

Tomorrow – off to Osaka!

Hiroshima & Miyajima

The A-dome - site of first atomic bomb blast attacking a city.

A very moving sight-long discussion with peace activists

The Children's memorial

Cenataph - looking towards the A-dome.

Peace Memorial Park

Diorama representing the blast

Market area in Hiroshima

Fantastic displays in food halls in basement of shopping centres

Beautifully marbled Hida beef on sale

Torii gate at the entry to Miyajima

Foreshore avenue on Miyajima

The Princess and the Torii Gate

Cable ride to top of Mt.Misen

Fantastic lunch of oysters, egg, rice and pickled vegetables

The lunch menu outside a restaurant

Beautiful Kyoto

Kyoto is to Tokyo, what Melbourne is to Sydney – a little quieter, a little more refined, more culturally aware, wider streets and boulevards and a little less rushed.  There is also a height limit on buildings in the city, which seems to be around 12 or 15 floors, so the city seems less crowded.  There are over 800 shrines and temples in Kyoto, or so we’re told and we saw quite a few of them.  Day one saw us coping with a City tour to get a perspective, in pouring rain due to a passing typhoon, with visits to the Golden Pavilion and gardens.  The tour also included the Imperial Palace, Ni-Jo Castle and later, a visit to Nara, on the outskirts of the city where the world’s largest wooden building (equivalent to 10 stories) houses the world’s largest wooden Buddha covered in some (originally) 40 kilos of gold leaf.  In the gardens surrounding the temple are hundreds of deer, wandering around looking for rice cakes visitors feed to them.

Our hotel was only 200 metres from Kyoto station and the station building is very impressive, with 12 stories of department stores and restaurants above and around the main station area.  In the basement there are again, two levels of restaurants and cafes so we didn’t need to go far to experience the culinary delights Kyoto has to offer.  Our initial room at the hotel, booked from Melbourne of course, was so small we couldn’t get the cat in, let alone swing it, so we opted for an up-grade to a deluxe room – hang the expense.  Much more comfortable!   

Again, the train and bus system is amazingly efficient and we had no trouble getting around the city and finding our way to scenes of great beauty, or places to save lots of money!  The Nishiki Market, near the central city area, is a very busy, very noisy, very large version of the Queen Vic and the hundreds of stores are fascinating in their variety.  Fresh food – vegetables, fish & meat, tofu, teas and bakery goods and some we couldn’t describe nor were game to taste, vie with fashion items, handbags, hair accessories of all kinds, electronic goods and thousands of other items.  In the market we were headed for the Master knife maker, Aritsugu, who’ve been making knives and swords since 1560.  We wanted an exceptional quality kitchen knife as we’d read about these knives and they don’t seem to be available outside Japan.   We finished up with 2 knives, both multi-purpose, double edged, blue steel with Japanese handles which are lighter and more comfortable than western handles.  The range of knives is astounding – some with single-side edges, both right and left hand, vegetable only knives, fish or meat only knives, sashimi knives in many sizes.  The store also makes and sells kitchen pots in beaten copper and many other items.

During our few days in Kyoto, we also managed to spend a day with a private guide – university student Senna, who we booked through The Good Samaritan Club.  Senna took us to more out of the way places which are listed in the guide books, but are a little more difficult to find.  The Bamboo grove at Arashiyama was a particular highlight and the scenic train up the mountain out of that town was amazing as well.  She also took us to the zen garden – Garden of the Fifteen Stones, at Ryoan-ji and an amazing shrine where donors can have their own torii gate installed and there are currently some 8000 of them leading up a steep climb to the top shrine.

Much shopping has been done along the way and we will have cases expanded by the time we reach home.  Prices in Japan, for most things, are similar to at home, but the range and quality is amazing and there are stores and brands from all over the world which are here because the Japanese are very brand-conscious and acquisitive, particularly the young people. 

Visit to Arashiyama in Kyoto mountains

The beautiful Shinto shrine in the foothills of Kyoto which leads to an avenue of some 8000 torii gates of various sizes, leading to the peak where the shrine culminates.  Donors to the shrine may install a torii gate of the appropriate size for their donation.

The main entry

Part of the avenue of torii gates

They seem to go on forever & it's a very long walk to the top

The Princess with our volunteer guide, Senna.

The Bamboo Groves at Arashiyama - spectacular

Part of the beautiful gardens at Arashiyama

On the railway to the mountain top

The gorge

Part of temple garden

The beautiful Zen garden at Ryoan-Ji

Golden Pavilion and Nara

Kanazawa

We’re now on the Thunderbird Limited Express (cue music) from Kanazawa to Kyoto and we’ve very much enjoyed our couple of days in Kanazawa, an important city on the west coast.  It has a big fishing industry and the fantastic fresh fish in the market reflects this.  The retail market is huge with stall after stall of fresh food, mainly fish, but also Hida beef and vegetables and fruit.  Quite a lot of the fruit seems to be imported, particularly the more exotic tropical-type fruits like canteloupe, which sell for up to $40 each.   Many of the apples (quite large) sell for $5 each but the local fruit and vegetables seem to be around the same price as at home. 

Kanazawa is a very easy city to get around and a $5 (500yen) bus pass for any number of trips in a day, is quite economical.  There is a tourist bus loop which can be used as a hop-on hop-off bus and takes people to all the major sites and shopping areas.  The most important sites we visited were the gold/silver leaf traditional industry, the geisha district and the samurai district, Kanazawa Castle and Kenrokuen Gardens, reputed to be in the top 3 most beautiful gardens in Japan – and they didn’t disappoint.

The tourist buses are restored 1950s buses seating around 20 people but with modern seating and amenities, stopping at approximately 20 spots on the loop.  Traffic is nowhere near as bad as Tokyo and most of the cars are tiny – looking like upright shoe boxes (size 3) so they can park them in tiny spots in front of homes.  Again, we’ve been blown away by the variety of food, but particularly here there is an enormous focus on seafood, which we both love.

The gold shops actually make the most beautiful pieces of tableware, ornaments, jewellery, etc., from micro-fine gold leaf and the shops are happy to take those interested, into the workshop and show off the method of producing the film – some 0.0001mm thick .  Needless to say, we finished up with a couple of small pieces to bring home. 

The geisha district and the samurai district are areas which have been restored and show how those people lived in the past.  The timber-work and art in the houses are particularly beautiful and the enclosed gardens which they all seem to have, are simple, elegant and restful, with stone ornaments, ponds, waterfalls and lovely greenery.

Kanazawa Castle is spectacular, beautifully restored and dominates the northern part of the central city.  The grounds are extensive and lovingly cared for and the whole estate is adjacent to the Kenrokuen Gardens.  Jules will wax lyrical about the beauty  of the gardens and even I must admit, they’re amongst the most beautiful I’ve seen, with ponds, waterfalls, trees which are hundreds of years old, all lovingly trimmed in the Japanese (or bonsai) style and paths and walkways, steps and stepping-stones winding through many acres of garden.  Spectacular!