The trains travel on time all the time, none of that British rail minute scenario.
We arrived in Hirsoshima and naturally it was very hot. We took a taxi to the hotel, just to try it instead of taking the tram (streetcar). A taxi is just a taxi really so nothing to say that was special about it.
We were of course too early to check in at the hotel so we dropped our rucksacks and headed out into town. Our hotel was the cheapest one that we booked over our holiday but it had a good central location. We did try and get a better hotel but the prices seemed to jump markedly. That said a three star hotel is perfectly acceptable and though our room was a bit smaller than our previous hotels it was fine really.
Walking around in the mid-day heat is not recommended in Hiroshima. It's a city typified by hot and humid summers and the current heatwave made it feel like an oven. I even pondered the thought of what it might have felt like when the burning hot winds from the atom bomb swept through the city as the stiflingly hot breeze just took my breath away.
We were pretty tired at his point and the heat certainly was not helping. Lunch eventually consisted of a trip to Starbucks as I think the heat and how tired we were feeling whilst drenched in sweat had lowered our tolerance for adventure somewhat. After half an hour cooling down in Starbucks to a point where our brains and our bodies were able to function again.
We decided to make the walk down the Boulevard of Peace in Hiroshima towards the 'hypocentre' (which is where the atom bomb detonated). It was unbearably hot and Mark was suffering, I could tell. Eventually we got to the Peace Memorial Museum and bought our tickets and audio guide.
The tour of the museum starts with a history of what was going on Hiroshima and Japan previous to WWII, there was information about the Manchurian Incident which was a prelude to finding an excuse to invade China and the Nanjing Massacre, where the Japanese once having invaded the then capital of China brutally murdered and raped the inhabitants. Not a high point this really for the Japanese. It's interesting how such events were portrayed by different nations. Having visited China the way the events are portrayed are far more graphic than the manner in which they are referred to in Japan. Though like Germany there is an absolute acceptance of their part in the atrocities of war.
I've visited Berlin and Amsterdam a number of times as well as Beijing and have always been fascinated by WWII history and visiting Hiroshima gave me an opportunity to add another piece to the jigsaw.
Mark and I skipped the bit about nuclear fission as we know a fair bit about this subject already and are well aware of Oppenheimer and how the Atomic bomb came to be.
The museum then portrays what happened on that fateful day with before and after pictures of the devastation caused by the first atomic bomb dropped on a city in history.
It was an interesting visit with lots of artefacts including recovered uniforms and clothes that children were wearing who were caught in the initial blast and inevitably died. There was also stories about the effects of radiation and one girl who was two when the bomb was dropped developed leukemia ten years later and her battle to survive. She made a thousand paper cranes which are a good luck symbol in Japan. Ultimately though she died aged 12. It was very moving and the residents of Hiroshima, the Hibakusha and the suffering they endured for decades.
It really was a fascinating place and in the cenotaph there is a flame that will burn until there are no nuclear weapons in the world.
After the museum we were pretty tired. We wanted to walk through the memorial park itself and see the 'A dome' and the other artefacts, but it was simply too hot and the searing heat crushed our enthusiasm. Drenched in sweat and feeling decidedly pongy we trudged back to the hotel, checked in and straight in to the shower and then had a siesta for a couple of hours.
In the evening we took a different approach to finding good food and asked reception who provided us with all manner of options. We settled on a teppen-yaki grill and a six course meal with 'Hiroshima Beef' which commanded a 900 Yen premium. We were so glad we did when this was presented to us!
Note the 'marbled' effect of the fat which is representative of what most know as 'Kobe' style beef. This is due to the Tajima strain of cattle. This is very much considered to be a delicacy.
This is Hiroshima Beef and it is the sirloin (as pictured here) that is the delicacy. Here is a link with the details, though the English is a bit tricky!
The food was simply amazing. Here it is, with more beef (Sirloin) yet to be cooked for us. It was also resplendent with sake poured on the beef and set alight.
This was our rice chef! It was great fun without the drama of any knife or egg throwing, but the food was just stunning. Six courses later and we were just stuffed. In the soy sauce bowl above is garlic which you mix in then dip your beef into. It was simply exquisite!
Obviously such wonderful food comes at a price, but it was well worth it and all that was left to do was go to a bar after and wash it down with yet more beer. We slept well after all this!
EDIT a few extra pics now I'm back:
The Peace Boulevard.
The information plaque about the Peace Memorial Park and the Museum.
A section of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.
The watch stopped when the atom bomb exploded.
A recreation of the A Dome.
The nuclear weapon globe. This globe shows all the countries in the world that still have nuclear weapons. The flame in the cenotaph will burn as long as there are nuclear weapons in the world.
The red sphere is the 'hypocentre' meaning where the bomb exploded.
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