A Trip to Hiroshima

I didn't realize how difficult it would be to keep this blog updated. Life here is so fast-paced, my classes are keeping me busier than I ever expected they would. I'm hardly home, so I hardly have time to sit and organize my thoughts, which is why I think this is even more important. Time is flying too quickly, I can't believe half the semester is almost over.

Anyway, I finally want to talk about my trip to Hiroshima that took place last week (I know, belated, but I was gone all weekend, only to come back to a hellish week of papers, tests, and quizzes everyday), and this week is midterms. In fact, I am neglecting studying for one of my English-class midterms right now in order to update this blog, because I have no time otherwise. But never fear, I will study when I eat lunch!

My Hiroshima trip was was an amazing experience. I wasn't actually in the class that the trip was intended for, but anybody could sign up and go. Though it was expensive, I knew this one of those rare opportunities I would regret passing up- especially since we would be listening to an atomic bomb survivor. It's kind of mind-blowing to think that people are still around who remember the things that we only know about from history class.

Anyway, we took the Shinkansen (the super famous bullet train) as a large group there so it cost about $75 (the way home was about $95 since there was no group discount!). I will just take a moment to praise how comfortable it was- there was so much leg room and the seats went far back and it was a smooth ride, if only planes could be so comfortable.

It took us about 2 hours total to get there, which is pretty amazing considering that by the regular train system or bus it would take about 5-6 hours. Once in Hiroshima we all basically scattered and were to meet at the Museum at the designated time in order to listen to the speaker. Me and my three friends Ellen, Grace, and Sachiko got some quick snacks at a bakery, which was amusing since the bakery sold the typical fare: donuts, croissants, french toast, and--fried chicken?! Nihon sure does love its fried chicken.

We took the tram to Genbaku Dome, the last standing building from the atomic bomb:

It's quite powerful to be standing in front of a building that is a reminder of such a dark time in history, and it is amazing that it is still standing at all. Being able to look at this old and mostly destroyed building and then look past it at the new and vibrant city full of life is just...awe-inspiring. It is another reminder of the power and perseverence of human nature. To know that 65 years ago the place where I was standing was full of devestation and ruin is an indescribable feeling.

We walked around the museum for a bit before we gathered for the speech. The woman who spoke had been 14 years old and working in the city when the bomb struck. There is no comparison between reading about the destruction from a book and hearing the first-hand tale from a survivor who actually experienced it. I felt so grateful to be there at that moment.

She spoke only in Japanese of course, but the teacher who was leading the field trip did his best to translate as she spoke. There were a lot of long silences as he tried to translate and some awkward stuttering from him. "She said um um...um er um um that when she um.........um....." but I figured it was better than nothing. A lot of students were very unhappy with the translation, for the lag time, some apparent mistranslations, and for the fact that he seemed to be acting kind of rude to the woman. If he wanted her to repeat something for clarity and she obliged, he might then quickly cut her off with "okay, okay I got it".

Granted, it was probably a nerve-wracking experience and I am certain he wasn't trying to be rude. Japanese is obviously not his native language, so I will cut him some slack because it was nice of him to try to translate at all. Understanding some of it is better than understanding none of it with my meager Japanese. I suppose for the more-advanced Japanese language students who understood her it would have been annoying, but I'm not complaining.

Despite the troubled translation, it was still a powerful talk. After she was done relating her experiences, it was time for questions from students. Not gonna lie, I thought some of the questions students asked her were just flat out pointless or awkward. "After the bomb struck, what gave you the will to live?" Really, what kind of question is that to ask? Did they expect her to give some inspirational answer like "The hope that one day the world might see peace". She actually gave a very practical answer: she just had to survive. There were other questions that made me cringe but I can't recall exactly what they were.

After it was over, we got to go up and meet her and thank her for the speech. Some students talked to her, but I was too shy with my Japanese so I just thanked her and shook her hand. She was so small and frail, yet such a powerful representative for the need for change and peace.

After we listened to her speak, the professor announced that we were on our own and wished us luck finding our way back. We scattered once more and me and the girls spent a few more hours at the museum soaking up the experience before getting some delicious okonimiyaki. We then hit a tourist informational booth and got super lucky that the guy there was able to call a hostel nearby and reserve us a place to sleep for the night for only $25 per person. It was dorm style and a nice, clean place to stay.

We lounged around a bit at the hostel since we were exhausted, then went out for the night, hit a few bars, talked to a nice chef whose random friend showed us how to get to Mac, a famous bar in Japan. We met some other foreigners there, and made some new friends.

The next day we took a boat to Miyajima. May I just say that if I could, I would live on the water forever, blissfully surrounded by those mountains. Here is one example of the probably-too-many pictures I took:

When we arrived at the island, we made our way to the otorii gate. Unfortunately, this is where disaster struck. Somehow, me, Grace, and Ellen got separated from Sachiko. We had rented lockers to put our stuff in, me and Ellen shared a locker and Grace/Sachiko another. Apparently, I didn't have Sachiko's number like I thought I did, neither did Ellen, and Grace, who did have it- left her phone in the locker. And Sachiko had the key.

No big deal right, we were bound to run into her...but wrong. We spent a while walking back and forth from the way we came, hoping to run into her, but it was not to be. I still went down to go see the gate upclose, since it was low-tide and possible to walk around near it, and got some amazing pictures:

It was so worth my socks being wet for the rest of the night. There was also the shrine, and though you had to pay to get into it I still wanted to go through it and go around the other side, since there was a lot to see. But since we were without Sachiko, the others thought it best if we just stay put, so I never got to see the rest of the island, though Ellen and Grace got to try some good food (I was too cheap and not hungry enough haha). We went to go sit by the lockers and wait for Sachiko by the time night hit, so we also didn't get to see the shrine all lit up.

It was while we were still waiting in the dark, watching people stream out, that I realized I knew other people who had Sachiko's number. If only I had realized that hours earlier!! I got her information, we called her, found out she was waiting by the gate, and then we met up and got on the return ferry.

We took a loooong tram to the station, bought our shinkansen tickets, had enough time to quickly get some snacks, and were literally minutes from boarding the train and getting some sweet relaxation when Ellen suddenly realized she didn't have her very expensive, favorite jacket. It was late and Sachiko had to catch the local bus back in hirakata so had to get on this shinkansen, but me and grace and Ellen stayed behind to figure out what to do about the jacket. Grace quickly became the hero of the night. She used her Japanese skills and talked to like 4 different Japanese workers in the station and got the number of the ferry we had ridden, since we figured that's where Ellen had forgotten her jacket (which by the way, turned out to be true, and Ellen got her jacket mailed back days later. So lucky!).

We finally got on board, and I slept so wonderfully.

That concluded my awesome trip to Hiroshima, and though it ended up costing me some $300 for 2 days, it was definitely worth it. It's sad that I don't know if I will ever get the chance to go back before I have to leave.

I only bought one souvenir, a keychain with two crane origami in a heart. The kanji on the front reads "Kizuna", which is the word for the relationship between people, be it two lovers, friends, or family. Despite the depressing aura all around the museum, from the reminder of death and destruction, the tragedy in Hiroshima and Nagasaki remind us how important kizuna is, how important the people are around us and our connection to them. Our friends, family, loved ones, so many have lost people close to them due to war. But kizuna has the power to bring people from all parts of the globe together, and that makes the world a little brighter, ne?