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Konichiwa!
What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear Hiroshima? If your answer is "Atomic Bomb" then you're right but Hiroshima has a lot more to offer. We only spent 2 nights in Hiroshima but we took the time and went south of the city from where we caught a ferry to go to Miyajima Island with the famous O-torii Gate. The special thing about the gate is not its measurements (16 meters high and 24 meters wide) but its location. The gate is placed in the ocean and during low tide one is able to walk outside all the way to the gate; during high tide the gate and the accompanying shrine (Itsukushima Shrine) are surrounded by water. We got there just in time to still be able to walk to the gate (water up until our thighs) and witness the water rising.
Another point on our list was to try the Okonomiyaki from Hiroshima which is next to the one from Osaka and Kyoto supposed to be the best in all Japan. With this in mind we went out to find a restaurant. The first place that really appealed to us was a small, local place with only Japanese Menus (not even the really helpful Japanese Picture Menus). Thanks to a nice, young Japanese who translated most of the items for us and added his personal recommendations we were able to order 2 plates. The really nice thing about this restaurant was that the food was prepared literally right in front of us. We saw which ingredients the chef used and could watch him prepare our meal from the start until he placed it in front of us.
The next day we drew our attention to the history of the city. We started out by visiting the A-Bomb Dome. This UNESCO World Heritage Site was the only structure left standing in the area where the first atomic bomb exploded on 6 August 1945. Through the efforts of many people, including those of the city of Hiroshima, it has been preserved in the same state as immediately after the bombing. Not only is it a stark and powerful symbol of the most destructive force ever created by humankind; it also expresses the hope for world peace and the ultimate elimination of all nuclear weapons. Though it was a hot day we had the shivers and felt chilly just standing in front of this piece of history. Adjacent to the Dome is the Peace Memorial Park with many statues (such as the Children's Peace Monument and the Peace Bell) and the Peace Memorial Museum as its main attraction. The museum offers an audio tour which we don't recommend as it does not provide much more information than the signs itself. The museum took us a lot longer than we expected but it was very informative in a brutally honest way. The Atomic Bomb exploded 600 meters above Hiroshima's "T"-shaped Aioi Bridge at 8:15am on August 6th 1945. The museum showed before and after pictures of the city, the development of the bomb and strategic planning of the attack, the timetable of the event, the damages caused by the radiation, heat rays and the blast, material witnesses (cloths and other personal items of victims, deformed material, etc.), the reconstruction and development of the city after the catastrophe and after effects of survivors. What a depressing enrichment.
After Hiroshima we took the train further south to get to Beppu on Kyushu Island. Beppu is one of Japan's most famous onsen (hot springs) resorts, producing more hot spring water than any other resort in the country. It offers an unmatched range of baths to be enjoyed, including ordinary hot water baths, mud baths, sand baths and steam baths. In addition, the "Hells of Beppu" are several spectacular hot springs for viewing rather than bathing. The Jigokus (Hells) are shown in a tour of 8 phenomenal, natural hot spring sites; each differs in temperature and colour. We stayed in a hostel that had its own onsen (which we couldn't use unfortunately, as the water was unbearable 43°C hot) and enjoyed the rather relaxed atmosphere of the city.
Since we had a bridge day between Beppu and our flight to Okinawa, we decided to stay the night in Fukuoka before leaving early in the morning to catch the train to Osaka Kansai Airport from where we flew to Okinawa. Time for some beach holiday!!!!
Cheerio,
Ann & Sabrina
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