We boarded the Shinkansen the next morning for the trip from Kyoto to Hiroshima. Before leaving, I bought breakfast at one of the small shops on the train platform to eat onboard during our 1.5-hour journey.
I decided to buy a box of kakinoha-zushi, a regional specialty of sushi made from bite-sized rice balls topped with salted fish and wrapped in a persimmon leaf. The pieces of sushi are placed into a wooden box and pressed with a heavy stone to ferment for a few days. In the ages before refrigeration, this was a way of preserving fish, and kakinoha-zushi was a popular festival food long enjoyed by people in the rural parts of Japan, where fish was hard to come by.
Today, persimmon leaf sushi uses rice with vinegar to simplify the fermentation process. The classic fish was mackerel, but nowadays salmon, red snapper, shrimp, eel and other types of toppings are used. The set I ordered had a variety, which I ate with soy sauce and wasabi alongside a can of Japanese iced coffee.
I'll be honest, it wasn't my favorite sushi I've ever had. It was a little bit sour due to the fermentation process, and a little too salty, due to the way that the fish were preserved. I was glad that I tried it regardless, but I think I'd much prefer fresh sushi!
A few hours later, our train arrived in Hiroshima. After checking in at our hotel, we headed to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, the reason that we had decided to visit this otherwise quiet southern Japanese city.
The museum is dedicated to documenting the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Rather than focusing on politics or blame, it highlights the experiences of ordinary people whose lives were changed or cut short by the bombing.
"Little Boy," the first of only two atomic bombs ever detonated during wartime, was instrumental in ending the Second World War; however, its effects on Hiroshima were devastating. The city was leveled to the ground. Seventy to eighty thousand people were killed almost instantly, and an estimated 166,000 later died from cancer, poisoning, and other illnesses caused by radioactive fallout.
The most famous victim of the bombing is Sadako Sasaki, who died from radiation-induced leukemia in 1955 at the age of twelve. According to an old Japanese legend, anyone who folds one thousand paper cranes will be granted a wish, and Sadako embraced this story with determination. She began folding crane after crane, but she never completed her goal.
I didn't take many photos inside the museum; it just didn't feel right. However, I really wanted to take a picture of the paper cranes. I remember reading the story of Sadako when I was growing up, and seeing some of her folded cranes in person was a really moving and memorable experience for me.
Sadako's memorial stands just outside of the museum, holding the frame of a paper crane above her head as a symbol of hope. In the decades following the bombing, Sadako's perseverance has inspired millions around the globe, and origami paper cranes have become a symbol of Hiroshima and of the hope that nuclear warfare will never occur again.
The museum is surrounded by a large and tranquil peace park. After the emotional weight of the museum, it was nice to take a walk outdoors in the quiet green space. An eternal flame burns in front of a reflecting pool. It was lit on August 1, 1964, and is meant to burn continuously until every country on earth has been denuclearized and every atomic weapon has been destroyed.
The most striking building in Hiroshima is the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, also known as the "Atomic Bomb Dome". Built in 1915 by Czech architect Jan Letzel, the building was designed as an exhibition and event hall.
The building was almost exactly at the epicenter of the explosion when the atomic bomb fell on Hiroshima. Because the force of the explosion was almost directly down rather than spreading out, and due to the building's earthquake-proof design, the building remained standing, although everyone inside was killed instantly. It is the only building in the bomb's hypocenter that was not completely destroyed.
Today recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the building is haunting; a skeletal remain of a once magnificent piece of architecture deliberately left in its ruined form as a reminder of the past and a symbol of hope for the future.
After spending much of the afternoon at the museum and the peace park, we walked across the river to a soba shop for lunch. The soba served here was really good! The noodles were super thick and chewy and were served with the classic chilled dipping sauce along with slices of onion and wasabi. The lunch set also came with free-flowing green tea and a set of delicious tempura vegetables and shrimp.
That evening after dinner, we took a walk along the riverfront before returning to our hotel.
We were quite far south now, and the weather was hot and muggy, but it was much more pleasant once the sun went down.
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