Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park

We visited the Peace Memorial Park one time way back in 2008. I've posted up posts on the Children's Peace Monument and the A-Bomb Dome earlier and I just thought I should show other memorials and monuments we visited in the Memorial Park. There are plenty of monuments,memorials and museums there that you can visit and learn more about the tragic atomic bombing in 1945. 

The A-Bomb Dome.

The Peace Flame with the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in the background.

The Peace Flame is a monument to the victims of the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima, but it has an additional symbolic purpose. The flame has burned continuously since it was lit in 1964, and will remain lit until all nuclear bombs on the planet are destroyed and the planet is free from the threat of nuclear annihilation.

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum  is the primary museum in the park dedicated to educating visitors about the bomb. The Museum has exhibits and information covering the build up to war, the role of Hiroshima in the war up to the bombing, and extensive information on the bombing and its effects, along with substantial memorabilia and pictures from the bombing. The building also offers some marvelous views of the Memorial Cenotaph, Peace Flame, and A-Bomb Dome. reference from Wikipedia.

 The Memorial Cenotaph. In the background - the Peace Pond and the A-Bomb Dome.

Near the center of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park is a concrete, saddle-shaped monument that covers a cenotaph holding the names of all of the people killed by the bomb. The arch shape represents a shelter for the souls of the victims. The cenotaph carries the epitaph, "Rest in Peace, for the error shall not be repeated". The Memorial Cenotaph was one of the first memorial monuments built on open field on August 6, 1952.

And the last photo in my collection of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park - Peace Bell.

The bell was made by bell-caster Masahiko Katori, holder of important intangible cultural assets (a living national treasure). On its surface a world map without national boundaries symbolising "one world" is embossed. The place where the log hits the bell shows the atomic energy symbol, expressing hope for the abolition of atomic and hydrogen bombs. On the opposite side is a mirror to reflect the heart of the person who rings the bell.

One can spend the whole day there, silently and respectfully visiting the myriad of memorials and monuments there. We were there for only half a day so we weren't able to see all we should see. And with a 6 year old at the time of our visit, I didn't think visiting the museum would be appropriate for him yet. Maybe when he's a tad bigger and able to understand and ask questions about the purpose of the memorial and the tragic loss of lives due to human lust & greed for power.

The A-Bomb Dome

What would a visit to Hiroshima be without visiting the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and a stop at this A-Bomb Dome? I've posted up about Sadako Sasaki and the Children's Peace Monument earlier, and if you missed it, do visit and read about it.

The A-Bomb Dome (Atomic Bomb Dome,原爆ドーム,Genbaku Dōmu) is Hiroshima's best-known symbol and is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Prior to the bombing, this Dome was the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall.

I'm not going to go in detail about this dome because I think you can pretty much google it up and find a wealth on information about it immediately. Go on, google them up. You should, you know.

Children's Peace Monument And A Story Of Sadako Sasaki

We visited Hiroshima Peace Park in 2008. When we reached the Children's Peace Monument, we saw brightly colored paper cranes everywhere and this monument. The photo wasn't good, I know, but on top on the bell-like structure is a statue of Sadako Sasaki holding a crane. I didn't know who she was and the significance of her and the monument at that time.

Who was Sadako Sasaki? She was a Japanese girl who lived in Hiroshima, Japan. She was two when the atomic bomb was dropped about one mile away from her home. She and her family managed to escape, although her grandmother; who ran back to fetch something from their house was never seen again.

Though an atomic bombing survivor, Sadako was a healthy and energetic child who never missed a day of  school due to illness and was also a good runner. However, she fell ill when she was 11, and it got worse. In 1955, she was diagnosed with leukaemia, a cancer which affected many children who had been exposed to radiation because of the atomic bomb. Her family was told that she would have less than one year to live, and as she grew more ill, she was admitted to Hiroshima Red Cross Hospital. In August, 1000 paper cranes folded by high school students in Nagoya were delivered to the patients in the hospital. Sadako's room too, was brightened by the cranes folded in a myriad of colors.

Believing that folding paper cranes would help her recover, she too started folding them. However, on October 25 1955, after an eight-month struggle with the disease, she passed away; exactly a year since her class  (and team) had won the relay on their school's Field Day. (Oh my... I've started tearing up as I'm typing this)...

Sadako's death triggered a campaign to build a monument to pray for world peace and the peaceful repose of the many children killed by the atomic bomb. The Children's Peace Monument (原爆の子の像), Genbaku no Ko no Zō; was designed by native artists Kazuo Kikuchi and Kiyoshi Ikebe. It was built using money derived from a fund-raising campaign by Japanese school children including Sadako's classmates, with the main statue entitled 'A-bomb Children' being unveiled on the 5th of May, 1958, on Children's Day in Japan.

Thousands of origami cranes from all over the world are offered around the monument on a daily basis, with ancient Japanese tradition holding that one who folds a thousand cranes can have one wish granted.

At the base of the monument is a black marble slab on which is inscribed in Japanese:
これはぼくらの叫びです　これは私たちの祈りです　世界に平和をきずくための
Kore wa bokura no sakebi desu. Kore wa watashitachi no inori desu. Sekai ni heiwa o kizuku tame no.
This is our cry. This is our prayer - for building peace in the world.

To know more about Sadako Sasaki, click on this link.

Trains, Trains, Trains & A Tram - The West

We had a blast taking numerous trains in Kyushu. However, for the West (by West, I mean the area covered by JR West) it was just a few trains that we tried. The East trains (JR East) were a bit more fun and I'll cover it next month.

Trams in Hiroshima. Not covered by the JR Pass, but we got on one for the experience and headed to the Peace Park.

The Sanyo Shinkansen; Hikari Railstar.

This, we got on to get to Kansai Airport; it's the Limited Express Haruka, which is covered by both JR West and JR Passes.

But I kinda like riding on this cool Rapi:t on the Nankai line to get to Kansai Airport. Not covered by JR Pass, by the way.

This Noto sleeper train we took to get from Kanazawa to Tokyo (Ueno Station) and saved a night's budget on hotel taking it. This train used to run daily, on the JR West line but is now a seasonal overnight express train. From Mar 13, 2010 this train came under JR East.

Both Raimie and I reserved seats in the ladies only coach and we got blankets to cover us on that trip. Nice warm seats and blankets. No such luxury for Zaini in the normal coach!

I remember we took this train to get to Tokyo from Kanazawa one year, arrived Ueno Station, put up our luggage at our hotel, read my e-mails, found one e-mail from Contamination and met up with him afterwards having not shower and all! Did I smell that day, Contamination? ^-^!

By the way, the good Contamination has the honour of being the first non-Malaysian blogger I've met in Japan. 

And this is a shot of the Limited Express Thunderbird which we got on at Kyoto Station to get to Kanazawa.

The Limited Express Raicho bound for Kanazawa from Osaka. 

The last remaining Raicho service was discontinued from the start of the 12 March 2011 timetable revision, with all trains subsequently using the Thunderbird trains. The Raicho train had the dubious honour of a "memorable" trip for me because the train we were supposed to get on was delayed by a few hours and not wanting to wait any longer, we hopped on and boarded the unreserved smoking car on the Raicho. To say that the trip was horrible is an understatement. Try sitting in a train filled with cigaratte smoke one day and you'll know what I mean. And to make that particular trip lovelier, the 2 hours plus trip turned into an almost 5 hours' trip due to slowing train (something about crosswind being the cause, I think - my Japanese is negligible so don't trust me understanding much of the announcement). Well, at least the train was moving and we weren't stuck at the station.

Next month will be of the trains covered by JR East. Plenty of interesting trains that we took there! Stay tuned! And mentioning JR East, Tazawako Tourism Association put up a post about the Akita Shinkansen Komachi resuming operation on Saturday, Apr 30th.

Found In Hiroshima

A floating house? A restaurant? By the looks of it, looks like it's permanently moored by this bank. I posted up another photo, a crop of the photo above of a sign at the side at Blue Shoe's comment below. Was it for boat rental?

And to think the only other place I see one of those floating dwellings were in Kuala Lipis, along the Sungai Jelai. Don't see them anymore now. Anyone ever experienced visiting or staying in homes built on rafts  or what we called a "rumah rakit" before?

Happy labour day everyone! And to those in Japan, Happy Golden Week. Going somewhere nice for the long weekend?

This is by the way, my second entry for this week's Show Me Japan Vol 1 Issue 23.

Deers Of Miyajima

Tame deers wander freely on Miyajima, much to the delight of our son who was absolutely excited being up close and personal with the deers. He equated those deers with Santa Clause (as in reindeers), and we don't even celebrate Christmas!

Tourists are not supposed to either feed or touch the tame deers that roam around the island, but I guess we were a bunch of clueless, law-breaking tourists, as can be witnessed from the photo below.

The deers didn't really care to be friendly with us, because we had no food with us. Plenty of tourists got followed around by the deers because they smelled of food. XD But them deers sure look scrawny and not really active.

There was an issue about starving deers way back in 2008 and them being carted away or something  and a petition to save them put out. Is there an improvement to this now?

There are monkeys too on the island, but no photo of them monkeys in my collection. Simply because monkeys creep me out.

Taking A Ferry To Miyajima

Once upon a time,we got a couple of JR Passes between us and decided to travel the length and breadth of Japan in a week or two. Granted, we weren't able to cover as much as we would like to, but we sure had fun using it, not only on numerous JR trains but also taking ferries. And one ferry JR Pass covers is the ferry  to Miyajima. And to Miyajima we head to one sunny day in 2008. We got lucky with the weather on the day we set out to Miyajima because it rained the whole day, the day before.

At Miyajimaguchi Station,before exiting and heading to the ferry terminal. Ferries depart every 10 minutes (170yen) and the JR ferries are covered by JR Pass. Don't accidentally take the Matsudai ferries if you have JR Pass!

Exit the station and just follow the sign, and you won't get lost trying to find the terminal.

Boarding the ferry.

It's sure windy on the deck of the ferry! But who wouldn't be up there for choice spot to take photos upon approaching Miyajima, instead of sitting warmly inside?

What do you think of when there's a mention of Miyajima?My first thought was of the floating torii gate of Itsukushima Shrine. I've never posted anything about the shrine or much about the island the year we visited it, so I should rectify it and put up a post soon, shouldn't I?

Remembering Hiroshima

64 years ago today, the atomic bombs detonated over Hiroshima at 8:15 a.m. on Aug 6, 1945 and three days later over Nagasaki at 11:02 a.m.

Do read JahRera's (Kak Lela) post too here and ponder over our need and race for power.