Japan Day 11 - Hiroshima and Robots
Our second day in the Hiroshima area was a half day before we headed back to Tokyo in the afternoon. We took this time to visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, which educates visitors about the horrors of the atomic bomb in the hopes that no atomic weapon will ever be used again. It is quite a sobering experience, but a worthwhile one as well. The main museum building was closed for renovations, but the East building was open and had a nice temporary exhibit of artifacts from the main museum and some that had been uncovered in the excavations to help earthquake-proof the main building.
While it is not a comfortable experience in the museum, I think it's important to remember this stain on our past so that we can seek to prevent its reoccurrence. Hiroshima has dedicated itself, as a city, to peace, and the world could stand to learn from its example.
After seeing the museum exhibits, we walked around the Hiroshima Peace Park to see the various monuments and memorials erected to remember the victims of the atomic bombing. Among them is the children's memorial, with a statue representing Sadako, a young girl who died of leukemia as a result of exposure to bomb radiation, and who folded over 1,000 paper cranes as a wish for recovery. Today, children from all over Japan and the world send paper cranes to the memorial, and they are beautifully displayed in cases behind the main statue.
The main monument, the cenotaph for all victims of the bombing, lines up with the flame of peace, which can be seen through its arches. The names of the known victims of the bomb, regardless of nationality, are inscribed inside the stone of the monument, and more are added each year as additional victims names are discovered. The current total is more than 290,000. In the distance through the arch you can also see the Atomic Bomb Dome, now a memorial for peace.
Also in the park is a large bell, which visitors are welcome to ring with prayers for world peace. Inscribed on the bell is a world map with no borders, hoping for a unified people one day with peace for all. It was heartening to hear the toll of the bell as we walked through the park, knowing how many prayed for peace in this world which is sorely needed.
Finally we came upon the Atomic Bomb Dome, the remains of a building near the epicenter of the explosion. It was the only building left standing near the hypocenter of the bomb and, though it was originally set to be demolished, it was eventually decided that it should be maintained as a memorial to the victims.
After stopping at the hall of remembrance, another beautiful building remembering the individuals killed in the bombing, we took a taxi to the train station to make our way to Tokyo. Once again we got food to go - we found an onigiri place and got a sampling of different onigiri, and some breads for later from a delicious bakery.
On the way to Tokyo our train was delayed - a first for me in Japan really - by quite some time due to an issue with a train ahead of us. We were already on our way by then, and our train had to slow down considerably, which was quite strange. We had tickets to a show in Tokyo that evening, which luckily Cackett was able to change, and I was glad to have grabbed extra food as well so we could have at least a snack before the new show time.
The show we saw was just about as far from what we'd seen in the morning as could be possible. It was a ridiculous, over the top dance and music production with giant robots at The Robot Restaurant. The Robot Restaurant is in Shinjuku, situated in the heart of all the nightlife, and while it's definitely a bar and not a restaurant, and they for sure are trying to sell you all their drinks, it was still a lot of fun. We ended up with front row seats, which was a little crazy but also fun. The show had a number of acts, with short intermissions for drink and souvenir sales. The first act had a few floats with Taiko drum groups on them, riding and spinning with lights and insanity. There were also a number of smaller robot floats, all colorful and bright and ridiculous.
The second act featured what we could only figure was some kind of battle between robots and the gods of the earth, which included quite a hodgepodge of animals from a panda, to a snake, to a shrimp, to a dragon. Eventually the gods won, and the evil robots and their queen(s) were defeated.
The last act was really more of a dance party than anything, with loud and crazy music, and absolutely outrageous costumes. It was all a lot of fun energy, and really was the "crazy" some people have come to expect from Japan.
While it is not a comfortable experience in the museum, I think it's important to remember this stain on our past so that we can seek to prevent its reoccurrence. Hiroshima has dedicated itself, as a city, to peace, and the world could stand to learn from its example.
After seeing the museum exhibits, we walked around the Hiroshima Peace Park to see the various monuments and memorials erected to remember the victims of the atomic bombing. Among them is the children's memorial, with a statue representing Sadako, a young girl who died of leukemia as a result of exposure to bomb radiation, and who folded over 1,000 paper cranes as a wish for recovery. Today, children from all over Japan and the world send paper cranes to the memorial, and they are beautifully displayed in cases behind the main statue.
The main monument, the cenotaph for all victims of the bombing, lines up with the flame of peace, which can be seen through its arches. The names of the known victims of the bomb, regardless of nationality, are inscribed inside the stone of the monument, and more are added each year as additional victims names are discovered. The current total is more than 290,000. In the distance through the arch you can also see the Atomic Bomb Dome, now a memorial for peace.
Also in the park is a large bell, which visitors are welcome to ring with prayers for world peace. Inscribed on the bell is a world map with no borders, hoping for a unified people one day with peace for all. It was heartening to hear the toll of the bell as we walked through the park, knowing how many prayed for peace in this world which is sorely needed.
Finally we came upon the Atomic Bomb Dome, the remains of a building near the epicenter of the explosion. It was the only building left standing near the hypocenter of the bomb and, though it was originally set to be demolished, it was eventually decided that it should be maintained as a memorial to the victims.
After stopping at the hall of remembrance, another beautiful building remembering the individuals killed in the bombing, we took a taxi to the train station to make our way to Tokyo. Once again we got food to go - we found an onigiri place and got a sampling of different onigiri, and some breads for later from a delicious bakery.
On the way to Tokyo our train was delayed - a first for me in Japan really - by quite some time due to an issue with a train ahead of us. We were already on our way by then, and our train had to slow down considerably, which was quite strange. We had tickets to a show in Tokyo that evening, which luckily Cackett was able to change, and I was glad to have grabbed extra food as well so we could have at least a snack before the new show time.
The show we saw was just about as far from what we'd seen in the morning as could be possible. It was a ridiculous, over the top dance and music production with giant robots at The Robot Restaurant. The Robot Restaurant is in Shinjuku, situated in the heart of all the nightlife, and while it's definitely a bar and not a restaurant, and they for sure are trying to sell you all their drinks, it was still a lot of fun. We ended up with front row seats, which was a little crazy but also fun. The show had a number of acts, with short intermissions for drink and souvenir sales. The first act had a few floats with Taiko drum groups on them, riding and spinning with lights and insanity. There were also a number of smaller robot floats, all colorful and bright and ridiculous.
The second act featured what we could only figure was some kind of battle between robots and the gods of the earth, which included quite a hodgepodge of animals from a panda, to a snake, to a shrimp, to a dragon. Eventually the gods won, and the evil robots and their queen(s) were defeated.
The last act was really more of a dance party than anything, with loud and crazy music, and absolutely outrageous costumes. It was all a lot of fun energy, and really was the "crazy" some people have come to expect from Japan.
After the show we headed back towards our hotel, tired from a day of traveling, and ready to rest up for our last full day the next day. Our hotel room in Tokyo was an interesting affair, with three single beds smashed into what I'm sure should have been a room with two. It was quite a departure from our roomy AirBnB places in Kyoto and Hiroshima, but it was clean and comfortable, other than being cramped, so no real complaints.
Comments
Post a Comment