My first stop right off the train was of course the Starbucks in the Hiroshima train station.
While waiting for my coffee the barista was kind enough to help me in making my own crane. In my journey through the city learing of it’s history I would come to learn the importance of what 1000 cranes represented. I had fun learning and making origami, it made for a pleasant beginning to my trip. Every where I went I always had a positive experience meeting new people while learning new things. I can honestly say that I too left a positive impact on the people I meet as well. In a country that I didn’t know the language genuineness and kindness won out every time. The people often showed the happiness back in meaningful and positive ways.
Before I even got to my hotel I was already hitting up another Starbucks, this one located in an underground passage connecting two blocks that ran under one of the major intersections. The long pictured here was people waiting to try out the local hot spot opening that day.
The original reason I came to Hiroshima was to see the city and the memorial dedicated to the bombing of August 6th 1944 to see what I might gleam, and what new understanding I might take from the experience.
The rainy and gloomy day I was there visiting, if not for the few people besides and the modern city back drop you might think the apocalypse had in fact happened. A fan of the rain it was a rare treat to wonder through the area void of people and stop and ponder my own reality juxtaposed a world virtually unknown to me.
Although I was only in the city for a short time I visited the Atomic dome every day, each of the days capturing it in a different look with a different ambience. The rain washed away the dirt and grim leaving behind the bright and vibrant colors of a dull and daunting structure still reminding us of a time when time stopped and the sun rose twice.
This picture along with the following six pictures were taken from inside the Hiroshima memorial museum. This picture hit me hard, the idea that so many people who had nothing to do with the war paid the ultimate price and endured the greatest suffering. Something I was not aware of was the horrors after the war. I was shocked and devastated to learn how the people moved on in a post war Japan. Many individuals children especially succumbed to malnutrition. A great movie that depicts what I am mentioning here about about post war Japan is the movie “Grave of the Fireflies.” The suffering did not stop simply when the armistice was signed in Asia, nor Europe. The years to come where hard and proved difficult in rebuilding lives cities and a new identity.
Just a day on the life with Hiroshima’s Hondori St. The street and shopping is amazing along with the many little restaurants.
Far away from the capitol of Tokyo I came to miss the mega metro, the hustle and bustle I had come to be accustomed to. Hiroshima, a major area for trade and ship building life took on a slower pace. If not for the historical acts one might forget that the city was there at all. I loved walking through the parks and taking time to see the city, or sitting on the top of buildings looking out at the mountains and sea, taking in the beutiuful landscape.
