A Contrasting Day

Another fantastic bullet train service to Hiroshima today. We were up early to get the train just before eight and arrived at 9.20 - that's over 200 miles! The other thing we've noticed today is that when the guard comes into the carriage he/ she bows, and they also do the same when they leave. Imagine that much respect on the trains at home!!

Once at Hiroshima we caught a local train then a ferry over to the island of Miyajima, most famous for it's
Itsukushima Shrine. The shrine and its torii gate are unique for being built over water, seemingly floating in the sea during high tide. We were fortunate that it was high tide , so were able to see it like this. There was a small ish wooden boat, packed with people, and rowed by just one man which offered to get you up closer to the shrine and sail through it. Queues were huge for this though. Oh, and there were also deer again, although not as many as in Nara and they weren't that interactive with the people.

Back into Hiroshima and we headed to the peace park. The city have developed a park/ green area dedicated to the memory of 6 August 1945. The annual memorial service was held earlier this'll week and they were clearing away the marquees under which all the guests had sat ( we watched a bit of the service at breakfast on the day). We walked around the park and saw the A-Bomb Dome ( remnant of a building that was hit on the day, some of which remained standing and has been preserved ever since). There were also memorials dedicated to children and mobilised students, and then the cenotaph type memorial, which you look through and can see both the A Bomb dome and the peace flame which will only be put out once nuclear weapons no longer exist.

We spent a fair time in the museum, there was a lot of archive footage, exhibits etc evidencing the devastating impact on people, mostly quite harrowing as you can imagine. It was a bit of a 'tough gig' , but at the same time there was also a feeling of stillness, calm and peace - which is the overarching aim. If you've ever visited Auszwich or Ground Zero in New York, it gives you that same feeling.

A fairly contrasting day, and we're now on the train heading back to Osaka for our last night.