Wednesday, 11 February. Foundation Day in Japan

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1 Wednesday, 11 February. Foundation Day in Japan This day is a national holiday in Japan, commemorating the founding of the nation and the imperial line. Banks and many shops are closed on this day, and schools are also closed. We were leaving Oji to take the train to Hiroshima, where we would tour the Peace Memorial sites and museum there. Before we left the ryokan, we had one more delicious breakfast. We all had rice porridge, which is served with toppings such as poached salmon, pickled plum, pickled radish, seaweed, and little bits of ham (all toppings were small portions). The porridge itself was not sweet but had a good consistency, not gummy and not runny. It was delicious. The kids were lukewarm about it but did pretty well with it, in the end forgoing most of the toppings, dumping sugar on it, and eating it like cream of wheat. [Maddy and Sam travel eating tip #46: when in doubt, dump sugar on it and see if you can get it down.] Famished and cold, all we could find open for lunch on Founders Day in Hiroshima was this dumpling stand. That held us until we could find an open restaurant. By the time we arrived in Hiroshima, it was early afternoon, and very cold and rainy. Hiroshima is a big, modern city, totally rebuilt after being destroyed in It has a very good tram system, and we took this tram to our ryokan where we d be staying that night. We stayed in Sansui Ryokan, which was a decent place, more modern in appearance and facilities, but clean and adequate. We again had Japanese style rooms where we slept on futons on the floor, and shared bathrooms. Our plan was to find a place to eat on the way to the Peace Park, but this was a lot tougher than it sounds, as it was a holiday. At first all we could find was a dumpling stand, offering incredibly delicious steamed dumplings with pork inside them. We couldn t make a lunch on them, however. Finally after walking around a while in the cold rain, we found a kooky place called Otis, that was warm, empty, and had an English-speaking menu that featured delicious Mexican foods. It was cozy, with manga comic books and magazines laying around, and great jazz music playing it was in fact a bar where bands play, and a local band showed up for their evening gig while we were eating. So it was late afternoon when we were fed and ready to experience the Peace Park. The Park consists of multiple sites, those that we visited are listed here in no particular order: 1) the extensive museum recounting the events leading up to the atomic bomb in 1945 and subsequent experiences and sufferings of Hiroshima residents; 2) a children s memorial, commemorating the suffering We were not ashamed to have a great lunch in this western-style, jazz club called Otis. Mexican food in Hiroshima Japan curious.

2 of children after the bombing and featuring thousands of paper crane chains made by children from all over Japan and the world; 3) the A-Bomb Dome which is a skeleton of the very buildings that survived the bombing, and which was the epicenter of the bomb s detonation in 1945; 4) the cenotaph or monument for A Bomb victims. The Peace Park experience is still one we are talking about, and encouraging the kids to write about for their home schooling work as well. The museum does a really nice job of explaining the political events leading up to the bombing, and the decision to use the atomic bomb. We tried to keep the history as simple as possible, but also tried to explain in simple terms the significance of the event, and its effects. Some of the exhibits at the museum showing the human effects of the bomb are gruesome to see, and while we didn t linger on these, we looked at them together. The kids loved the children s Sam in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. memorial, with all the paper cranes, and for the rest of it they played and ran around the park. They asked some good questions about the bomb, and the war, and some of the politics involved. Maddy complained a bit of a stomach-ache while we were in the museum. She said it made her a bit sick to think of her government doing these things. Rob and I tried to make the connections between Pearl Harbor (where she had visited 2 weeks earlier) and Hiroshima, and emphasizing the dilemma of the bomb decision. But in the end I think we are glad we took them both to these places. Before we had decided to go to Hiroshima, I had talked with a person on board about it, a counselor, wondering aloud what he thought of taking an 8 and 10 year old to such a place. He was a firm believer, he said, in not shielding kids from life s tragedies when done in balance and with care. We thought this sounded right and, in retrospect, I think it A scale model in the museum shows Hiroshima before the bomb, and after. Hanging about five feet over the display was a red globe the size of a soccer ball. It marked the relative position of the detonation spot. was a good decision. The Peace Park focuses both on the past the bombing and also on the future, trying to build a future of peace in the world. We were able to talk about all that with the kids, and try to help them understand the whole experience a bit better, we hope. For dinner, we went to a spot that I had visited with my friend Carole while we were in Japan last summer. There is a small indoor mall, where on the 2nd floor you can find about 10 small diner-style restaurants, with the exact same set up at each one: L-shaped countertops, with barseats around them and with griddles

3 about 5 inches from the edge of the counter, and around 2 dozen seats at each restaurant. On these griddles, each of these restaurant prepares a regional specialty called an okonomiyaki. It is a savory type of crepe, prepared with meats, vegetables, sauces, eggs, seafood, noodles. Preparing them in front of you is part of the whole experience, and we went in for four of them. Deeee-licious. Kids were not huge fans of this food, however. As a result, ice cream sundaes followed this meal, and a tram ride back to our ryokan. A model of the atomic bomb which exploded above Hiroshima. The Atomic Bomb Memorial Mound where the remains from unidentified victims of the bomb are entoumbed.

4 The Cenotaph for the A-bomb victims. We observed many elderly Japanese people coming to this memorial and placing flowers, presumably in memory of members of their family.

5 Maddy and Sam ring the Peace Bell in Hiroshima Memorial Park. Kathleen points out the building now known as the A- bomb Dome. Used as an administrative building, it is the only standing building from The epicenter of the blast was almost directly above the building.

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7 Maddy and Sam (previous page) stand before the Sedaku Sasaki monument erected to honor and remember the children of Hiroshima who died in from the A-bomb. Sasaki was a girl who died 10 years after the bombing from leukemia. While waiting and hoping for a cure (which never came), she made paper cranes. Now people from all around the country and the world, including students on our voyage, fold and string 1000 paper cranes and deliver them to this site. The enclosed cases around the memorial house millions of paper cranes; each string labeled with the name of the organization that made them.

8 Okonomiyaki; a traditional Hiroshima dish, made on a grill at the counter. First make a crepe. Then add cabbage, sprouts, chives tempura sauce and spices. Let cook, then add bacon, more crepe batter, and oil. Flip. Add cooked pasta, egg and green spices. Serve hot with more tempura sauce. Awesome.

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10 At our ryokan in Hiroshima. It was not as nice as the one in Oji but had some interesting features including the now familiar yukatas, small doors (watch your head Rob) and toilets that make smart use of the water used to fill the tank. Wash your hands from the previous flush! Also shown is the control panel for the features of the toilet seat including heater, background noise, bidet and dryer,

11 (left) Sam on the tram in Hiroshima. Neat, timely, fast and orderly. In Japan, we encountered the most people wearing face masks used to protect them from airborne germs and pollution. (below) Traditional breakfast at our ryokan: seaweed salad, roasted salmon, sprout salad and some scrambled egg. (bottom) At the sculpture in front of the Hiroshima Shinkansen Train Station.