Hiroshima revived under 100 years?

This morning we left for Hiroshima at 9 am. We had our usual 8 am breakfast, then caught a bus to the Kusatsu train station. From there, we caught a bullet train and went all the way into Hiroshima. I enjoyed the bullet train ride because it was nice, but the seats actually reclined really far back. There was also really pretty scenery too. The deep valleys, green forests, and mountains were all breath taking and it reminded me of all the stories I have read about Japan and their nature. These are images and memories I will never forget. When we arrived to Hiroshima, we went straight to our hotel. I shared a room with Rachel and it was interesting because the room was so tiny and could barely fit two beds in there. Even our bathroom was very tiny. Needless to say though, we put our luggage in the miniature hallway and figured out how the lights worked and where the remote to the tv was. After that, we went downstairs and had lunch in the little restaurant right by the lobby. It was great because I was able to order spaghetti and a dessert that was a little cake with fruit on it.

My dessert in the restaurant 

The quaint little restaurant in the hotel

The next destination was visiting the Peace Museum. We were allotted about 2 hours to explore. The beginning of the museum was very interesting and a bit intimidating. When you first walk through, there were brick walls that appeared burnt and crumbled. This was to represent what Hiroshima looked like after the bombed dropped. Throughout it all, it was a depressing and realistic representation of what the people went through after the Atomic bomb dropped. It broke my heart to see all of the children, women, and men who suffered from the radiation. It was disturbing to see some of the clothing items and pictures that showed what they went through. One piece that I distinctly remember is a rusted, melted bike that was placed in a glass box to show to the public. A father had found it after the Atomic bomb dropped and it was the last place his little boy was found. It was his favorite toy so after his son died, he buried the bike with him. After a few years, the father dug the son and the bike back up to move him to a new resting place and he donated the bike to the museum. I sat there and looked at that bike for what felt like 20 minutes. It dawned on me that this was a little boy’s bike and it was the last thing he was on before he died. I couldn’t imagine finding my little brother burning and sick to death on it. It was a frightening image.

Beginning of the Museum tour

The Little Boy's Bike

Memorial of Hiroshima Bombing

After I wandered through all of the displays, I went to the area where they showed videos of survivors. This made me realize that it was good to come to Japan and look at Pearl Harbor and the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from this country’s perspective. I think too many times we get so wrapped up in our own version of the story that we forget there are other stories to tell for the same events. When we all finished wandering through the museum, the group when to two other destinations. The first was to a statue with a bell in the middle of it that represented children that were killed. The second was a building that was the only one to stand when the atomic bomb was dropped. It was a bit eerie to stand there and look at this building and realize it lived through a catastrophic moment in history. At that moment, I looked around me and really looked at the city of Hiroshima. It hasn’t even been 100 years since the bomb dropped and the city was up and booming again. By looking at the pictures in the museum, it looked like it should have taken years or decades to rebuild. Then I began to wonder why the population of people came back to Hiroshima. Wouldn’t it have caused PTSD for some people? Or depression to come back? I found it brave and heroic that this place was rebuilt and populated in such a short amount of time.

Building that still stands

Memorial for children

Our next activity was to explore some of the shops around the area. Julia and I went through the strip mall area and shopped. The store we went to was called Uniqloe. According to Julia, this store is also in the United States, but it appeared to be much cheaper here. I enjoyed looking at the clothes because I was able to compare the clothes here in Japan compared to the United States. It appeared that the clothes in Japan were free-flowing and loose whereas in America, the clothes were more tight, and very fitting to the body. I finally saw the different standards of beauty and realized that Americans relied on more curve within women whereas the Japanese relied more on small, petite women. It was weird to see this fashion change right in front of me. After this, we met back up with the group, had dinner, and went back to the hotel for the night.

Shopping center

Dinner being made in front us!