Hiroshima, Part 1

Imagine a warm, clear, beautiful summer's morning. You may be ready to start an ordinary day's work. Or waiting for school to begin with the rest of your classmates. Or simply at home with your family. The date is the 6th of August 1945 and you live in Hiroshima. It gets to 8.15am. And everything changes forever as history's first atomic bomb is dropped on your city. 

A recovered watch from the time the A-bomb struck Hiroshima at 8.15am.

From where you're positioned, you see an immense, bright, yellow light as the bomb goes off. Its intensity is so strong that even shadows disappear. Although you have ducked for cover, you are still pounded by the explosively powerful force of the bomb, as well as its extreme, charring heat. You don't realise this at the time, but this heat has melted your skin. Later, one survivor will describe this moment as 'like being roasted alive many times over'*. If that isn't enough, an all-encompassing sound, louder than anything you've heard before, blasts through your ears and engulfs the city as the buildings come crashing down. All of this happens within a matter of seconds. And then chaos erupts as the realisation of what has happened hits those who are still conscious, with life resuming, never to be the same again.**

Drawing by Horikoshi Susumu, 6 years old in August 1945.
Image from http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/groundzero1945/gz_essay02.html 

Making my way through the Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima, it's difficult to imagine the horrors that Hiroshima's people were confronted with in the bomb's aftermath. Photographs lining the walls of the museum help to tell the story of the heartbreaking devastation caused to these innocent victims: civilians with charred, blackened skin; others with hair burnt off; and some with severely disfigured bodies. It's difficult not to look away from these confronting images, and despite being a keen history enthusiast, I guiltily do so a couple of times as the pain and torment evoked from the pictures is too much to take in at once.

Drawing by Matsumura Kazuo , 32 years old in August 1945. Image from http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/groundzero1945/gz_essay04.html

Hiroshima was the first choice out of three other Japanese cities for the atomic bomb to be dropped on (Nagasaki was bombed three days later). Hiroshima was chosen as it had been relatively untouched during the war. With this being the first ever use of a nuclear weapon during wartime, it was important to record the magnitude of damage caused by the bomb as accurately as possible, making this untouched city a prime target. Tragically, it was innocent civilians who were the targets of this attack; an attack which brought the Pacific War to its end. The total number of victims has been difficult to determine, but it's estimated that 70,000 people were killed instantly, and another 70,000 people died within five years of the bomb due to radiation. Not to mention the thousands of other victims who died from diseases relating to radiation years later. One such victim was Sadako Sasaki, who lived in Hiroshima and was two years old when the bomb struck. She died of leukemia in 1955, and has since become a symbol of innocent victims of war.

A memorial for Sadako was unveiled in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in 1958. She is holding a golden crane. When Sadako learnt of her illness, she made a goal of folding 1000 paper cranes, based on the ancient Japanese story which grants a wish to anyone who completes this task. 

Later, as I'm walking around Hiroshima, I still feel stunned by the fact that merely sixty eight years earlier this city was completely obliterated. None of the high rise buildings around me existed. The beautifully expansive park I was walking through earlier was unrecognizable and reduced to ash. In fact, it was thought that no plants would grow in Hiroshima for at least 75 years following the a-bomb. But the trees and plants lining the streets and pathways of the city prove otherwise. 

Past and present: Genbaku Dome in the foreground with Hiroshima's cityscape behind

Nevertheless, reminders of this harrowing event are still dispersed throughout the city. Nothing acts as more of a haunting reminder than the looming skeleton of the infamous Genbaku (A-Bomb) Dome. This dome, which was formerly the Hiroshima Prefectural Commercial Exhibition Hall, was the only structure left standing in the vicinity of where the bomb was dropped. Cruelly, despite the building's survival, everyone inside it was killed at the time.

The remains of Genbaku Dome today

But thanks to the optimistic spirit and sheer resilience of its people, Hiroshima has been rebuilt into the bustling and vibrant metropolis that it is today. Within this bustle and vibrancy is also a city that has not forgotten its heartbreaking past, promoting 'Peace' to the rest of the world. From commemorative monuments like The Gates of Peace which state 'Peace' on them in 49 different languages; to the establishment of the Mayors for Peace organisation which urges world leaders to abolish the use of nuclear weapons, Hiroshima is clearly a city that has dedicated itself to living and promoting a legacy of peace. As such, it was a wonderful city to visit and spend a few days in - we'll have more stories from there for you soon.

A passing security officer pays his respects to the victims of the atomic bomb at The Memorial Cenotaph, which holds the names of all of the known people killed by the bomb.

The inscription from another monument reads, 'Mourning the lives lost in the atomic bombings, we pledge to convey the truth of this tragedy throughout Japan and the world pass it on to the future, learn the lessons of history, and build a peaceful world free from nuclear weapons.'

* taken from the testimony of Takehiko Sakai, http://www.atomicarchive.com/Docs/Hibakusha/Takehiko.shtml
** inspired by testimonies taken from the following websites:  http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/hiroshima.htm; http://www.atomicarchive.com/Docs/Hibakusha/

Oooh, ahh, Osaka

We took a day trip to Osaka.

Jay was especially excited because it meant that we'd be travelling on the Shinkansen (bullet train). He was almost as excited as when he bought donuts from his all-time favourite Japanese donut chain, Mister Donuts, but not quite.

Reunited with Mister Donuts after a 10 year hiatus - get in my belly!

The Shinkansen, which can travel up to 320 km/hr, got us from Kyoto to Osaka in....wait for it....15 minutes. That's a distance of 47km. Or roughly from Melbourne to Avalon airport. I won't bother working out the math of that, but suffice to say that's mighty impressive. Especially since earlier that day it had taken us 45 minutes to travel 7 km from our accommodation to Kyoto train station*.

Faster than a speeding bullet....it's the Shinkansen...whoosh

Osaka itself was a buzzing metropolis of a city. Jay had loosely described it as Melbourne-esque in character - trendy and quirky with a bit of an edge. And to some extent it was. Only to me it was less laid back and chilled and more like a hyperactive teenager; loud and eccentric, but only because it's excited about life and is ready to test its limits. There was all sorts of yelling urging people to eat at various restaurants; Osakians, young and old, were wearing the most bizarre combinations of outfits; and giant billboards with novelty sized objects surrounded us. You really felt like your senses were being bombarded. Or perhaps it all seemed more chaotic than what it actually was compared to the relative order and serenity we'd experienced in Kyoto. Regardless, we threw ourselves into the excitement of Osaka, and headed straight for Dotonbori, one of the city's main food strips.

The acclaimed food strip that is Dotonbori.

One of Osaka's claims to fame are tako-yaki, balls of batter filled most commonly with seafood. Being an Osakan specialty, we had to try them.

Tako-yaki in the making

In order for you to gauge how they tasted, I'll provide you with the following description. Imagine a golden-brown, delectable looking ball. It's so delectable looking that you decide to put the whole thing into your mouth in one go. Excited to taste it, you bite into the ball vehemently, forgetting that it's actually steaming hot. A gush of scorching, liquid, fishy-tasting goodness/wickedness explodes into your mouth, burning the inside of your oral cavity in the process. You practice more caution with subsequent bites, which are pretty much a repeat of the previous sensations, only there's less mouth-scalding involved. If that all sounds appetising to you, then you'll be in for a treat with tako-yaki. If not, then perhaps you should skip the experience**.

Me, prior to trying tako-yaki. Unfortunately I wasn't so smiley after tasting them.

But Osaka wasn't all about loud noises and outrageous food. There were more tranquil areas we visited too, including the Sumiyoshi Taisha shrine and Osaka Castle. The significance of this shrine was that its architectural style preceded the influence of Chinese Buddhist styles seen in other parts of the country. The shrine also dates back to the 3rd century. 

The picturesque bridge leading up to the shrine

An example of 3rd century architecture

Osaka Castle in particular was breathtaking. With its surrounding moat, luminescent white colour and gold trimmings, it glowed with extravagance against the wintry grey setting. I felt like I'd stepped onto the set of a fairytale.

Isn't she beautiful?

We finished our day by having dinner with Jay's former host dad, otosan (father). Otosan, wanting to treat us on this special occasion, took us to a restaurant and ordered very generously, including a large assortment of sashimi***. In Japan, sashimi is not a thin piece of fish served on top of a portion of rice. Instead, it is expertly cut slices of raw fish, taken from the best parts of the fish, served to you on a plate, without the rice. The pieces are so delicate that they almost melt in your mouth.

It was a terrific night of catching up on the past ten years and enjoying some great food and drink together. It was really lovely meeting otosan too as I'd heard lots about him and his family from stories Jay told me previously. A fantastic end to our day in Osaka!

Otosan and us at the restaurant

* We now have a bit of a running joke every time something takes a lot longer than expected to happen (i.e. when we are lost and can't find a train station/shop/restaurant). We now say 'We could've been in Osaka by now.' It's quite funny.

** I should reiterate that the tako-yaki we tried were fish ones. Meat ones could be better.

*** Although strict vegetarians at home, in Japan we've been eating fish - it's a surprisingly difficult country to be strictly vegetarian in

Kyoto - The Other Bits

Arashiyama - a bamboo lined path which has to be seen to be believed. 

Returning to Japan after a 10 year hiatus, I've been, at times, overwhelmed with sheer nostalgia. I'll be the first to admit that the overwhelming feeling that I just attributed to nostalgia is as much due to having to navigate complicated cities, and having to translate for an English speaking girlfriend in a language I've not used in over 10 years.

Fushimi inari shrine - a torii lined path up a mountain. A highlight so far. 

Nevertheless, sharing a place which I hold so dear to me, with a person whom I hold even more so dear to me has been wonderfully refreshing to say the least. Though famed for its peerless concentration of significant cultural monuments, to focus solely on this fact would be doing Kyoto an injustice. Kyoto's rich history of Zen culture, countless gardens and temples (some of which date back to 780AD), and sheer number of UNESCO world heritage sites can leave you feeling bewildered when it comes to where to begin. For us, we focused on the important sites which somehow resonated with us. After which we sought some sort of cultural enlightenment through food. Personally I was also eager to revisit some of my sorely missed and favourite pastimes of Japan.

Kiyomizu-dera - expertly perched on a hill. This temple was founded in 778.

Ginkakuji - stunning gardens, a classic Japanese temple.

Ever since my cultural submersion in Japan as a 15 year old I've had a penchant for green tea. I'm one of those people, aside from drinking a daily dose of the verdant drop, that genuinely gets excited by green tea flavoured...anything. I'm pretty hardcore – I know. Anyhow, where was I? Green, I love it. So when I heard that about the oldest green tea shop in Kyoto, which itself been in existence for over 300 years, I politely requested that Julia join me in checking it out.

Ippodo tea shop - the source of much pain and happiness.

Walking in, the pungent green tea aroma was nearly too much for this maccha (green tea in Japanese) lover. After baulking at the prices, we happened upon their adjacent tea house. At the tea house, although no money exchanges hands, the ideas is that you can try an expertly prepared cup of whatever it is you think you have an inkling to buy. When I also heard that a traditional Japanese sweet accompanied said cup of tea, I was already warming our seats before Julia had a chance to decipher the sheer variety of offerings.

Confidently I ordered their strongest and finest drop. Julia as a relative maccha novice, sensibly ordered the weakest most reasonably priced maccha. Excitedly I waited, filling in the silence with stories of how much I love green tea and how much I drink on a weekly basis. Once I'd run out of things to say I left Julia, and made my way over to the kitchen area and observed and photographed the performance that was taking place.

Anko -  a Japanese sweet made of red beans. 

Maccha - beautiful in colour, not so in taste.

Houjicha - another variety of green tea where the leaves are roasted.

Finally our drinks arrived. Notice that I refrained from using the word tea. Before me was a thick, dark moss coloured concoction that I wasn't possibly supposed to drink. Upon swirling the cup in my hands the liquid; or solid, whatever it was, begrudgingly moved from one side of the cup to other, much like you'd imagine a sloth moving from one side of a room to another. Now my excitement and expectations where replaced with trepidation as I cautiously sipped my first mouthful. WOW, the flavour was worse than it's appearance. The strongest tasting, strangely sour green mud I'd ever consumed. In fact the only green mud I'd ever consumed. I should clarify, I've never consumed any mud. Of any variety.

Regardless, the experience was just that – an experience. Painful for my taste buds and it turns out unnecessarily painful for my bank account too. I should disclose that I did end up buying some tea, sheepishly buying one of their weakest varieties.

I won't leave you on that sour note, so to speak. In keeping with the culinary delights of Kyoto we visited one of the oldest restaurants in the city. Honke Owariya, a Japanese soba restaurant which has been in operation since 1465, over 549 years of tradition under one roof – truly incredible and quite mind boggling for two young 25 year old travellers whose own country was 'discovered' by Captain Cook in a paltry 1788. At that time, Honke Owariya had already been serving customers for a modest 323 years. Again, incredible.

Honke Owariya - in operation since before your grandparents were born.

Frequented by the imperial family during their sojourns to the ancient capital, we were very excited to be going to a restaurant of such esteem. While not quite haute in a gastronomic sense, in reputation and bragging rights alone it was up there. As with most dining experiences in Japan, we were greeted with a warm welcome both by the staff, and, being winter, the comfort of a well heated venue. We were ushered up a narrow and small stair case and couldn't help but imagine the huge amount of history that has passed up it over the centuries. We felt somewhat under dressed as we sat down next to a slurping table of business men. Regardless, we feasted our eyes on the menu and settled for the traditional cold soba, as well as another warm dish.

Soba, for those of you who haven’t tasted it before, is made from a type of a seed known as buckwheat. The name 'buckwheat' is deceptive as it's not a type of wheat at all. However, it's considered a very healthy and nutritious grain. I recommend anybody getting their hands on a pack next time they are at the supermarket. It cooks in a matter of minutes, can easily be substituted for pastas or used in stir fries, again is very nutritious but most importantly it's bloody delicious.

While we waited for our soba dishes we warmed our yet to be acclimatised winter bodies with plentiful amounts of tea. Soon enough our meals arrived and we were treated to a delectable and faultless array of soba goodness. Accompanying the cold soba dish was a helping of freshly grated wasabi root. Yes that's right wasabi doesn't just come in small plastic tube with green food colouring. The freshly grated root is somewhat less intense with a more refined but short lived flavour. The fresh wasabi, chopped shallots, soba sauce combined with the fault less noodles in an elegant and awe inspiring way. To top the meal off, you are bought the water in which the soba noodles were boiled. This is simply added to the soba sauces you have just used, resulting in a pleasant warm soup. For me, soba and its accompaniments are yet another reminder of the supreme Japanese skill at matching simple yet bold flavours to create distinctly unique dishes. After being blown away equally by our meals as much as the setting in which we sat, we parted with $20 for the both of us, leaving the restaurant far the richer in nearly every sense.  

Soba - the quintessential cold soba dish. 

This warm dish was perfect for our weary winter bodies.

Nanzenji - a path leading to a sub temple in the sprawling grounds.   

Kinkakuji - the famed and much revered 'Golden Temple.' Simply breathtaking. 

Kyoto: Getting to the Heart of Japan

Youkoso. Jay and I have jet-setted off to Japan and we're so excited about this trip. Jay lived in Japan for 10 months when he did a school-exchange trip here 10 years ago and has been itching to return ever since. I've heard so many fun and quirky stories about it from Jay and have been just as eager to visit and experience it all for myself.

Our first stop was Kyoto, considered the cultural heart of Japan. Renowned for its vast amounts of temples, gardens, shrines, and (if you're lucky enough to see them) geisha, this was a wonderfully fitting and enriching introduction to Japan.

We stayed at a ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn. The pictures and accompanying captions below detail what an incredibly unique and memorable stay it was.

The front of our ryokan, Kikokuso Lodging

 

Our room, complete with tatami-mat flooring, futon, shoji screens...

...and a beautiful sitting area overlooking a Japanese garden below.

Ready for our traditional Japanese breakfast...

...including rice, tofu, egg, miso soup, green tea and a variety of pickled vegetables. Not for the faint-hearted.

Jay and I wearing our yukata (casual summer kimono)

At the end of the day we bathed the traditional Japanese way. The bathing room contained a shower area where we cleansed ourselves with soap, rinsed ourselves off, and then hopped into the bath pictured above. It was the perfect way to wind down after each arduous day of walking around and exploring Kyoto.  

Staying at the ryokan was a truly special experience, and one which I highly recommend to anyone visiting Kyoto with the opportunity to do so.

Keen to get a true 'taste' of Kyoto, we visited the four hundred year-old Nishiki Market on our first day there. It's a bustling hub selling many of Kyoto's specialties, including - but certainly not limited to - vegetables, pickles, dried fish and a ridiculous variety of tofu (including tofu donuts. Before you ask, yes, they were delicious).

Nishiki Market

An assortment of vegetables commonly used in Japanese cuisine. Note that they are all individually packaged, including the carrots.

Tsukemono, pickled vegetables

Mochi, glutenised rice balls dipped in a sweet paste. Positively delicious.

Bonito fish, which is commonly shaved and served on top of vegetables or rice.

Fishy fish

More fishy fish

So much tea

With this being my first visit to Japan, and my first proper introduction to Japanese culture, I've obviously learnt a lot over my initial few days here. I'll now share some of my new-found pieces of wisdom with you:

1. Shoes. You have to change them, a lot. And it's not just about taking them off when you enter a house (or in our case, a ryokan). Once inside, there will be a pair of slippers you put on to walk around the residence in. If there are tatami mats in a room, you will have to take off the slippers before entering it*. And in some cases, there will be another pair of slippers you will have to change into when entering a bathroom. So far the most amount of shoe/slipper changes in one location have happened at a temple we visited: there were 4.

2. Vending machines. You can buy warm drinks from them. I don't mean ones where you buy a cup, put it onto a tray, and hot liquid pours into it; I've seen those ones often enough. The ones I'm talking about here look like you're purchasing an ordinary plastic bottle of drink. Except that when you open it, steam comes out of it because it actually contains a heated beverage. Wowzas.

3. Free tastings are commonly offered in food stores. For example, in the image pictured below, green tea was offered to prospective customers upon entry to the shop. And it wasn't just a token small portion that would otherwise leave you craving for more. Instead, it was a proper, real-world serving of tea. But it didn't finish there. Once inside the store, tastings were available for most of the varieties of sweets sold there. As with the green tea tastings, these were generous sized servings, to the point that we left the store quite full. So technically, if you wanted to be super stingy, you could just visit a few shops and fill yourself up on the variety of tastings in them. I'm still getting over how amazing this is.

4. Traffic light sounds. Some chirp like birds when they turn green.

5. Toilets. Buttons like the ones pictured below are on the sides of some toilets. I haven't been game enough to press any of them yet, but who knows what will happen over my next couple of weeks here.

There's just so much to say about Kyoto that I couldn't possibly fit it all into one blog without overwhelming you. So stay tuned to hear about more of our Kyotan adventures.

Arigato gozaimasu.

* confession: I've forgotten to do so at times