japan- part five

 one afternoon, ryan, jen, mr. o and i boarded the shinkansen and headed for hiroshima. it was about a four hour ride from tokyo, but would've been about 10 1/2 driving. that train goes fast!

i had to take a picture of my manicure, it matched my train ticket perfectly! jen treated me to a mani/pedi- my first! there is a sweet japanese girl that comes to her house occasionally- so fun. thanks, jen!

 i really loved being able to see the japanese countryside on our ride. it was so beautiful, and foreign. mountains would pop up out of nowhere it seemed, and we'd be in a tunnel. we'd come out for a split second, and i'd see houses & buildings in the mountains and then we'd be in another tunnel! you could tell where the bamboo was growing in the mountains because it was more of a yellowish green. japan is really a gorgeous country.

i finished this little gift on the train- ryan and jen were celebrating their sixteenth anniversary the next week! jen had just returned from cambodia, and ryan left for paris at the same time we left, so we pretty much invaded the week they had together/as a family. they were so awesome about having us, though, and we are SO grateful for the opportunity we had to go. but of course i felt bad for intruding.

here they are outside the restaurant we ate dinner at once we arrived in hiroshima. this was a totally authentic japanese place- probably the most authentic meal of our trip.

we got some "assorted chicken skewers" for mr. o, and learned a lesson on what "assorted" means.. he went for the dark, semi-normal looking meat and barely choked it down. we looked closer and figured it was some sort of organ. come to find out, it was a stomach! yuck. jen also tried the wrap looking one, and that turned out to be intestines. wow. there was also skin and kidneys.
on the other hand, the rest of our food was delicious! we had raman noodles, gyozas, and some spicy bean sprouts & yummy sauces. so good.

this is the view of hiroshima from our hotel window. it was a really beautiful city, with mountain peaks all around. it was a holiday, and there were booths set up in the streets below. the next morning after breakfast at the hotel, we went to the hiroshima peace memorial museum. 

that was an experience. i felt so conspicuous, being an american in that place. i kind of wanted to crawl into a hole. it was harrowing to see & hear the accounts of the atomic bombing and resulting horrors to innocent people- and children. the japanese people are so sweet, and polite, that i didn't feel any animosity from all the people around me, but it was hard nonetheless.

here is a diorama of hiroshima before the blast:

and here is after:

 total devastation. can you imagine??

here's the peace garden outside the museum. there were so many cranes, which became a symbol of peace because of this little girl who died of leukemia ten years after the bombing (she was two at the time).

 here is the children's peace monument, that sadako's classmates raised money to erect in her (and all the children who were victims of the bombing) memory.

and across the river you can see the one remaining building that's been left as it was. there were mixed feelings about keeping this, but in the end it was decided to leave it as a memorial.

here's a closer view of the remains. it was such a contrast to come out and see this, and be in such a disturbed state of mind, but then it was a sunny holiday outside, with street vendors and happy people. it was hard to mentally shift gears.

 i loved these two cute girls holding hands & walking through the park. so sweet. for how short of a time we were in japan, we really came to love and appreciate the people. it's hard not to, they are so orderly and polite, and go out of their way to help you.

yeah, another cute sign. how do they manage to make EVERYTHING cute there!?

 we (jen) got a few fun treats from the booths. candied strawberries & mangoes, and some plastic swords for the boys- which they love. thanks, jen!

it was a really good experience that i'm glad we got to have. it's so easy to ignore things, and get comfortable with our lives, but history is important, and that's one event that i hope is never repeated!

see parts one, two, three, and four!