All aboard for Hiroshima! – Pixeled Passport

| 04-May-2018 | This morning we made our way to Shin-Osaka to catch the Shinkanzen (aka bullet train) to Hiroshima. The Nozomi super-express is pricey, but it makes the 330km trip in about an hour and a half, and when you’re packing as much as possible into 4 days, it’s worth it.

Hiroshima is new territory for us so we were looking forward to checking out the sites.

This pretty much sums up the pedestrian-bicycle relationship in Osaka and Hiroshima. They’re on the sidewalk – no bells, no verbal warnings, they just roll up on you like ninjas and you’d better have your head on a swivel or risk collision.

We were discussing that this was NOT a problem in Seoul. I’m not sure we even saw a bicycle.

Our first stop was the grounds of Hiroshima Castle. Originally built in the 1500s, it was destroyed in the bombing in 1945. In the late 1950s the current replica was built and serves as a museum for Hiroshima’s pre-WWII history.

The Atomic Bomb Dome at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. The building is the only thing left standing from the bomb’s epicenter. Undergoing only two minor preseveation efforts, the building remains almost exactly as it did following the bombing in 1945. The park was officially named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1996.

Also at the park is the Children’s Peace Monument which is accompanied by origami cranes. Lots and lots of cranes. Visitors leave folded cranes at the monument, or can send them to the city of Hiroshima to be offered to the monument. There’s even a database of people who have offered cranes and messages of peace to be shared via the Children’s Peace Monument.

Completely random experience – news of Ichirio’s retirement has made it to Japan. In only the second time someone has initiated conversation with us (or me) in Japan, a dude strolled up to us today at the park when he heard us speaking “American” English. He wanted to know our thoughts about Ichrio’s retirement from major league baseball; even more so after learning we’re from Seattle. Ichiro is HUGE here in Japan as a superstar/legend/icon. Totally weird interaction for Japan – and, dude spoke probably the best English we heard all trip.

We navigated the shopping arcades and found a couple of record stores within a few doors of each other. Several interesting purchases were made.

This weekend is the Hiroshima Flower Festival (hence the sold-out Shinkanzen runs yesterday) and today we stumbled on the street fair. Food, games, stages of performers – this thing went on for blocks and blocked off a major downtown roadway. Sunny but cooler today, everyone was out enjoying the festivities.

After being out and about all day, we opted for dinner with. a river view – the “Jeff & Holly special” of bread, meat and cheese from a nearby grocery. There’s a swanky high-rise apartment building adjacent to the hotel with a Whole-Foods-like grocery in it – total win!

I can’t believe tomorrow is our last full day here. No firm plans – we’ll see where the mood, and our ICOCA metro cards, take us.