The first day of the trip we flew from Sapporo to Tokyo to Hiroshima, and then drove from the airport to the Memorial Peace Park at the hypocenter of the bombing. Driving through the bustling, modern city, it's almost impossible to believe that only a little over fifty years ago it was almost completely destroyed. Driving through the city, I didn't even realize how close we were to the hypocenter until we got out of the bus and saw what is commonly known as the A-Bomb Dome.
The Dome seen from across the river
We then walked to the museum dedicated to the war and Hiroshima bombing, whose displays had captions in English as well as Japanese, so I was able to learn a lot about the event. We had covered in it school, but actually being there was an entirely different experience. Though my classmates seemed stoic, I was on the verge of tears the entire time and still don't know how I managed not to cry. The thing that struck me most, however, was how Hiroshima has recovered. Though they said nothing would grow for 75 years, the city is lush and green and stands as a monument for peace. The mayor still writes a letter of protest every time any government announces nuclear testing plans, and the city is home to a yearly ceremony hoping for peace. It was an incredible place to visit.
Day two we were split into groups and toured the park with guides who explained the monuments and other features. I admit I struggled to keep my focus during this section, but what I did learn was pretty interesting. After that, we drove to the coast and took a ferry out to Miyajima island, home to the famous Itsukushima Shrine and it's even more famous torii, which stands in the ocean. We were there at low tide, so you could walk right out to it, though at high tide it becomes partially submerged. The temple was really beautiful, as was the shrine. Also, the island was populated by some friendly deer and had a lot of interesting-looking shops that I didn't get a chance to explore (this is where the annoyed by the structure came in, it was a little too move-from-designated-place-to-designated-place-and-take-a-picture for me, but I still really enjoyed seeing the island).
The Torii
The Temple with a five-storied castle in the background
One of the dog statues at the temple
After lunch and the temple, we took the ferry back to Hiroshima and the tour bus took us to Hiroshima station, where I got to ride the shinkansen (or bullet train, as they are known in the west). As some of you know, I have a weird fascination with these things and I was super excited about it, which my classmates thought was hilarious. So what did I do on this long awaited train ride? Slept. The portion of the ride I was awake was really cool, though, those things go crazy fast and it was super smooth. I was distracted by something and didn't even feel it when the train started moving, it was really cool. The train took us to Kyoto, where we stayed in a Japanese-style hotel called a Ryokan. We had dinner in the room and slept on futons, it was great!
The next day we spent the morning with the group, seeing of Kyoto's most famous sights, such as the Golden Temple and the old imperial palace with it's 1000 golden Buddha statues, as well as wooden statues of other deities and a huge 42-armed statue in the centre. Because of their sacred nature, visitors are not allowed to photograph the statues, so I don't have any pictures, but they were incredibly beautiful, and the place had an amazing presence, especially taking into account how much time and effort it took to make them.
The Golden Temple
In the afternoon we split up into our groups again and were free to explore Kyoto. My group took me to a few other famous temples as well as just wandering around the streets of one of Kyoto's more traditional areas. It was really cool seeing all the older style buildings and food and there were lots of people (mostly girls and women, but some men as well) walking around in kimonos and yukatas (sometimes seen in Sapporo, but not nearly this much) which was great. We also met a couple Maiko. A picture is worth a thousand words, so here's some of the places we visited:
Kyoto and the gate to one of the temples
The temple
From left to right: Yui, two Maiko, and me
A small bamboo forest
The next day was our free day, so my group caught a train to Nara and explored the area, checked out the gift shops, went to another temple, and met some deer, which Nara is famous for. They were very friendly, almost domesticated, unlike the deer in Canada which tend to very shy. They would walk right up to you and didn't mind if people pet them, it was crazy. At the suggestion of my Japanese teacher, I bought some biscuits to feed them, which was fun until suddenly you're surrounded by deer and one bites your rear (didn't break the skin but left a bit of a mark). Still, it was nothing you'd see in Canada, and quite the experience.
Me and some deer in Nara
Next we got on another train to Osaka, which was quite the city, especially since we were in the very heart of it. Very busy, lit up and colourful. It sort of reminded me of Las Vegas, if Las Vegas was cleaner, about fifty time less sleazy and fifty times more Japanese. So I guess it wasn't that much like Vegas, but it was the closest comparison I could think of, as I haven't been to many big metropolitan centres. It wasn't somewhere I'd like to spend a whole lot of my time, but was definitely a cool place to see.
Osaka at night
The next day we explored one more temple, had lunch, and then headed to the airport and flew back home. Overall, it was a great trip, and I had a wonderful time!
