Hiroshima and the Inland Sea

May 6-7, 2019

Arriving in Hiroshima

Our journey from Kitakyushu to Hiroshima was actually a very short one, despite the fact that they moved the ship in the overnight hours. It actually would have been nice to do it in the daylight so we could see some of the Japanese coastline.

That being said, by doing it at night it gave us more time ashore to see the sights that we had chosen for this location. Number one, of course, was to visit the Atomic Bomb Dome and Hiroshima Museum and Memorial. The other was to see Miyajima Island and the Itsukushima Shrine.

Miyajima Island

It was our choice for the order in which we visited the two sites here in Hiroshima, and since we didn’t want to be rushed at the Hiroshima Museum and Memorial, we chose to visit Miyajima Island first. This way we could spend as much time at the Memorial as we wanted, since after that it was back to the ship.

In order to get to the island we first had to take a bus to a location where we could catch the short ferry ride over to the island. Miyajima Island is not only known for the Itsukushima Shrine, which is a very impressive religious location, but also for the deer that live right in amongst the villagers and their dwellings and shops. However, unlike another famous deer location where you can buy food to hand feed the friendly deer, at this location it is strictly forbidden to do so. These deer are still considered wild, and as such can display a short temper if you overstep their comfort zone.

Once on the island and sorted with instructions on where to go, we were pretty much left to ourselves to explore what we wished. There was even a hike one could do up to the top of the island’s mountain, but that meant foregoing all the other sites, so we passed on that activity. To get to the shrine, we had to make our way along the beachwalk and past the local homes and storefronts.

Once we had made our way through the small township it wasn’t very long before we came into the lineup for entrance into the Itsukushima Shrine. Once again, because we were part of an organized and prepaid tour, we were able to by pass the line and head straight into the shrine itself. This pre-organization saved us a lot of time that we could now devote to marvelling at the wonders in the shrine.

And yes, if you were going to ask, this shrine also had a large quantity of saki casks lined up in numerous locations around the shrine buildings. It makes one wonder if there is any production of saki left for the public to consume.

When we were finished at the shrine we headed back to the ferry by way of the little town’s marketplace. There we could find all manner of souvenir nic-nacs. Restraining ourselves from bringing home more useless junk, we assembled at the ferry building to await our ride.

Once back across the water we headed for the elegant Oriental Hotel, where a lunch had been organized so as to fortify us for what was yet to come, the Hiroshima Memorial & Museum.

The Hiroshima Memorial & Museum

The Hiroshima A-bomb Memorial, located in Peace Memorial Park, is something that one has to experience in person for it to be fully absorbed. Situated on an island nestled between the two forks of the Motoyasu River, the exterior grounds are intensely beautiful and fill the visitors with an incredible sense of peace and tranquillity. Yet inside the museum one is confronted with the most egregious scenes of carnage, destruction and human suffering that anyone could possibly imagine. Many of the scenes are disturbing and difficult to look at, but look we must in order to appreciate why the world must never again resort to such outrageous tactics to resolve our conflicts.

Our visit to this venerated site started at the far end of the park away from the museum itself, which allowed us to walk through, view and contemplate the various monuments that have been created to honour the tens of thousands of victims of this one indecent act. On the opposite river bank to the park itself are the remains of a building that is now called the Atomic Bomb Dome. It is widely regarded as the only building to remain standing, at what was estimated to be, ground zero for the detonation of the atomic device that was unleashed on August 6, 1945 at 8:14am. The blast was equivalent to fifteen thousand metric tons of TNT, and its effects killed between 90,000 and 146,000 people, mostly civilians. It was complete and utter madness.

The whole memorial park is designed around the location of the Atomic Bomb Dome, and stretches in a linear pattern nearly half a kilometre to the opposite end where the museum and the Prayer Fountain are located. Standing at the end near the museum, one can look back and see all of the monuments lined up in a row, including the Atomic Bomb Dome which rises over them all. The precision is almost mathematical in nature. The day started out overcast and dreary, but by the time we came out of the museum there were breaks in the clouds and the blue sky and sun warmed both the air and our spirits.

Main Memorial Features

Photos Taken From in & Around The Museum

These are the images that we took on this experience. The visuals inside the museum were just too numerous, and many were too disturbing, to capture them all.