Today started out bright and early so we could get out of the house and arrive in Shin-Yokohama for the meeting with Dr. Roberts pre-Hiroshima. We were to take a shinkansen (bullet train) to Hiroshima, and from there, visit the Hiroshima Memorial Peace Museum before discussing our feelings afterwards.
We could have gotten to Shin-Yokohama in a mere 22 minutes for only 220yen, but because no one (myself included) wrote down my directions, we failed at finding our way there. We had to rely on someone else to attempt to find our way there, which was dangerous and unnecessary. But it all worked out in the end.
The ride on the shinkansen itself was great. It went by super-fast, both time and speed of the train, in part because I was assigned the seat next to one of the Japanese students, Sayaka-san. She was very friendly and sweet as she spoke Japanese slower so I could understand easier. There are still many words I need to figure out, but I could get more than just the general gist of it all usually. It actually rained while we were on the train, as well, which was really cool. Going between sunny spots and rain is neeeat. The train ride total took about 4 hours, but it definitely didn't seem like that.
From there, it was a quick bus ride to our hotel, where we just dropped off our luggage so we could go ahead and tour the Hiroshima Memorial of Peace Museum/Park. Here's where the emotions started to fly. The museum itself was beautiful, outside and in, and designed very well to showcase the wealth of information behind it's walls. The museum covered in brief Japan's past, all the way through the Edo period, to give some good background for those who weren't aware. Then it moved on to the nitty gritty; the how, why, when, and where of the A-bomb drop. The many pictures and models and words of description were tremendously emotional, and I found it hard not to give in to them myself from time to time. There was a very certain theme of peace going on by the end of the exhibit, when there came talk of how many nuclear weapons each country is estimated to have, and the many protest letters the mayor of Hiroshima has written to urge the world leaders to abolish their nuclear weapons armament. When we got through the first half of the museum, there was a gift shop where I purchased a couple of trinkets. I felt good to donate money to such a worthy cause as this, and the keychain and pin I got were quite nice as well.
The second half of the exhibit, when compared to the emotions of the first, blew everything out of the water. There was no comparison being surrounded by clothes, hair, fingernails, and stories of victims of the A-bomb. There were many pictures depicting the horrors of what can happen to the people affected by it as well. I didn't quite know how to respond, as I didn't want to start tearing up myself. Luckily we were running out of time in the museum, so I rushed out of there without having to handle the sadness throughout. Though, before I did exit entirely, I signed a peace protest form against the use and collection of nuclear weapons. I was glad to give my name to a cause I can believe in, even if it may never come true.
We were soon guided around the Memorial's Peace Park by a spry 70-something year-old man and his trainee (in his 50's). There were many sites that I enjoyed visiting, as they all held such a great emotional significance. The Phoenix Trees were so inspiring: a pair of trees that withstood the A-bomb, and one that lived through both the A -bomb and a typhoon. Nearby was a memorial built to represent the everlasting fire of nuclear weapons, and how the fire there will never go out until we can agree to abolish nuclear weapons entirely. Another memorial was built to commemorate the lives lost in Hiroshima of the various Koreans, many of whom were not recognized as victims by the Japanese government until decades later. And yet another memorial was there to recognize Sadako, the girl who is associated most commonly with the 1,000 paper crane legend (if you fold up 1,000 origami cranes, you're granted any one wish). Thousands upon thousands were housed there, sent from people all over the world. Needless to say, it was very inspiring. There was a giant bell nearby that is struck by random passersby to signal their cry for peace in the world. But Hairy Max (to distinguish the two Max's from each other) put it well when he said that when he stuck his head within the bell as it was struck, there was no sound. He likened it to how we can make all these cries for peace all we want, but it seems to fall on deaf ears all the time. It's a bit depressing, but holds some truth, I think.
There was a discussion afterwards at the hotel before we checked in to our rooms where we kind of brought ourselves down to elementary school-level and drew out our feelings about the day on paper. It was... interesting. I don't think I liked it that much, but I can understand the sentiment to try and get the feelings out in any way we could. At least the rooms were amazing. I was to share a single bedroom with 3 others, which made me hesitant at first, but it turns out it was an overnight seminar room styled after the traditional Japanese style bedrooms. It had an entryway (genkan), tatami mats, and enough futons, sheets, towels, and toothbrushes for a party of about 12. Perfect sleepover room. Oh, and a whiteboard with markers, strangely enough. Very cool. Also interesting was the communal shower room we got to use. It was very much unlike anything I've ever been in before, but it was stylized after the typical Japanese communal shower room one usually uses before entering onsen. I never shared the bathroom with anyone else, but it was a neat concept to practice with.
The night still had some time left, so our group went out to get dinner and cruise the city a bit. Hiroshima okonomiyaki was had, which is kind of like a pancake with cabbage, green onions, red onions, and in our special case for the one I shared with Nikki, shrimp and cuttlefish. It. Was. AMAZING! Hiroshima has a specific style of okonomiyaki and I was very impressed. Simply delicious. They were big, so everyone split one, making our 6-large party just right.
Afterwards, we roamed the streets of Hiroshima until we found what seemed to me to be an oasis in the hottest desert: Taito Station, the arcade I had seen before in Yokohama. 5 floors of amazing. 1-2 had UFO catchers ONLY, the claw grabber machines where you can win prizes worth upwards of $80. I played a little tiny one where I could get a teensy Totoro keychain. I was aiming to try and tilt it off the edge of the platform it was on. I failed hardcore, making the claw snag too early, such that it got stuck on the actual platform thing itself.... AND KNOCKED A TOTORO DOWN! All that luck was just too much. So happy to win something, even if it was just a little trinket. Floor 3 was pachinko and other games like it. Horse racing, slot machines. I saw a slot machine based on Kaiji, multiple Evangelion pachinko, and two AKB48 pachinko machines too. It was very popular. Silly me accidentally exchanged 1000 yen into tokens rather than 100 yen coins, so I had to blow it all on some silly coin pusher machine where you can't really win anything unless you get a major jackpot. Boo. Floor 4 was where the real games came in. The entire floor was devoted to only fighting games. Everywhere you looked there was a fighting game. BlazBlue, Guilty Gear, Street Fighter, everything! Truly a wet dream for all the fighting game fans out there. But the 5th floor was where it was at for me. Music games (and purikura. More on that later). Two Jubeat machines (still never have tried it, though I definitely will while out here). Two of the newest Reflec Beat machines, which I'd never even heard of, but they look gorgeous. Two PopN'Music Fantasia machines (which is where my money went that night. 100 yen for four songs, TAKE MY MONEY). Two Beatmania IIDX Lincle machines. I was in heaven. I described it as being a smoker and having my first cigarette after 6 months, not that I'd know what that's like. Music games really are my greatest release. I don't care about spending the couple bucks transportation to Yokohama. I WILL play my games while abroad here.
We finished the night up hunting down ice cream and heading to bed before it got too late. Definitely grateful for that, as exhaustion was setting in and the next day would be a tough one on me, doubtlessly.
I have many pictures from Hiroshima to upload, but be patient as I sift through almost 400 photos to get only the best ones here for your viewing pleasure. Meanwhile, enjoy a video I made of my first time seeing my room at MISH! http://www.flickr.com/photos/djmarmar/7996756178/
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