Me and two friends are spending the next 8 days in Japan. Follow along as I post each day, starting here with the first. Day seven was spent traveling around Hiroshima.
Day 7 was a heavy day.
I think it hit me more than Tom and Zach; I couldn’t help thinking about what it would’ve been like on August at 8:14 AM. One minute before the first nuclear bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, vaporizing everything within miles. A husband having just bought flowers for his wife and rushing home from a nightshift to surprise her. A group of kids headed to class. Bakers pulling their first batches from the oven. Businessmen running to catch a train. A woman who just gave birth experiencing the first and only minute of being a mother. All gone in a flash.
To this ISFJ, day 7 was a heavy day.
We set out early and caught the morning train from Kyoto to Hiroshima, arriving about an hour later. We took a bus downtown to the “A-bomb dome”, which was essentially the chamber of commerce building for the city that ended up being the center of the bomb blast. It’s existence and ability to withstand a hit of that magnitude is a testament to the engineering of buildings back then, necessitated by Japan’s existence on one of the most active earthquake zones in the world. It was one of only a few dozen buildings that remained somewhat recognizable after the bomb went off and was left as a reminder to the world about the terror of weapons like these.
After spending a couple hours roaming around the Peace Memorial Park and A-Bomb Museum, we caught the train another hour farther to catch sunset on a small island with a particularly interesting temple and shrine. Between the train and ferry, Tom and I found a little coffee shop that was both a much needed cup of coffee, and a little reminder of the kind of coffee I crave back home.
The night ended with the boat ride to the island, a few quick photos and watching one of the first actual sunsets we’ve been able to see on this trip. No skyscrapers or clouds stood between us and the horizon.
Tomorrow, back to Tokyo and the Shinjuku neighborhood.
