Miyajima & Hiroshima
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Day 14 (Tuesday): More photos added to Miyajima here, and a new album for Hiroshima here. We took the morning ferry back to Miyajima and rode the cablecar gondola, somewhat confusingly called a “Ropeway,” up Mt. Misen. It’s a two-cablecar ride, and those students afraid of heights were closing their eyes and listening to their iPod music to escape the experience. I loved it, though — greenery below and ocean beyond!
Although we were excited by the prospect of seeing monkeys atop Mt. Misen, it seems the island is capturing and relocating them because they’re causing such damage to the ecosystem, so we didn’t see any despite lots of hopeful peering around. The climb from the cablecar station to the Mt. Misen observation point at the peak was long and steep and rocky. About halfway up there’s a clearing full of Shingon Buddhist halls, including a hall where burns the eternal flame that was used to light the eternal flame in Hiroshima Peace Park. As the rest of the students continued to climb up, I paused to record about five minutes of one of the monks ringing a chime, chanting, and beating a drum. It was beautiful, except for the two helicopters that started circling around … we think a hiker might have gone missing somewhere in the forest. Since most of it is protected primeval forest without any paths, I suppose a lost hiker is serious business.
At any rate, from there it was up steep steps through giant boulders and past tiny, makeshift shrines to the top, where I found the rest of the group enjoying ice-cream cones from the vendor at the observation point. It was a bit of a contrast from the moments of wild, lonely beauty on the way up, but that didn’t stop me from joining in with a cone and a bottle of Pocari Sweat! I regret that the day was so hazy that I couldn’t get beautiful photos of the surrounding sea and islands; on a clear day, the view must be stunning.
After that, Akiko and I visited the Daisho-In Temple, mostly because I wanted to see it; I wish I’d had more time there, because it’s a beautiful temple complex full of fascinating statues and shrines. We were in a bit of a rush, though, so I’ll put it on my list of places to visit again someday; I’d love to take a room on Miyajima and do a night-hike up Mt. Misen someday!
Lunch was oysters, the Miyajima speciality; I don’t much care for oysters, but I ate them anyway, since I believe that a major part of travel is eating the local cuisine. Then we took the ferry back and caught the train to Hiroshima, where we toured the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.
I have posted some photographs of artifacts from the museum online; I did not post the more gruesome displays of melting people, keloid scars, and the like. The museum does a good job of presenting the entire history surrounding the bombing, including much information that I don’t think American students are taught about why the U.S. decided to use the bomb and how it came to choose Hiroshima. The museum also does a good job of not taking any one side, presenting both the good and the bad of Japan’s role in the Sino-Japanese war, Korea, and Pearl Harbor; however, one thing that comes through clearly is that Hiroshima is adamantly against nuclear testing, anywhere, for any reason. The mayors of Hiroshima write a formal letter of protest to every country that engages in a nuclear test, every time it happens, reminding them of what happened here.
The museum, despite considerable restraint in its presentation of the bomb’s devastating effects on people and property, is a sobering experience, and we all walked out of it separately, feeling and looking subdued. I think it’s good to see such things, though, to remind us that we have a responsibility to remember the devastation and try to prevent it from ever happening again.
The image on this post is one of the watches that’s on display in the museum — a pocket watch, because I love them and use them so prominently in Clockwork Heart — which stopped at 8:15, the moment the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.
drupagliassotti @ June 1, 2010