Saturday, October 7, 2006
Today was a big day. The group of us had scheduled a tour for the day and it was to take us to two places in Hiroshima -- Miyajima Island and the Hiroshima Peace Park. Miyajima Island was first on the agenda. We were picked up at the hotel for the tour and taken by bus out the the ferryboat dock. It was just a quick 10-minute ride across to Miyajima Island. It is billed as "One of Japan's 3 Most Beautiful Spots."

Once we got there, I could see why. It was fabulous. When we got off the boat, we walked through a little village towards the Itsukushima shrine. This is a Shinto shrine, and it stands right by the sea. The tide was going out, so some of the areas around the shrine were already clear from water. The shrine itself is very large and we were able to walk through the entire structure. We even saw a Shinto wedding ceremony. The bride and groom wore kimonos...it was amazingly beautiful. In the sea, right in front of the shrine, is the O-Torii Gate (the Grand Gate). This is the most visible symbol of Miyajima Island. We took a million pictures of it.

After touring the shrine, several of us decided to walk up to the Daishoin Temple. This is a Buddhist temple. We walked up a hill and then up many steps to get to it. Our tour guide was still with us, so she gave us a lot of information about the temple and Buddhism. Before we went into the temple, we had to take our shoes off. When we got in there, our guide, who is a Buddhist, knelt and prayed before Buddha. This, of course, the rest of us did not do, but it was very interesting to watch. The part of the temple I most enjoyed was the Sand Mandala. It was a map of the universe made by Buddhist priests from Tibet. The whole thing was made out of colored sand. Amazing!

Our time on the island was coming to an end, unfortunately, so we headed back down to the main area. On the way we stopped to buy some momiji manju, a local confectionary shaped like a maple leaf with a filling inside. We were hoping for chocolate filled ones, but this store had only ones filled with crushed red bean paste. Well, I tried it! It actually was pretty good. Later on, I bought chocolate ones, though. I also met a family from Findlay, Ohio. What are the chances of meeting people from Ohio while standing on an island in Japan? It is a small world after all.

As we were walking back, we noticed that the tide was out and we could walk right up to the O-torii Gate, so we did. This was awesome. We walked out there and took pictures. There were many people doing the same thing. There were also people out there digging in the sand. Our guide told us that they were digging for shellfish.

Before too long, it was back on the boat and back over to the mainland. This was too bad. I could've spent the whole day at Miyajima Island. It was so beautiful and there were many things that we didn't get to see. However, our next stop would prove to be just as interesting and moving in a totally different way. Our next stop was the Hiroshima Peace Park, commemorative location for the dropping of the atom bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.

Before I describe it, let me just say that anyone who goes to Japan needs to visit this place. What I saw and learned at the Peace Park has really affected me, and I believe it's changing my views on nuclear weapons. Visiting this place was humbling, disturbing, and deeply moving. It was also uncomfortable because as an American I wondered what the Japanese people who were also visiting were thinking about me. We all got a lot of stares, maybe not any more than usual, but I felt really out of place.

The visit began by seeing the A-Bomb Dome. This is the skeletal remains of a building that was mostly destroyed by the bomb. It has been left standing as a reminder of the tragedy. The building looks so out of place next to all the new buildings in the area and the park in which it sits. I think this is good, though. It should look out of place. It should be a reminder of what happened, and it's one the is easily seen because it is so big. The rest of the park is filled with a variety of monuments and statues. We walked all around them just trying to take everything in. I enjoyed seeing the Sadako monument. This is the story of a girl who survives the bomb but then dies from leukemia ten years later. Her story was captured in the book "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes." My students -- we're going to read this book later this year. Around the monument are cases full of paper cranes that have been sent in from children all around the world. My students will be doing this, too, and we will send our cranes to Hiroshima.

Next, it was the museum. This is a building filled with horror. Horror of the bomb and what it did to the people, the children, of Hiroshima. The effects and after-effects were depicted in great detail. There were pictures of the victims with burns all over their bodies. There were artifacts gathered that demonstrated the horror of the event. I saw a girl's sandal, and while her body was never found, the shadow of her foot was burned into the sandal. Items of this magnitude filled the museum. It was good for me to see this. I LEARNED, and after all, isn't that what this trip is about? But, at the same time, it was disturbing, and I was very uncomfortable. I was uncomfortable because this was a place filled with horrific details that were brought about because of something my country did. Yes, I know that the actions were not mine, but as a representative of my country, I still felt terrible. I felt like crying the whole time I was in the museum. I still feel greatly disturbed, and I imagine that these are not feelings that will easily go away. After today, it is my very strong opinion that weapons of this magnitude should never be used again by any country. Everyone in the group was moved in a similar manner. We had many great discussions on the way home about what we saw and experienced. It is my observation that all of us left Hiroshima as different people than when we arrived not even 24 hours before.

The bullet train ride home again was good. This time we were in economy (it's cheaper), but I was amazed at how much leg room we still had. The airlines should take a lesson! I really like traveling on the bullet train. I wish we had these in the USA. They are a very efficient way to travel, especially long distances. It took us exactly four hours to get back to Tokyo. Once there, we hopped in a cab and came back to our hotel. Tomorrow we split up into groups of twenty and head to our host cities. Mine is Soka, just eleven miles from Tokyo.