Hiroshima

When we booked ahead to stay at Toyoko Higashi-Hiroshima we learned a valuable lesson about Japanese place names. Double check their location is where you think they are. I was expecting to be arriving in Hiroshima and and staying in the cit of Hiroshima. Actually we ended up being 20 minutes away from Hiroshima on the train. Which wasn't too bad but we had to organise ourselves to catch trains because not every train stopped there. It was obviously a developing housing area and had quite a rural feeling to it.

This is Toyoko Higashi- Hiroshima the best hotel we stayed at.
I think it was a new hotel certainly the area had a lot of new accomodation. The breakfasts were the best with a few extra options, they even had evening meals included in the price, we were usually in too late for dinner though. We spent three nights here it worked out as a good base. This hotel chain is very good for travelers on a budget like us. They are all clean, provide breakfast with the room and are always handy to train stations. You can access your room after 4:oo pm and have to vacate them by 10:00 am even if you are returning that night. For us that was no problem because we tend to be out and about most of every day when we travel.

We spent an afternoon at Hiroshima exploring the Peace memorial Park. This was a moving experience for us both. Inside the building in the background of this photo is a very graphic museum. This statue depicts the horror for the civilians who were unlucky to living in Hiroshima at the time of the bomb. All of this area was flattened by the dropping of the first bomb. The photographs in the museum show it as an empty wasteland.

The A-Bomb Dome in the background is a stark reminder that little survives when nuclear bombs are dropped. In front of the dome is The Cenotaph erected in memory of the victims of the bombing.

This is my favourite photo taken within the park looking through the trees at the A-Bomb Dome.

Everything in this area was destroyed The Dome being the only structure to remain. The occupants of the building were killed instantly.

The childrens peace monument is another stark reminder of the innocent victims of any act of war. One of the child victims of the A-Bomb who developed leukemia following her exposure to the radiation believed that if she could make 1000 cranes she would recover from her illness. She did not survive but her story is well known by Japanese children. Fresh Paper Cranes are are sent by school children from all over Japan. The booths in the background hold thousands of these cranes.

We only spent an afternoon and evening in Hiroshima. We did find it fascinating, the station was big with lots of interesting food places. We got off the train and found our way to the tram which took us all the way to the Peace Memorial Park. This park is peaceful today and it was an interesting place to visit. Maybe more people need to be reminded of the horrors that Nuclear Weapons hold! We walked back to the train station from the park enjoying exploring the many sidestreets along the way. Dinner in the Noodle house here was very good indeed. By now we knew the ropes about using the vending machines to get a ticket and then passing the ticket to the waitress.

I am sure that there is more to see in Hiroshima.