In the group we had all 20 UC students, 3 professors, 2 program coordinators, and about 15 Japanese Meiji Gakuin Students. Our first stop, as I mentioned above, was Hiroshima. The excursion was very regimented, so I was not given much free time to explore the area. Getting to Hiroshima was a whole adventure in itself.
As a group, we took a Shinkansen from Yokohama to Hiroshima. A Shinkansen is a Japanese bullet train (the one the cruises at about 110 mph). The train was surprisingly comfortable, with plenty of leg room and clean bathrooms. Although it is the same cost as a domestic plane flight, there is much less hassle because you can skip the airport and just walk through the train station and jump on your train at the appointed time (however, the train only stops for 1 minute at each station, so you have to hustle to make it on in time).
After dropping our bags off, we explored the Peace Museum, the museum was installed to remember the dropping of the Atomic Bomb. The museum started off fairly neutral, giving a background to the war and the dropping of the bomb. However, as I started walking through the building, it became more and more somber and gruesome. Some of the pictures were truly horrifying and disgusting. After leaving the museum, I had to sit by myself on a park bench to contemplate what I just saw and read. I came to the conclusion that nuclear warheads need to be disarmed and abolished (of course, this is not some crazy new idea, and it's kind of sad that it took a graphic museum tour for me to come to this conclusion).
That night we were lucky enough that a Hibakusha came to give us a lecture. Hibakusha is the Japanese term given to those people who survived the dropping of the Atomic Bomb. He told a detailed story of where he was when the bomb was dropped, how he escaped the destroyed building he was in, and what the scene was like afterward. His words were 5 times more moving than the entire museum. Everyone went to bed that night tired and depressed.
The next day we continued the theme of military and destruction, but on a lighter note; we went on a tour of the Edajima Marine Self-Defense Forces School. The MSDF is on an island just off of the Hiroshima coast-line, so we took a twenty minute ferry to get there. Once on the island we took a gruelingly long tour of the self-defense school and a Japanese military museum. to be honest, the sites were pretty boring and ordinary: the buildings looked like UCLA and I couldn't read one thing in the museum. Nevertheless, here are a few pictures:
After touring the school and eating lunch, the group headed on a charter bus to a the naval base in the same bay. Apparently, 2/5 of all of Japan's navy resides in that one bay, and there weren't many ships that I saw. Our guide explained to us that Japan is taking a very... defensive... standpoint in their military endeavors (hence the name "self-defense school" instead of "Marine officers training"). Regardless, the submarines looked pretty cool:
During the war, Japan knew that America would start bombing the Hiroshima coastline since it had so many military resources. So, to prepare for these bombings, Japan had migrant workers build deep tunnels into the surrounding mountains where production could continue should such bombings occur. Our next stop was to tour one of these tunnels.
The tunnel ran fairly deep, probably about 100 yards in total length. It smelled dank and had heaps of garbage piled around the front. Being deep in the tunnel, I could imagine what the immigrant workers were feeling as the land around the mountain was being bombed daily. Here are some pictures from inside:
That night we had a little bit of free time. Some of the guys and I decided to go try Okonomiyaki, a famous dish indigenous to Hiroshima. The dish is hard to describe; it was cabbage, with soba noodles on top of it, with egg and meat on top of that, and with a weird, tangy sauce still on top of that. Then, the whole thing was cooked on a big hot-plate. Oishikatta! (Delicious!). Here is a picture I found online:
The next day we toured the Peace Memorial Park. In addition to installing the peace museum, the city of Hiroshima decided to make most of the bombed-out area into a large peace park commemorating the dropping of the bomb. In the park are countless memorials to the victims of Little Boy. One that caught my interest was a giant flame that will continue to burn until all nuclear missiles are disarmed:
One of the kids that survived the dropping of the bomb, but was infected with radiation poisoning, hand-made 1000 paper cranes while she was sitting in the hospital, hoping the cranes will cure her sickness. She was a symbol of hope for all Hibakushas. Although she didn't survive, there is a monument dedicated to her and her cranes. Behind the statue are about 10 glass cases FULL of paper cranes. Anyone can donate cranes that they make to the monument. I was lucky, because while I was there, a group of elementary school children were donating the hundreds of cranes they had made the week before. I was able to watch them sing a few practiced songs and then hang up their long string of cranes in one of the glass cases. The event was both heartwarming and saddening at the same time.
After touring the park, we again had another Hibakusha speaker. Once again the story was very depressing, yet incredible. I was tired of hearing these heart-wrenching stories, and ready for something more uplifting...
That night I attended a professional baseball game! The night was quite an experience. I want to first point out a few differences between MLB and the Japanese League. 1. The crowd does not "Boo," no matter how bad the ref's call 2. The pitchers are much worse; there were so many Balls and very few strike-outs 3. The crowd cheers in a much more organized format. Almost every fan has some sticks or bats to bang together to make noise. Apparently, clapping their hands is not sufficient. Then, when a favorite batter is at the plate, the entire crowd, in unison, bangs their bats together to the same beat, periodically calling out the batters name. It was nothing short of amazing. 5. The food stands serve completely different items (as can be expected). I had to try the hot dog and the Squid-on-a-stick. The hot dog was no dodger-dog; it was small, not filling, and expensive. However, the squid was cooked to delicious perfection. 6. Women walk around with kegs on their back to refill you're beer. No more spilling your beer on the crowded walk back to your seats.
Another difference was that, during 7th inning stretch, they don't sing "Take me out to the Ball Game." Instead, people buy these special balloons for a fair price, then blow them up during the 7th inning stretch. They then sing a song (I don't know what was said) and release the balloons all at once. It is quite a spectacle to see. I attached a video that I captured of the whole event:
It was quite a long three days in Hiroshima. I have to go to class now (yes, that school thing), but I will continue writing about the rest of my trip when I have some spare time tonight.
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