Surprise, no rain!
I ventured out to see Hiroshima Castle today, which was rebuilt after the bombing.
The architecture of the castle was beautiful, with a towering headquarters building perched on the moat’s edge.
Unlike the predecessor which was made entirely of 16th century old growth timber, the replica was cement and rebar core covered by a traditional façade.
This construction has created an ideal multi-layered platform for a great museum explaining the history of Hiroshima from its founding in the Samurai era of the 16th century to the present. There was a thorough display of Samurai swords and armament, along with explanation of community life in support of the castle. (I couldn't help trying on the actual armour in the "Hands On" section, since there were no other tourists around. The guard just chuckled at me, as I'm sure mainly teenagers go through this effort on a regular basis.)
Also on the plate today was a visit to the A-Bomb victim’s memorial, a sunken monument to the 140,000 lost souls. One of the benefits of travel in the “off season” is the opportunity to appreciate special locations in private. I was moved, sitting in the circular hall made of 140,000 tiles. A trickling fountain in the middle of the room set a reflective tone. From the center of the room one views a panorama of the city from the hypocenter taken 2 months after. The amazing achievement is that the panorama is created entirely from small tiles. Underneath this 360-degree tile mural are the names of the neighborhoods in the blast area, with those closest to the hypocenter listed highest on the wall and those at a further distance listed below, in descending order. The entire memorial is geographically correct.
I took this picture of the "Atomic Dome" and street car in black & white for affect and to reinforce an amazing accomplishment. Only three days after the bomb was dropped, limited street car service was restored in Hiroshima.
Somewhat counter intuitively, the "Atomic Dome" survived the blast because the hypocenter was almost directly overhead. If you look carefully at the picture below, the little dark cloud above the dome happened to mark the approximate detonation point. The historical site is also flanked by a moving statuary collection.
The evening was spent eating and hanging out with Aaron, a 6’5” guy from England who had just received his David Beckham Mohawk haircut. The Japanese barber thought that it was such a thrill to shave the sides of Aaron’s head that he didn’t even charge for the service. Despite his size, stature, and potentially imposing appearance, Aaron is really a very reflective guy and great conversationalist.
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