MY JAPAN TRIP: PART TWO

 MY JAPAN TRIP: PART TWO

Hi readers! Welcome back to my Japan blog. This is part two. Let me refresh your memory. Previously we left of at the majestic city of Tokyo and how I was mesmerized by its skyline and vibes.

As you may recall my last visit was The Tokyo Sky Tree. Soon after that, we had to leave for Hiroshima. And the journey from Tokyo to Hiroshima was a long one if taken by road. But, we weren’t going by road. We were going to travel by Japan’s famous Bullet Trains!

I was super excited to experience bullet trains and I could not believe that such a technology like this actually existed. As soon as we reached the platform, my eyes went to the sleek design and ‘bullet’-like shape of the trains. Here’s a photo that I took

It almost looks like the image is stretched out and that the real shape of these trains is not how it appears to be. But that is the beauty of it. In fact, I got to know that bullet trains in Japan are never late. They have a time buffer of around 30 seconds and no more than that. They are exceptionally punctual and respect the traveler’s time.

Another cool thing that I noticed was that the seats inside the train faced the same direction as the train was supposed to move. So, when I was standing at the station and the train arrived at the stop moving in, say, the east direction; and now if it was supposed to go the other way back, then the seats automatically get rotated and face the proper direction accordingly. And one more plus side was that all of the doors were automated too. Even the ones inside the washroom.

The speed with which we went, it almost made me feel as if I was an unlucky assassin mixed up with the wrong people who were going after the same briefcase as me. That was a niche reference to the movie, Bullet Train (2022), apologies if you got distracted.

 

We reached Hiroshima in the evening. And unlike Tokyo, Hiroshima was very quiet and very sober. No tall buildings, no fancy architecture, no chatter of public. It felt like a small town. Our hotel in Hiroshima overlooked a serene lake. Me and my mom spent some well-needed time together near the lakeside and had a great conversation. The vibe was so smooth and quiet it felt like we were the last remaining humans on this earth.

The next day in the morning, we went to visit the Miyajima Island. It was basically a small island in the middle of a big lake, which had a few temples and a large Tori gate in the middle of the water body.

Outside in the sun, the temperature was super hot. But somehow inside the temple there was a cool breeze caressing my face.

And that is when I realized how great the life of a Japanese monk might’ve been in the 12^th century. Imagine waking up every day in the middle of the lake, with no people nearby. Just you your thoughts, left alone, looking down upon your reflection in the water, gauging over at the sky, absorbing the sounds of nature. Such a serene environment.

 

Soon after the Tori Gate visit, we decided to go to the one place which this city was well-known for. The Hiroshima museum. No one was mentally ready to go through the horrific and abhorrent images displayed in the museum about the notorious atom bomb event.

 

 

The entire area near the museum was designed in a very serene and placid manner. There was a large memorial where many people had gathered and were paying respect to the dead. There was also a giant dome that had been destroyed but still standing. It was a whole lot to take in. There were photos and memorabilia kept outside the museum near the park. There was also a giant bell outside the museum near the park called as the Peace Bell. It was a reminder to the world about the impact and repercussions of the bombing.

 

Later on we went inside the museum to take a tour. It was filled with many people and everyone was just as apalled as we were after seeing everything. There were over a thousand stories, a thousand articles, a thousand pictures, all of them reminding the world of the horrors of that fateful day. In fact after a point it was too much for us to take in so we actually had to come outside to take a breather. This was so sensitive and one could only think about what pain the people may have gone through.
I also learnt that the horrors of the bombing did not just stop on 6^th August 1945. Rather, the survivors of the atomic bomb had to even face severe racism because of their disfiguired faces and bodies. The victims were known as hibakusha. In fact, here is what wikipedia says –

Hibakusha and their children were (and still are) victims of severe discrimination when it comes to prospects of marriage or work^[33] due to public ignorance about the consequences of radiation sickness, with much of the public believing it to be hereditary or even contagious.^[34][35] This is despite the fact that no statistically demonstrable increase of birth defects or congenital malformations was found among the later conceived children born to survivors of the nuclear weapons used at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, or found in the later conceived children of cancer survivors who had previously received radiotherapy.^[36][37][38]

 

I was deeply shocked to know about this and almost unable to fathom it. We left the museum with heavy hearts and sadness in our eyes. Later on, me and my mom, we sat near the riverside and discussed about the whole ordeal and how the world politics works today.

 

In the later part of the afternoon, it was time to leave Hiroshima and go to the next destination via Bullet Train – Osaka!

I was really excited to get to Osaka as I had heard a lot about it. There was also a recent expo related to technology because of which the city was already bustling with advertisements and decorations. In the evening we reached Osaka and checked into our hotel. My mom insisted that we explore a little part of the city right then at night using the metro and subway but I was too tired to do anything so we just decided to take rest.

 

The next day, we weren’t going to explore Osaka, but rather we were going to go to the old capital city of Japan – Kyoto. Kyoto seemed like a really small town when we entered, no different than Hiroshima, but that meant more greenery and more nature. Kyoto had a very famous place called as the ‘Fushimi Inari Taisha shrine’ where around hundreds of Tori gates were placed along the path which goes up to the mountain. There was also a very beautiful bamboo forest nearby. Walking inside the forest seemed so unreal, I actually thought that it was virtual reality for a moment. I had never seen bamboo for myself, let alone walking inside a forest covered with it.

 

The whole area felt like a maze. If anyone even accidentally got lost here at night, they would be done for. We also had authentic Japanese grilled sea food near the tourist area in Kyoto. It tasted so rich and buttery that even now as I write this article, I feel the tang on my tongue leaving a lasting effect. But that was it for Kyoto. We just spent around half a day and left back for Osaka.

 

When we reached Osaka, that was the time when me and my mom decided to go out and roam the city on our own, just like we did in Tokyo.

This time, I had done my research and knew of a famous place in Osaka known as Dotonbori. Soon the reader shall realise that Dotonbori was really the highlight of our trip.

 

But unfortunately, this is where I leave you. More stories about Osaka are to come really soon. See you next in the final part of my Japan blog.