Addisons: Bullet Train to Hiroshima

April 7, 2015

We got up early and drove to a side of the base by Fussa. After parking the car, we walked to a train stop. We used our Suica passes to take a train to the nearest train station. We rode two different trains to get to the station where the Bullet Train or Shinkansen would leave the station.

We couldn't get reserved seats for two hours so we got on a non-reserved car. Gary and I were in the same row, but on different sides of the aisle with seats between us. A man asked if we would like to sit together. Of course we did. The inside of the Shinkansen is similar to an airplane, only bigger. The seats are wider, with more leg room and there is more overhead space. The windows are bigger too.

It was rainy this morning but it is starting to clear now. There are a lot of "little cities" along the way.

These "little cities" are nothing like the little towns in Nebraska. There are many businesses and apartment buildings in each one. There are also houses for as far as the eye can see. There isn't a lot of country between these cities, unless it is mountainous.

When another Shinkansen passes us from the other direction, it is close and moving so fast we can't even see the windows.

The rides from Fussa to Hiroshima took about six hours.

When we got to Hiroshima, we took a city bus to the Hiroshima Peace Park area. We decided to find a lunch spot before touring the museum. We found a line outside of a ramen restaurant...must be good if there is line, right?

We waited and when the door slid open and two people came out, Chris and Elly went in. Soon after Joe, Gary and I went in. You ordered and paid at a machine just inside the door. Put in your money and push a button for what you wanted to eat. It was a bit of a challenge since all the writing on the machine was in Japanese.

We chose from the first line and picked a 1, 2, 3, or 4, which we guessed correctly as the heat of the dish. Then we found a place to sit on stools along the wall (no tables). We handed them our tickets from the machine and in minutes we were served bowls of ramen, onion, meat and juice. As I was getting my chopsticks ready, a man standing in line, tapped me on the back and said to mix it. I did. It was DELICIOUS!

I had a 2, which was just the right heat for me. Afterwards we all talked about how our tongues felt numb. We think they used a special hot oil in this dish. (We went back to this restaurant for lunch the next day too.)

Then we walked back to the Hiroshima Peace Park Museum. They had lockers there so we put our luggage in before walking through the displays. The museum displays were well done, informative and written in English as well as Japanese. You read and listened to the sad stories of many people. Many of the victims that they talk about in the museum were junior high students who worked after school to help with the war effort at building demolition work sites. Then we walked around the Peace Park.

This is from the sculpture in memory of the children who died. It was started by the classmates of Sadako - there are many books out with her story - Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. There were also several display cases by this sculpture with strings of paper cranes and other art work of school children.

This picture is of the courthouse after the bombing, it was in the epicenter, but part of it is still standing. The scaffolding around it is temporary. They check the building every three years to make sure it is still safe to leave standing. No one goes in it, it can just be viewed from a distance.

Another sculpture - the colorful strands on the sides are strings of paper cranes.

After leaving the Peace Park we walked to our hotel. It was western style, which means we had regular beds. Joe shared a room with us. They had a couch bed, the width of a single bed, pulled out for him. There wasn't room for much else in the little room. Joe's feet hung off the end of his bed but we were careful not bump into them.

We walked around the shopping area. We found a shop that had eight floors. It was new and many of the things in it were made in Japan. (Unlike other places where things say, "Made in China for Japan") We looked around for quite awhile and then met in the coffee shop to sit for a bit and enjoy some coffee and tea. Then we walked to a little bar that we found that served craft beers. The guys each tried two different beers. The menu even told them which prefecture in Japan it was brewed in.

Then Elly took us to a restaurant she had tried when she was in Hiroshima before for Okonomiyaki so we could compare it to the kind we had in Osaka. While waiting, we had some beers, sake, fried lotus root and gyoza (pan fried dumplings).

Okonomiyaki is a flat cake of unsweetened batter fried with various ingredients including cabbage and bean sprouts. The Okonomiyaki with oysters was the most popular at our table.