Lois Meets World

We spent a night in Hiroshima on Monday. There were some crowds at the Peace Museum, but nothing like the throngs of tourists at Kyoto and Nara. That was refreshing. We arrived in the afternoon and tried okonomiyaki—the same kind of pancake/cabbage/omelette dish we had in Osaka. I guess each city is famous for their style of making it. We liked the Hiroshima one better. It had noodles. :) We sat in a little shop at a counter where they cooked on a griddle in front of you. The owner was loud and friendly—a fun meal. Then we realized there was a koi shop not too far away. They had truly beautiful fish and were inexpensive. We were sad to learn they couldn’t ship to the US unless we had an importer license. The owner gave us a mini tour and showed us the variety he invented and bred—they were a pale pinkish yellow fish that was huge and friendly and were called mustard in Japanese. :)

Next we took a bus to the Peace Memorial Park, a large park at the epicenter of the atom bomb dropped here in August 1945. At the entrance was the A-bomb Dome, a concrete building that somehow stood after the bomb. It’s haunting. As you walk to the other side, there’s a rose garden with a direct line of sight to it. A beautiful contrast. Next to that is a large sculpture that is dedicated to all the children killed in the bombing. It was built to honor a 12-year-old girl who died of leukemia in 1955. Even today, thousands of origami paper cranes are mailed here each month in the name of peace. There are beautiful mosaics all made up of colorful cranes put together. It’s impossible not to think of all the children still affected by war and say a prayer for them.

Across the way, there is a flame that never goes out and an arch over a box with the names of people who died. All of it lines up with the dome. Truly beautiful.

Two groups of middle schoolers approached us while we were walking around and asked us if we would write a message of peace. They gave us one of their own along with two paper cranes. Drew took a photo with one of the groups—what a good field trip assignment!

Then we went inside the museum. It was heavy, full of stories, photos, and art naming the excruciating suffering experienced. There were definitely times we had to wipe away tears and times I had to look away. Witnessing their stories felt like a way to honor their losses. So difficult but important. We sat outside and processed together afterwards before we found some dinner and went to bed early.

On Tuesday, We got an early start to catch a ferry to Miyajima, a small island near Hiroshima. We saw the famous floating gate at high tide, explored a temple surrounded by fall leaves, and took a gondola up to an observation point overlooking the sea. It was beautiful and good to be in nature. We took a bullet train back to Tokyo for our final two nights. Doing a little shopping and final exploring. We went to an awesome latte art place today. I showed them a picture of Bucky, and they made my foam look like him! We also ate Lois’ favorite Japanese meal—shabu shabu. It’s a cook your own dinner in a hot pot with broth at your table. Very engaging!

We leave tomorrow. Japan has been great, but we are ready to go home.Read more