Day 11. 18th May 2016. Wednesday.

Breakfast at the Sheraton was lovely, but a little cramped . We met this lovely Malaysian girl at the live egg counter who is a fan of Hindi movies. She thought Godwin looked like Amitabh Bachchan, ha ha. Zane was in his element, sitting in his high chair, acting out scenes from a Star Wars movie. Once breakfast was done, Grandma started complaining about her ankle. She had difficulty walking. Quite possibly from awkwardly alighting from the bus the previous night. Anyway, we decided it would be best to for her to stay at the hotel as the day ahead entailed a lot of walking.

So we got to the bus stop from where the sightseeing buses depart every fifteen minutes, realized we didn't have the bus passes, Godwin made a mad dash back to the hotel to get them, and we got into the bus just in time. Our first stop of the day was the Atomic Bomb Dome, now a World Heritage Site. The crumbling brick and concrete walls rise defiantly above the Motoyasu River. I could only stare in awe at something I had read and studied so much above. The US dropped the bomb from a B-29 bomber on August 6, 1945 just above this building, it didn't destroy it because of the heat buffering the air at ground zero. What it did obliterate was everything else within a 10 square kilometer radius killing up to 80,000 people. Radiation poisoning eventually sickened others, resulting in an estimated final total death toll of 135,000 people. Before the bomb, this area which is now the Peace Park was the commercial heart of the city, which is precisely why the pilot picked it as his target .

I was very hesitant to add Hiroshima to my itinerary because I was traveling with young children and I didn't want to show them the absolute devastation that would be apparent. I hadn't explained to them the events of WWII that lead to this sort of mass destruction. But when I spoke to my cousin (Danzel) who had been here, he told me I had to add it. It was the highlight of his trip to Japan. So I did. And now, I had to find a shaded place to sit and explain to the boys the magnitude of what they were looking at. I had to tell them how and why this happened, and why it was important for them to know this, and for us to tell the story going forward so this doesn't happen again. They enjoyed learning about the events that lead to the bombing, and then we walked past the merciful goddess of peace statue, across a bridge where there were street performers performing (and Zane threw in their cases a few coins) onto the other side to the Childrens Peace Monument. On the way over, I told them the story of Sadako.

So, the Children's Peace Monument is also called the "Tower of a Thousand Cranes", for many thousands of folded paper cranes are offered there all through the year. Sadako was exposed to the bombing at age two, contracted leukemia ten years later. Believing that folding paper cranes would help her recover, she kept folding them to the end, but on October 25, 1955, after an eight-month struggle with the disease, she passed away . Her death triggered a campaign to build a monument to pray for world peace. The Children's Peace Monument that stands in Peace Park was built with funds donated from all over Japan. On top of the pedestal, a bronze figure of a girl holds up a folded crane On the stone underneath is an inscription that reads: This is our cry. This is our prayer. For building peace in this world. We sat on the pavement, looked at the memorial, but more than that, watched hundreds of Japanese school children perform some sort of ceremony in front of it.

Then, we walked to the Cenotaph for the A-Bomb Victims, which is an arched tomb for those who died because of the bomb, either because of the initial blast or exposure to radiation. Below the arch is a stone chest holding a register of these names, of which there are over 220,000. I read somewhere the flame in the cenotaph is intended to burn until the last nuclear weapon has been destroyed. The carefully worded Japanese message on the cenotaph translates in English to: Please rest in peace, for we/they shall not repeat the error. The we/they discrepancy is a result of an intentional turn of phrase, which was very interesting, I thought. Everything about this place promotes peace and mourns what has been lost. It carefully limits its message to just that, I thought, and blame, anger, accusations are noticeable absent. I never thought a place that has witness so much death and horror could emanate such a sense of peace and tranquility .

Then we walked towards the museum, by which time the boys were hot and tired, found some benches in the shade of lovely trees, and gave them a snack and a drink. And then, my dilemma, do I take them into the museum or not? I knew some of the exhibits were graphic and I didn't want to scar them but I really really wanted to go. And when I said to Godwin I want to go see it, Zach wanted to go too (he loves museums). So we decided to check at the ticket counters if children were allowed inside and then take a call. There were hordes of elementary school children waiting to go inside, so that was a good sign. We went to the ticket booth and asked if it was okay for the kids. They said of course, children are free....

The museum puts into perspective the scale of the tragedy with exhibits such as blistered roof tiles exposed to the bombs heat rays. I shielded the boys from the very graphic displays like the blistered tricycle that a four year old was riding when the bomb dropped that burned him to death . Melted glass, coins, charred clothes. The photographs of Sadako's funeral were sad, and I didn't show it to them, walked them by that area. Also, there were wax figures of a mother and child with melted flesh that I shielded them from and didn't let them see. We exited, along with the sombre crowd, and I had to sit for a while to take it all in. Never forget. That is the message this place sends across and rightly so. We left with a new appreciation of the importance of peace.

We then took the bus to the station, and there were a couple of Japanese girls giving out tiny paper cranes. They beckoned the boys over and gave them once each. The boys were thrilled and claimed the cranes were just like Sadakos! Then they said they were hungry. There's a Mac Donalds there that Zane wanted to go to and we indulged him. We then went to find the platform to catch a train to the ferry terminal to get to Miyagima Island. Again, this was covered by the Japan Rail Pass. Found the platform, got in line with a few other tourists, boarded the train and then I realised Zane didn't have his cap . Zane was distraught, but the train was pulling out of the station and there was nothing to be done. Then, he fell asleep and when the train pulled into our stop, Godwin had to carry him to the ferry terminal that was about a 5 minute walk away from the station. You literally had to follow the crowd to find the way, it looked as though the entire train was going to the island! We boarded the ferry, found seats on the top, and enjoyed the ride to the island. Zane was still sleeping. Zach and I went to the railing to watch the ferry approach the island and we caught the first glimpse of the famous red floating torii gate as the ferry approached the terminal. The Itsukushima Shrine is what its actually called and the sight of the gate floating in the water is one of the three best views in Japan.

When we were planning our itinerary, I was checking sunset times and high tide times to see which date would be most ideal. There was lots of discussion on online forums as to which view was better, the torii gate at sunset or the torii gate at high tide where it appears to float on the water. We were extremely fortunate to find a day to come to this magical island where the sunset time and the high tide time coincided. Doesn't happen often, guessing from all the charts I was checking. Anyway, it was still early in the afternoon and I wanted to take the boys to the aquarium. Zane was still sleeping and Godwin was carrying him. We alighted from the ferry and I consulted my map, to check which way the aquarium was. The island is quite walkable, but I thought I would check with the information booth lady about the location of the aquarium and how long it would take to walk there. I am so glad I asked, because the woman at the counter couldn't have been nicer. She said the aquarium would close shortly so the best thing to do would be take a taxi, especially considering Zane was still sleeping and Godwin was still carrying him. She said at a brisk walk, the aquarium was about 20 minutes from the ferry terminal. So we got outside, flagged a cab and were on our way. The island is beautiful and the roads, narrow and winding. Zane suddenly woke up in the taxi. And then, I had the most hilarious conversation with him that really had me in splits. Zane fell asleep on the train and now he was in a taxi on the island. So he asked - how did we get to the island? I said - ferry. He said they put us on a broom? I was like what? What broom? He was like don't fairies usually transport themselves on brooms? So did this fairy put us on one? I had to explain to him what a ferry was, and I couldn't stop laughing about it, much to Godwin and Zach's annoyance. I also told Zane its witches that usually use brooms as their primary mode of transportation, not fairies. 

The aquarium was brilliant and the kids really enjoyed their time there. Not only were there fish, there were penguins and seals and other sea creatures as well that the boys enjoyed viewing. Zane was only scared of the eel like fish that resemble snakes because of his irrational fear of snakes so I had to keep shielding him from those. The aquarium is very child friendly and educational as well, and had a lot of exhibits for the kids which were hands on. Like you could hold the starfish if you wanted or pet the penguins. Once we finished with the aquarium, we walked down to the Itsukushima Shrine and took some pictures. We still had a while to go before the sunset, and Godwin went ahead to scout for a perfect place to set up his tripod. In the meanwhile, the boys and I walked along Omotesando street and stopped at a cafe for some coffee for me, hot chocolate for the boys and some japanese sweets. Also, we met more deer here. Like Nara, there are wild deer all over the place. Again, they are aggressive if they see you with food, so we were very careful with the boys snack bag. Deer, like I mentioned before, are considered sacred and holy (kinda like the cows in India I guess) and are allowed to roam free on the island as messengers of the Gods. 

On the way to find the perfect spot for the sunset picture, we passed by the five-story pagoda that is famous on the island. Then, the boys and I went near the waterfront and found some stones to sit and watch and wait for the sun to set. The island is famous for its oysters and eels but I'm not a fan of seafood, so it didn't do much for me. It was tranquil and peaceful after the horrors of this morning. We talked, people watched and one particular deer kept coming near Zane, perhaps aware of the Oreos he was eating! We saw a lot of families walking about on the island, and I think a lot of people were staying in the ryokans on the island, but for us, I think the half day trip was enough. We watched in fascination when, at one point, a toddler ran away from his mom and jumped onto the back of a small deer, who bucked in fear and ran away. I'm not sure who was more scared, the kid or the toddler. Zane was a little bored as the hours passed, and started playing on the rocks with an imaginary light sabre and pretending to be a Jedi Ninja.... As the sun began to set, the place started filling up, and I have to say, yeah, it was pretty amazing. There was this backpacking couple who probably just off the ferry and came running with all of the gear and made it just in time. I smiled at them and they said they were glad they got a chance to see it as they were leaving on the morning ferry. 

As it turned dark, and once Godwin was completely satisfied with all the pictures, we slowly made our way to the ferry terminal. Zane was excited because he had been zonked on the way over. We got to the terminal, boarded, landed on the other side, and made our way to the station for the ride back to Hiroshima Station. We were talking on the train, and I had an eye on my phone that was tracking the location and in error, I made us all jump out of the train one station ahead of Hiroshima. The boys were so unimpressed and grumbled for the whole three minutes it took for the next train to come...

The first thing we did when we got there is visit the Mac Donalds where Zane had left his cap. I walked up to the counter and asked the staff if they had found his cap. The girl didn't understand a word of english and it helped with I took my phone and showed her a picture of him wearing it. Then realisation dawned, she ran to the back of the room, found a guy who was probably the manager, who then went back inside and brought Zane's cap neatly packed in bag. Zane was so grateful he forgot how to say thank you in Japanese (arigato gozimasu) and had to be prompted!

Another end to another wonderful day in Japan. It was a long day, and a full day, but I think one of my most favourite days of the entire trip.

Coming up: Whirlpools and more trains! 
Steps walked: 13,702