Our first Christmas in Japan was all about observing the new traditions in the world around us. For our second Christmas here, we simply embraced it all in our own way.
Early December marks the beginning of illumination season. In the U.S., it’s common to decorate homes and even entire neighborhoods with sometimes elaborate lighting displays. In Japan, individual homes don’t really get into the act. Instead, shopping centers, parks, train stations and more light the winter skies with massive shows of moving lights and music. And while the Christmas displays in stores disappear the morning of December 25, the illumination shows stretch well into the new year.
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The elaborate illumination show at Caretta Shiodome
The elaborate illumination show at Caretta Shiodome
A couple poses for wedding photos at Caretta Shiodome’s Canyon d’Azur light display
This year, we visited Caretta Shiodome, widely considered to host the best illumination show in Tokyo. The theme for this year’s display, Canyon d’Azur, is reflected in the cold, blue lights that rise above the short path winding amongst them. Disney songs are the soundtrack for the light show, which plays every 20 minutes.
During one of the intermissions, a couple and their entire wedding party posed for photos in front of one of the lighted tree sculptures while Father Christmas officiated nearby.
Holiday/birthday fun at Lindsay’s place with Cassie, Owen and Vanessa
A few days later, we kicked off party season at our next door neighbor’s place with several of the crew from TIU. It was a combination birthday/Christmas party, which made for some wacky decorations and outfits.
Santa Claus stopped by Kawagoe City Hall to give Tokimo, our city’s sweet potato mascot, an early Christmas gift
A couple days before Christmas, our monthly city newsletter arrived in the mail. The photo on the cover qualified as an instant classic, featuring Kawagoe’s sweet potato-shaped mascot Tokimo posing with Santa Claus at the City Hall. More importantly, it was photographic evidence that Santa was in Japan!
One of Santa’s elves arrived dressed as a Kuroneko delivery driver to bring a selection of holiday-themed beers from around the world
On Christmas Eve day, a selection of holiday-themed craft beers from around the world arrived at our doorstep. I had no idea our Kuroneko delivery driver worked for Santa! It was possibly the largest collection of hops in a single location in the entire city that day.
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Sushi with the Section 5 crew. Akinari and Ayano have it figured out. Takumi is trying his best to muster a smile, but what’s up with Hiroto’s face?!
A Section 5 reunion after a year abroad!
On the evening of Christmas Eve, we met up with some of last year’s students for dinner at the sushi place near our house. Three of them studied in America last year, so it was cool to see how their perspectives changed. I was also reminded of how much food college students can pack away in a single sitting. Those days have long since passed for me…
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Christmas Day class party with a student who came to school dressed as Santa. He said he received many odd looks on the train.
Mt. Fuji socks!
Two-toed socks (tabi) make a butterfly when put together
On Christmas morning, Santa slipped in a little gift for Viktoria in the form of Japanese two-toed socks called tabi. Unfortunately, there was no time to enjoy them as Christmas day in Japan is more commonly known as “Friday,” which also happened to be a work day this year.
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Our KFC-inspired Christmas dinner
Japanese-style potato salad in the shape of a Christmas tree
I bought too many mini Christmas cakes
That evening, we recreated the “traditional” Japanese Christmas dinner with a vegetarian spin on KFC’s fried chicken meal, featuring southern-fried tofu and buttermilk biscuits. After scouring the internet for other Christmas recipes, I also came up with potato salad shaped like a Christmas tree, trimmed with carrot stars and cucumber peel garland. And Christmas cakes. So. Many. Mini. Cakes.
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A Christmas bounty from home included six bottles of Frank’s Red Hot Sauce, one of which is nearly gone already!
Santa took a header into the chimney on the way to delivering a gift card from home
Some manly-smelling beer soap featuring actual craft beer as the main ingredient
Thanks to the global delays in shipping, goodies continued to show up at our door in the days following Christmas. Our old friends Frank, Justin Cheryl and Whitman came tucked into a box from my mom in the form of hot sauce, peanut butter cups, cookies and chocolate respectively. A card from my dad featuring Santa head over teakettle in the chimney contained a very generous gift card.
A bar of Apricot Wheat beer soap from my brother arrived the day after Christmas. I literally had the camera in hand, taking a picture of it for this post, when the doorbell rang. Santa’s Japan Post affiliate delivered two companion pieces made from Sierra Nevada and Samuel Adams beers. A note in an e-mail read: “Combining local beers so you feel at home, but soap so you both can lather and always smell like a Portlander.”
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Visitors posing for selfies in front of Tokyo Station’s Marunouchi Building illuminations
Crowd control at the Tokyo Station illuminations. We were herded in groups from the station exit to the viewing area.
Tokyo Station Hotel up close
The Tokyo Station Marunouchi Building was heavily damaged by bombings during World War II. A five-plus year renovation project completed in 2012 restored much of the building’s original architecture.
Tokyo Station Hotel
This statue of Santa was probably missing a chimney for his foot to rest on. The bell looked more like a bottle of liquor, so maybe Santa was just striking a Captain Morgan pose?
Lighted trees line Marunouchi’s Naka Dori shopping street
Tokyo Station Hotel illuminations. In 2012, an impressive projection mapping display caused major traffic problems, leading to the more toned-down lighting display.
Kids pose for a photo with a statue of famed Meiji-era novelist Natsume Sōseki, author of “I Am a Cat” and other commentaries of life around the turn of the 20th century
We wrapped up the Christmas season with a trip into central Tokyo’s Marunouchi district for the last night of illuminations at the restored Tokyo Station Marunouchi Building. In 2012, an impressive 4D projection-mapping display caused major traffic headaches due to the massive crowds, so subsequent displays have been more toned down.
Yet, large crowds still poured out of Tokyo Station. We were ushered like cattle from the station to the viewing area between cloth barriers held by event staff. We snapped some photos, then walked down Marunouchi’s Naka Dori shopping street through the remains of the event’s Christmas Market.
Christmas 2015 is now officially in the books and the New Year is right around the corner. Hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and best wishes for 2016!
Our road to Tokyo’s controversial Yasukuni Shrine started with empty stomachs.
It’d been months since we’d visited the gluttonous paradise of Loving Hut‘s vegetarian buffet. I loosened my belt, hopped on the train and headed for Tokyo’s Chiyoda ward. It’s hard to justify the nearly three-hour round trip just for lunch, so we figured we’d also check an item off our “to-see list” and hit up Yasukuni Shrine as well.
Lunch was even better than anticipated and I approached it with the vigor of a man facing his last meal. I was reminded of an early episode of The Simpsons, which also had a great joke about “fish bread” that sums up our typical eating-out experiences in Japan…
Yasukuni Shrine Flea Market
After the feast, it seemed prudent to walk the mile to Yasukuni Shrine. Approaching the main gate, we saw a couple tents set up selling used clothing. Then we noticed that the tents just kept going and going.
The path to Yasukuni Shrine was lined with vendors for the twice-monthly Yasukuni Flea Market
We’d lucked into the twice-a-month Yasukuni Shrine Flea Market. 150 vendors line the entry path to the shrine, hawking everything from the aforementioned clothes to pottery, books, toys and more. Secondhand goods are a rare find in Japan as it is, so stumbling upon a flea market is like finding gold at the end of a rainbow.
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A young hawker at the Yasukuni Flea Market filled the air with his shouts of “Irasshaimase!”—the typical cry of welcome into a Japanese shopping establishment
Clothing and more at the Yasukuni Shrine Flea Market
A couple wait patiently for someone to check out their collection of anime character action figures
A very pink and Hello Kitty-heavy collection at the Yasukuni Shrine Flea Market
$2 boots?! Only at the Yasukuni Shrine Flea Market!
The main gate to Yasukuni Shrine
The prices were also lucky for Tokyo standards, with nice pieces of tableware going for just 300 yen (about $2.50 USD). Viktoria scored a pair of boots for just 200 yen ($1.65) from a vendor who was also a terrible negotiator. The price started at 400 yen, but when we noted they were a bit too small, she lowered the price to 300 yen. When we pointed out a small pull in the zipper, she dropped it to 200 yen. My guess for her negative-negotiating fervor is the boots are cursed… only time will tell!
Yasukuni Shrine’s main hall
A Controversial Memorial
Yasukuni Shrine itself isn’t any more spectacular than any of the other major shrines in Tokyo, but its history is far more polarizing. Established in 1869, Yasukuni enshrines the spirits of those who died in battle while fighting for Japan. At present, nearly 2.5 million people have been deified in the shrine.
The official stated purpose of the shrine is as as memorial to those soldiers, relief workers and factory workers who supported various war efforts. However, critics view the shrine as a monument to Japan’s imperial military past. The first soldiers to be enshrined fought for Emperor Meiji in Japan’s civil war (Boshin War), which effectively ended the Edo Period and shogunate rule in Japan.
Yet, it was the post-World War II enshrinements that cast the shrine in its current controversial light. More than 5,700 Japanese military personnel were convicted of war crimes by international tribunals in the years following the war. Class A charges were levied against the leaders who planned and directed the war, most notably General Hideki Tōjō, Japan’s prime minister and the man responsible for the bombing of Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor in 1941. The remaining ranks were charged with Class B and C infractions for “conventional” crimes as well as crimes against humanity.
War criminals were initially excluded from enshrinement in any Japanese shrine. In 1954, the government began to loosen the restriction and Class B and C criminals were enshrined at Yasukuni over an 8-year period beginning in 1959.
In 1970, the shrine resolved to accept the Class A war criminals for enshrinement, a decision that mostly flew under the radar at the time. However, the residing priest postponed the enshrinements until after his death. In 1978, the Class A criminals were enshrined in a secret ceremony.
Japan’s wartime emperor Hirohito refused to visit the shrine after the enshrinement; a close advisor wrote that the emperor was “displeased” with the decision to include the Class A criminals. His son, the current Emperor Akihito (who incidentally celebrated his 82nd birthday yesterday), has never visited the shrine.
A simple visit to the shrine can put public figures under unwanted spotlight. An October visit by two mid-level Japanese cabinet members led to official condemnations from the governments of China and South Korea, two countries who suffered greatly at the hands of the Japanese during the war. China’s Foreign Ministry publicly criticized pop star Justin Bieber after he was photographed at the shrine during a 2014 visit.
In November, a bomb exploded in a shrine restroom during the annual autumn festival. The bomb was believed to be a politically-motivated response to the remilitarization of Japan’s armed forces—a purely-defensive organization since the end of WWII.
Erasing The Past?
As far as I know, the Chinese Foreign Ministry hasn’t publicly condemned our visit. The only real difference I noticed from any other shrine is that photographs were strictly forbidden. A solitary security guard waved off anyone attempting to photograph the shrine up close. The shrine’s website has strict rules about media coverage that apparently extends to the average visitor.
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A memorial to Japan’s WWII tokko pilots, better known as kamikaze pilots, outside the Yūshūkan military museum
A Japanese “Zero” fighter plane, similar to the ones used in the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, is displayed in the lobby of the Yūshūkan military museum
Yūshūkan, a military museum located on the shrine’s grounds, doesn’t do much to help the image of glorifying the war era. A statue of a tokko pilot—better known as a kamikaze pilot—stands outside the musuem. An A6M “Zero” fighter plane, similar to the ones that attacked Pearl Harbor, is on display in the museum’s front room.
Yasukuni raises an interesting question about how to embrace the questionable parts of a country’s past. Is it right to ignore the souls of two million soldiers who were just following orders, no different than any other soldier of any other nation during any other war?
Japan, for its part, has spent much of the last 70 years apologizing, but the current government is starting to back off that policy, much to the outrage of China, Korea and others. Short of Japan fully falling on its sword over WWII atrocities—effectively committing modern-day political suicide—the conflict between these countries isn’t going anywhere.
The sun shining through the willow trees in Yasukuni’s Shinchi Teien garden
Embracing Today
The sun shined brightly through the few orange and yellow leaves that remained on the barren winter maple trees in Yasukuni’s Shinchi Teien garden. War and controversy would be the furthest thing from anyone’s mind crossing the stone bridge over the garden’s pond.
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The last of the changing leaves peek through the barren winter branches
Standing
Standing in the tranquil Shinchi Teien garden on the outskirts of Yasukuni Shrine
A young couple dressed in traditional Shinto wedding clothing payed their respects at Yasukuni’s alter. Young archers practiced in the distance behind the shrine’s sumo arena, home to the annual spring wrestling tournament. The Nōgakudo stage was empty, but is often filled with traditional Noh plays and dance performances. The lively flea market began to quiet as vendors packed up their wares.
I don’t know the right answer for Yasukuni. The families of Chinese and Korean citizens who suffered during World War II have a right to be upset by the “glorification” of war criminals. Japanese who lost family members on the battlefield of not just WWII, but countless other wars, have a right to be upset that their loved ones aren’t allowed to rest in peace. Americans who lost loved ones at Pearl Harbor would be justified in cringing at the monuments to those responsible for taking their lives.
Maybe the right answer is that there isn’t one. To move forward, someone will have to be willing to leave the past behind. It will take the strength of nations, which is a lot to ask in this day and age.
In the process of documenting our experiences living in Japan over the last two years, I somehow failed to write a basic “This is where we live” post. So let’s remedy that!
A Rich History
Kawagoe’s post-Edo Period history began with its founding in 1889. In 1922, it became Saitama Prefecture’s first official city. Today, it’s Saitama’s third-most populous city—roughly the same size and population as Anaheim, California.
But Kawagoe’s history extends much further back. Located near the foothills of the Okuchichibu Mountains, it’s a rich agricultural region. The area played an important role in feudal Japan due to its central location in the Kanto Region, earning it the nickname “Koedo,” meaning “Little Edo” (Edo being the former name of Tokyo).
In 1545-1546, a massive battle took place at Kawagoe Castle between warring samurai clans. More than 85,000 soldiers from the Uesugi clan attempted to take the castle from the Late Hōjō clan. Just 3,000 Hōjō soldiers held off the attack until 8,000 reserves arrived.
Despite being significantly outnumbered, the Hōjō mounted a sneak attack in the middle of the night, ending not only the siege but also wiping out the Uesugi family. Kawagoe Castle became the western line of defense for Edo and the Kawagoe Domain earned its place as an important stronghold for the ruling Tokugawa shogunate during the Edo Period (1603-1868).
While the story may be the stuff of movies, it actually became the stuff of video games. The Siege of Kawagoe Castle was featured as a storyline in the 2010 Nintendo Wii game “Samurai Warriors 3.”
Kawagoe Today
The preservation of Kawagoe’s history makes it a popular tourist destination. It’s an easy 30-minute train ride from Tokyo and offers something for everyone.
Kawagoe’s most famous landmark, Toki no Kane (Bell of Time)
The centerpiece of the city is Toki no Kane, or the Bell of Time. The tower was originally built between 1624 and 1644. The original was destroyed by the Great Fire of Kawagoe in 1893 and rebuilt a year later. Today, it still rings at four key times during the day.
Kurazukuri Street features well-preserved warehouses from the 18th and 19th centuries
After the fire in 1893, fireproof warehouses built from clay and tile began to spring up all over the city. Kurazukuri Street retains the look with warehouses dating back to the 18th century, housing artisan shops, cafes, museums and more.
Kashiya Yokochō (Confectioner’s Row) features local snacks, candy and more
Kashiya Yokochō (Confectioner’s Row) is one of the most popular stops—certainly one of our favorites! On the narrow pedestrian alley, locally-run shops sell traditional candies, crackers and snacks. Shrimp-cracker sandwiches and 3-foot-long bread sticks are among the local specialties.
Crea Mall is a little busier during festival season
The pedestrian-only Crea Mall offers a more typical shopping experience just outside Kawagoe Station. In addition to smaller, locally-owned shops, you’ll find Gap, ABC Mart and Starbucks. It’s a great place for a little shopping, lunch or drinks.
Kawagoe Naritasan Betsuin, a Buddhist temple that also hosts the monthly Kawagoe Shrine Sale
Kitain is home to several important buildings of the Edo Period and hosts some of the city’s best New Year’s festivals
Renkeiji Temple is on the city’s Seven Lucky Gods walking tour and hosts the monthly Kawagoe Farmers Market
Closeup of a few of the Rakan at Kita-in
We also seem to have an unusually-impressive collection of shrines and temples. Kita-in is the most famous, founded by Buddhist monks in 830 A.D. In 1638, a fire burned much of the temple. Then-shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu donated several buildings from Tokyo’s Edo Castle to the shrine to help rebuild. Edo Castle was largely destroyed in the Great Kanto earthquake of 1923, leaving the structures at Kita-in as the only remaining original buildings.
A collection of 500 stone statues featuring disciples of Buddha fill a garden on the temple grounds. Folklore suggests that if you visit in the middle of the night, one of the statues will feel warm to the touch. When you return in the daylight, you’ll find that statues resembles you. However, I’ve never seen the gates to the statue open, so I guess there’s no way to know for sure…
With New Year’s right around the corner, Kita-in and Naritasan Betsuin Temple are both great places to literally ring in the New Year as you can wait in line to gong the large bronze temple bells (ō-bonshō).
The Koedo Loop Bus is a fun way to see all the sights in one day
If you only have one day in Kawagoe, you can use one of the old-style Koedo Loop Buses to get around town. The bus stops at all of the landmarks and for just 500 yen ($4.13 USD), you can buy an all-day hop-on/hop-off pass. You can also pick one of the walking tours if you’re up for a lot of walking. The Seven Lucky Gods walking tour hits all the best temples, Confectionary Row, the warehouse district and the Bell Tower.
Our Neighborhood
We live in the suburbs of Kawagoe, Saitama, about four miles from the city center. Despite choosing our apartment from some roughly-translated faxed floor layouts, we found ourselves in a perfect little neighborhood.
We have a great park just a couple blocks away and three large grocery stores within a 10-minute walk. The nearby bakery is a fun place to hang out on a Sunday morning and the baker often comes out of the kitchen to greet us personally before finding a little something extra to drop on our tray only after we’ve already paid.
Your typical “tiny” Japanese home?
We’d heard horror stories about the small sizes of Japanese homes. They certainly do exist, but not in our neighborhood. Our apartment is in the middle of a residential area with mostly single-family homes. Having watched some of them be built last spring, I know them to be mostly 1,400-1,600 square feet with three to four bedrooms and multiple living spaces. Regardless of size, Japanese apartments and homes use the available space very efficiently.
Kawagoe Stories
Check out some of the older posts featuring stories from daily life in Kawagoe.
Recently we stumbled on a small grocery in central Kawagoe. In addition to locally-grown grains, they had also had a decent selection of organic products and even a couple vegetarian items! I had just “liked” them on Facebook (because I like them in real-life) when the flash of a logo caught my eye. The Kawagoe Farmers Market!
The Kawagoe Farmers Market at Renkeiji Temple
Most local events are advertised to, well, locals, meaning everything is in Japanese. The farmers market site is no different, but with a bit of translation work, I figured out it’s held monthly at Renkeiji Temple in the heart of the old town area called Koedo. Back home, spending a Saturday wandering around local farmers markets was one of our favorite activities. We’ve found a couple really good ones in Tokyo, but making the hour-plus trip into the city can be daunting. We were excited to check out this local option.
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Decorating reusable bags featuring the Kawagoe Farmers Market logo
Kids watch as their mother explains how to puncture the orange to insert the cloves
A local band performing for the rain-soaked crowd
The market was bustling considering the cool and soon-to-be rainy weather. A local band performed at one end of the market; the music could be heard from a block away. Kids and adults alike toiled away at the craft tables, making Christmas ornaments, pomander balls (clove-poked oranges) or decorating reusable market bags.
Our heads swiveled back and forth, led by our noses, as market-goers walked by with lunches prepared from locally-grown ingredients. Soups, noodles, sweet potatoes, tea, coffee and sake.
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Ramen with a unique sauce, raw onion slices and a homemade wakame/caper garnish
Braving the rain at the Kawagoe Farmers Market
Tall chairs, little legs
The light rain didn’t stop anyone from enjoying the market, but the roof over the Renkeiji Temple bell tower did become quite popular
The unforecasted rain didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits. The Japanese are magically prepared for rain in a way I’ve never seen anywhere else. Adorable children popped open equally-adorable umbrellas that engulfed their tiny frames. In the area with the food stalls, people ate with one hand while holding umbrellas over the table with the other.
We ordered a unique take on ramen for lunch. Thick noodles tossed in a homemade sauce and topped with thinly sliced raw onions and a special blended sauce made from wakame (seaweed) and capers.
Oyaimo—Japanese taro root—is in season and sold by all the produce vendors, including Narukawa Farms
A friendly local who spoke near-native English explained the mysterious seasonal produce to us. In addition to a beautiful head of purple cabbage, we bought a bag of oyaimo—Japanese taro root— and some sweet yellow carrots. A local farm offered free-range eggs. We bought a bubble-wrapped bag of 20 to go. We rounded out our purchases with some really flavorful black rice crackers and an organic black rice beer.
Waffles at the Fuku Fuku Stand near Renkeiji Temple. Cranberry syrup on the left and maple syrup on the right.
As we exited the shrine, I noticed a waffle stand that we’d seen on television a couple months ago, but never managed to stumble upon. One last snack for the day!
On Monday, my Facebook feed filled up with photos that vendors and visitors took at the market. Full bellies, full hearts and full smiles everywhere!
Last month, the guys over at BeerTengoku ran a contest offering free Japanese craft beer for simply connecting with them via the blog and various social media sites. Much to my surprise, I received an e-mail last week letting me know I was the winner of the contest!
BeerTengoku is easily the go-to English-language site for the burgeoning craft beer scene in Japan. It’s run by ex-pats who noticed the lack of information available in English and they’ve filled the gap admirably, featuring beer reviews, interviews with craft brewers and details about events all over the country.
My prize arrived last night and featured a great selection of six beers from breweries all over Japan. Once they’ve been enjoyed, I’ll make notes over at the Beer Journal.Here’s the lineup:
House IPA by Tamamura Honten Sake Brewery, Nagano Prefecture
Stout by North Island Beer, Hokkaido Prefecture
IPA by North Island Beer, Hokkaido Prefecture
Smoke & Fire Habanero Stout by Baird Beer, Shizuoka Prefecture
Red Ale by Iwate Kura Beer, Iwate Prefecture
Imperial Red Ale by Ise Kadoya Brewery, Mie Prefecture
Tradition trumping modernity brings me great joy. For more than 300 years, the Chichibu Yomatsuri (Night Festival) has been held annually on December 2 and 3. It doesn’t matter if those days fall on the weekend or, as they were this year, Wednesday and Thursday.
The midweek schedule didn’t stop visitors flocking from Tokyo and beyond out to the small town in the foothills of the Okuchichibu Mountains. The festival is considered one of Japan’s three great float festivals alongside those in the cultural titans of Kyoto and Nara.
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Special Chichibu Yomatsuri sake with one bottle already in the sake-dispensing machine
Various dumpling (gyoza) soups—from left to right, chicken carcass soup, red miso/hot pepper soup and clear soup made from pork broth
Grilled rice cakes (yaki onigiri) on a stick
Hot sake was abundant on the cold night
Just a few of the dozens of food vendors lined up around Seibu Chichibu Station
Omusoba, an egg omelette wrapped around yakisoba noodles and topped with an egg, ketchup and mayonaisse. Delicious!
Cheese is wrapped inside a piece of rice paper and deep fried. Yeah, it’s as good as it sounds.
The best part about night festivals is that they start around dinner time, so it’s a great excuse to pig out on festival food. There’s a lot of festival standards, but each town also has its own unique festival foods. In Chichibu, we saw a variety of dumpling soups and omusoba, which is an egg omelette wrapped around yakisoba noodles and topped with a sunny-side-up egg, ketchup and mayonaisse. It was kind of amazing.
December 3 is the main day of the festival. The parade features floats carried from Chichibu Shrine to the city hall where they’re displayed and used as stages for kabuki performances.
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At the intersection near Ohanabatake Station, the floats are rotated in the shape of the の (“no”) character in a performance called nonoji mawashi (“turned in the shape of no”).
The opening procession features lanterns painted with the names of the Chichibu neighborhoods the carrier represents.
The opening procession features lanterns painted with the names of the Chichibu neighborhoods the carrier represents.
The massive yatai (ornate float) is pushed and pulled through the Nakamachi district
The float is lifted and turned, angling the 20-ton float in ways that make it appear as if it will tumble over.
A man sitting atop the float while it’s leaning to and fro…
The float jacked up, listing waaaaay forward.
Large wooden pillars are used to raise the float while it’s rotated during the nonoji-mawashi performance.
The float parade is lively with a group of young people leading the way with chants of “Ho-ryai!” (“Hooray!”). The massive float follows behind, performers waving lanterns on the stage built into the front and others hanging from the top, at least 20-feet above the ground.
Read an interesting perspective on the building of the floats at Sonic-Yoshi
The ornate floats, called “yatai,” are built using Japanese elm wood and weigh as much as 20 tons. They move slowly through the streets until they reach the intersection near Ohanabatake Station. Here they perform a ceremonial turning of the float called nonoji-mawashi, or “Turning in the Shape of No.” In this case, “no” is the character の.
The danger is palpable; the gasps from the crowd audible. It takes a dozen people using long wooden pillars to lift the end of the float enough that someone can crawl underneath and rearrange the direction of the wheels. Dozens more push the behemoth into its の-shaped turn. All the while, the float lists, leans and wobbles like a disaster waiting to happen.
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Chichibu Yomatsuri Hanabi
Chichibu Yomatsuri Hanabi
Chichibu Yomatsuri Hanabi
Chichibu Yomatsuri Hanabi
Before, during and after the parade, the sky lights up with hundreds of fireworks. Hanabi (firework viewing) is usually a summertime event, so the show in Chichibu is unique in December. It also gave us an opportunity to try out the “Fireworks” setting on our camera, capturing some fun shots.
I find myself running out of superlatives for the things we’re so fortunate to experience in Japan. Chichibu is one of our favorite places in Japan (see here and here and here) and it just received another tick in the plus column.
Today, the Tokaido (literally “East Sea Road”) is made up of major highways and the Tokaido Shinkansen line, the world’s busiest high-speed rail line linking Japan’s biggest cities. If you’ve ever traveled between Tokyo and Kyoto, you’ve been on the Tokaido.
But the Tokaido has a long history. 400 years ago, it was the most important of the five roads linking the then-capital of Kyoto to Tokyo during the Edo Period (1603-1868). Travelers would traverse the 514-kilometer path by foot, stopping along the way at the 53 (later 57) post stations where they could rest, eat and purchase supplies.
Utagawa Hiroshige’s ukiyo-e painting “16th station : Yui” shows the view of Mt. Fuji from Satta Pass.
The original 53 stations were captured in a series of ukiyo-e (wood block paintings) by Utagawa Hiroshige, the last great master of the artform. His collection, “The 53 Stations of the Tokaido,” ushered in a new era of landscape painting and is one of the most popular series of paintings in the world.
A couple weeks ago, we found ourselves on the Tokaido for the fall conference of the Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT) in Shizuoka City. The city itself wasn’t incredible noteworthy, but it’s location on picturesque Suruga Bay plants it squarely in the middle of history.
Not much remains of the original road, but a hiking route still exists along Satta Pass—one of the most dangerous areas of the original road—between the 16th station at Yui and the 17th station at Okitsu. Since we were staying near the 18th station (Ejiri) in Shimizu, we decided to arrive a day early and walk a bit of the Tokaido.
Our first view of Mt. Fuji was a surprise
Before heading out, we stopped for breakfast near Shimizu Station. We sat on a sidewalk bench facing the shops, enjoying our meal when I glanced over my shoulder. I nearly choked on my coffee when I saw the imposing Mt. Fuji filling up the background between the buildings. We rotated 180-degrees and finished our meal.
The plan was to follow the Tokaido from Ejiri to Yui. We popped into the tourist information center and asked for guidance on our proposed path. In typical Japanese fashion, we were given an answer to our specific question. However, more useful advice would have been to skip the stretch from Ejiri to Okitsu.
The modern-day Tokaido is a major highway overlooking Suruga Bay’s active industrial area.
The three-mile walk to Okitsu wound through modern neighborhoods, past working warehouses and along the current Tokaido—a major highway. We were already tired by the time we reached Okitsu, but a quick stop for taiyaki got us going again.
Our first sign—two hours in, we still had 82 minutes to go?!
A narrow walkway between buildings leading to the trail up to Satta Pass
A view of Suruga Bay from the start of the trail to Satta Pass
The entrance to the trail to Satta Pass goes through a cemetery… a sign of things to come?
Near Okitsu Station, we started to see people looking “hiker-ish” with their backpacks and comfy walking shoes, telling us we were probably on the right track. Even with the all-in-Japanese map we received at the tourist center, the start of the trail was tricky to find—and not just for us.
A Japanese couple had been about 100 feet behind us since Okitsu Station. We compared maps and notes, trying to find our way to the trail. Eventually, we took the road less traveled, heading up some stone steps along a narrow cement retaining wall where we found a set of stairs. Our new friends waited at the bottom for our signal… YES! We found the trail!
The Satta Pass marker, but where was the view from the painting?
We followed the paved road up through the orchards, the trees plump with bright oranges ready for harvest. Finally we arrived at a proper trail, following it through a cemetery and up another hill. Before long, we came to the marker indicating the stretch known as Satta Pass. Just around the corner, we caught our first view of Mt. Fuji from the pass.
Mt. Fuji! Our first look at the grand mountain from Satta Pass
Mt. Fuji from Satta Pass
Mt. Fuji from Satta Pass
Mt. Fuji from Satta Pass from the location that inspired Hiroshige
There is another famous collection of ukiyo-e paintings by Katsushika Hokusai called “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji.” We created our own version of this as there wasn’t a bad photo from the pass, which has two great viewing areas. A platform is set up with signage comparing the view from the pass to Hiroshige’s original painting.
Looking over the orange orchards at Suruga Bay
We soaked in as much of the view as we could, then continued down the trail. The local orchard sold bags of mikan oranges for just 100 yen at a small rest area and parking lot and sold several bags while we caught our breath (including one to us!).
I saw a lady doing this, so I figured it was the thing to do!
A rusty train with a track that ran straight up the hillside to move crates of oranges out of the orchards
A couple heading toward Satta Pass from Yui Station carry a bag of freshly-purchased oranges
Views of the mountain continued to pop in and out between the orange trees. We passed hikers coming from the opposite direction, still full of energy and smiles as they were just getting started, likely ignorant to the hills that awaited them.
The old streets of Yui
A group of older Japanese hikers caught up with us as we entered the old streets of Yui, which were reminiscent of the old part of Kawagoe. They had planned to make their way all the way to the mountain, but rain on Fuji cut their plans short. They were great walking companions for the stretch run, making chit-chat with us along the way.
A “decorative” gate in front of Yui Station, showing the sakura-ebi (cherry shrimp) that are famously found in Yui’s part of Sugura Bay
We arrived at the Sakura Ebi (Cherry Shrimp) Street gate in front of Yui Station exactly five hours after our first glimpse of Fuji at breakfast. Walking in the footprints of history is exhausting work, the welcome sight of the station just as satisfying at it might have been in the 1600s.
On our last day in Hiroshima, we went off the beaten path to the small town of Saijō. Located a scenic 45-minute train ride from Hiroshima Station, Saijō is famous for being home to 10 of Japan’s best known sake breweries, earning it the title of Japan’s Sake Capital.
First things first. I owe sake an apology. When I had my first beer at, let’s say, 21 years old, I was not a fan. It was probably some garbage like Coors Light. But as I discovered craft beer, I found a love for the creativity and passion brewers put into their products. Each is unique, the character of the individual brewer represented in every beer.
I didn’t like sake when we came to Japan and frankly wasn’t interested in trying it until a few months ago. If you agree with me, you’ve probably only been exposed to table sake like I had been. It turns out the sake brewing industry is as diverse and creative as the American craft beer scene.
In touring six of the eight breweries in Saijo’s city center, we learned more about sake than we ever thought possible. There are strict guidelines for way rice is milled, how long the sake ferments and at what temperature. There are two distinct styles that have different flavor profiles from brewer to brewer.
Sake 101
First, the word “sake” itself isn’t entirely accurate. In Japanese, “sake” means “alcohol” or “liquor” and refers to all alcoholic beverages. I once asked the shelf-stocker at the grocery store where the “sake” section was. He pointed to the entire beer, wine, etc. cooler with wide arms outstretched.
If you want “sake” in Japan, you want nihon-shu, or Japanese liquor. You can also find shochu, a distilled spirit closer to brandy or vodka.
The quality of sake depends on how much of the rice bran has been milled away before the brewing process begins. For table sake, there are no minimum requirements for the milling, while the best quality daiginjo/junmai-daiginjo has 50-60% of the bran milled away. The rice is a special variety that is only used for sake—it actually tastes horrible on its own. More than 80 varieties of sake rice are grown in Japan.
Table sake is the lowest quality of sake. If you’ve ever had hot sake or sake from a large plastic jug, you’ve had table sake. It’s the most common, making up 80 percent of the sake market, and usually tastes closer to rubbing alcohol than something you want to kick back with.
For premium sake, production branches into two paths. Honjozo, Ginjo and Daiginjo are made with pure distilled alcohol added into the brewing process. It results in bright, fragrant and crisp flavors. The Junmai styles don’t contain any distilled alcohol, instead relying on the natural alcohol created by the fermentation caused by Koji mold. Junmai sake has a fuller flavor profile with a thicker mouthfeel.
“Sake Town”
Saijō knows sake is what brings the visitors to town, so as soon as you exit the gates at JR Saijo Station, you’ll find the visitor center offering maps (in English!) guiding the way to the city’s various breweries. You’ll be offered variations of this map at each brewery as well. We collected three different brochures before we started turning them down.
A sample of the Sanyotsuru Hachimaru Junmai, a typical table sake. We bought a couple of the “Fuji” glass that the samples were served in.
Sanyotsuru, a brewery that has been making sake in Saijō for more than 100 years, was our first stop. It’s blink-or-you’ll-miss-it building has a charming tasting room. The first taste is free, but each additional taste is only 5o yen (about 40 cents USD) and it’s worth it to add on. Plus, the tasting expert taught us a new word that would come in handy for the rest of the day: shiin or “sample a drink.”
The well at Hakubotan Brewery. The pure drinking water is part of what gives Saijo sake their unique flavors.
From there, we walked to the center of town, arriving at Hakubotan.Hakubotan is the oldest brewery in town with origins dating back to 1675. Outside, their well offers free drinking water to passer-bys (one man was filling up his drinking water jugs to take home), the same water used to make the sake. The fresh spring water is part of what gives Saijō sake its unique flavor. The folks at Hakubotan weren’t quite ready for us on a Wednesday afternoon, but they broke out the bottles and offered three good quality sake samples.
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The doors to the warehouse of Saijotsuru Brewery. Today’s building looks exactly as it did when the brewery was founded in 1904.
The chimneys of three of Saijo’s sake breweries rise above the modern apartments. Only Saijotsuru still uses its chimney in production, but the preserved steam stacks are part of the attraction today.
The generous samples at Saijotsuru Brewery. This was the third brewery we visited and we felt a little light on our feet after this one.
Across the street, we popped into Saijotsuru. Saijō’s history is charmingly on display with the tall brick chimneys that were used in the traditional brewing process, but Saijotsuru is the only one that actually still uses its chimney in production. The overachiever in town, it’s unfiltered Junmai-Daiginjo has won 10 consecutive Monde Selection Gold Medals.
Saijotsuru was also the most generous in its samples. One other customer was in the tasting room and had likely been there for awhile based on the glow in her cheeks. In addition to the five bottles on the tasting counter, the tasting expert pulled a couple more bottles off the shelf for us to try. We were starting to get a little light on our feet after our visit.
The Kirei Brewery building is often used in the photos promoting the town. Its sake is unique as its more dry where Hiroshima sake is typically sweeter. They’re also famous for their sake-infused udon noodles and soaps.
We wobbled down the street another block to Kirei. We were met by an older man who gave us a bit of the side eye. He seemed really nervous and the vibe was a little odd. In hindsight, I think he was anxious about having to use his English. After a few minutes and a few questions about his sake, he started to lighten up a bit.
Kirei’s sake was unique in that it was a lot drier than the other breweries. The crisp flavor was a nice break from the sweeter varieties.
The samples at Kamoizumi were some of my favorites of the day and the host was great.
We walked to the end of the street where we were met by a goofy young man at Kamoizumi. He gave us a sample of their drip-pressed Junmai-Ginjo, which ended up being one of my favorite tastes of the day. He also told us Hillary Clinton had visited a couple weeks before and bought a bottle of $200 sake. While I couldn’t verify this visit in the news reports, it made a nice story.
We were about sampled out, but he suggested we make one more stop at Kamotsuru.
The chimneys for Kamotsuru Brewery, easily the most impressive brewery on the tour.
At Kamotsuru Brewery, an old rice steaming vat (right) and its wooden rice basket. This vat could hold three tons of rice and produce 4,000 bottles of sake.
Kamotsuru lets visitors pour their own samples. Dangerous!
Trying to look normal while working my way through the samples at Kamotsuru.
A brown bushel of cedar branches called sugidama hang in the doorway of every sake brewery. They’re green when they are placed after the first bottle of sake for the year has been produced. When the branches turn brown, the sake is ready to drink.
Sake barrels are stacked at Kamotsuru Brewery. This is a traditional way for brewers to ask for prosperity in the Shinto religion.
Kamotsuru is the Hiroshima sake, brewing under its current name since 1873. It uses Japan’s best rice and employs Japan’s best brewers. It’s been the favorite of Edo period feudal lords and was the first brewery to make premium sake available to the general public.
But for all of its history, Kamotsuru earned a new place in Japan’s popular culture thanks to a hastily snapped photo in 2014. U.S. President Barrack Obama was visiting Prime Minister Shinzō Abe in Tokyo and the pair dined at the famous Sukiyabashi Jiro sushi restaurant in Tokyo. (Side note: If you haven’t watched the wonderful documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi, check it out ASAP.) A photo of Abe pouring Kamotsuru’s Daiginjo Tokusei Gold into Obama’s cup made the world news circuit and reignited the brewery’s popularity.
The photo appears several times in the tasting room as part of the marketing for the Daiginjo Tokusei Gold. And it worked as it was among the bottles we brought home with us. Each bottle features two gold foil flakes in the shape of cherry blossoms.
Sakagura Dori
In addition to the samples at the breweries, the walk itself is rather enjoyable. Sakagura Dori—or Sake Storehouse Road—gives a taste of what life might have been like in the 1600s as the Edo-era lords came to enjoy the best sake in the world. Each of the breweries have painstakingly restored their buildings, including original features whenever possible. The bright white storehouses stand in contrast to the gray modern apartments and shops that now share space with them.
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The old streets running between the breweries offered a glimpse into life during the area’s heyday.
The well-preserved and still operating Fukubijin Brewery warehouse. Fukubijin was Japan’s first incorporated sake brewer and ran the national brewer’s training school until the 1970s.
The city’s sake brewers hand-drew the mark for “sake” along with a biography of their brewery. Each provided a glimpse into the different personalities that go into creating sake.
One of the brewers was more creative than his peers…
These guys were peering out the window of an apartment. After our fifth brewery, it was a pretty hilarious sight.
Saijō was a great way to wrap up our Hiroshima adventure, getting out of the city for a taste of the countryside. For more details on the city and the walking tour, head over the Saijō Sake website.
Who would have guessed one of the coolest things we’d see in Hiroshima is a corporate car museum? Unbeknownst to us, Hiroshima is home of the Mazda Motor Corporation’s world headquarters and the company offers free tours of its in-house museum and assembly line.
Mazda World Headquarters in Hiroshima along the Enko River
The multi-story gray office building isn’t overly impressive from the outside. Inside, the lobby shines with that showroom look you’d find at most auto dealers. The 2016 model cars are all on display in the showroom; the new tire smell permeates the air and takes me back to my days washing cars at the Honda dealership the summer before college.
The 2016 Mazda Miata Roadster
The waiting tourists ooh and ahh over the cars, each coated in Mazda’s sexy Soul Red paint job. Details about each vehicle are projected onto the floor, giving the experience a high-tech feeling. Everyone wants to take a turn sitting in the sleek 2016 Mazda Miata Roadster.
We’re told we’ll be taking a bus to the museum. It turns out the drab gray office building is just the trailhead to the main event.
On the bus to the museum. We shortly learned that no photos were allowed on the bus or in the factory, so technically this is an illegal selfie.
Our guide gave a quick overview in English as we made the five-or-so minute trip to the museum entrance. The headquarters and factory are a small town within a town, complete with apartments for employees and its own private bridge crossing over the Enko River.
Some of Mazda’s original models, including one of its first pickup trucks and the Familia, the forerunner of the Mazda Protege
We watched a short film on the history of the company. Mazda started out as Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd in 1920, a struggling manufacturer of artificial cork. Jujiro Matsuda, Mazda’s founder and a wealthy water pump magnate, took over management of the company and turned its focus toward tool manufacturing.
The Mazda-go was the company’s first vehicle and changed Mazda’s focus from tool manufacturing to vehicle manufacturing.
In 1931, the company now known as Toyo Kogyo released its first vehicle, a three-wheeled motorcycle with a truck bed called the Mazda-go. It was sold under the Mitsubishi name and featured a unique combination of the Mazda name over the Mitsubishi three-diamond logo on its gas tank. The success of the trike sent the company down a new path—vehicle manufacturing.
After the end of World War II, Toyo Kogyo played a major role in the rebuilding of Hiroshima; its own factory heavily damaged by the bomb. The appearance of the Mazda-go around town in the days after the bombing was a boon to the city’s morale.
Over the years, the company continued to produce new vehicles with the Mazda branding, but it didn’t officially change its name to “Mazda” until 1984.
The plaid seats of the 1978 RX-7
The 787B won the 24 Hours of LeMans race in 1991, the first and only Japanese manufacturer to win the race
The future of Mazda—its electric and hydrogen-powered concept vehicles
An example of Mazda’s stamping process shows the steps from a piece of sheet metal to the molded finish on the actual vehicle
Mazda’s Hydrogen Rotary Engine powers its hydrogen/gasoline hybrid vehicles
Our favorite part of the museum was one of the places photography was strictly prohibited—the factory floor. The massive assembly line pumped out vehicle after vehicle, using a combination of robots and humans to accomplish individual tasks. Dashboards were installed at one station and the windshield at the next. Large claws—like you’d find in a arcade UFO Catcher game—lifted the vehicles to another station where the engine would be raised into the vehicle from below.
I could have stayed there all day, impressed more by the amount of engineering that went into designing the assembly line itself than the vehicles it was building.
The small-scale clay version of the CX-series crossover SUV
A clay model of the interior of the CX-series crossover
A full-scale plastic model of the CX-series crossover, built to get a good look at the vehicle’s aesthetics before production begins.
Back in the museum, we saw some of the artifacts of the design process. Once a vehicle design concept has been created, clay artists build scale models of both the interior and exterior. Once the design is approved, a full-scale plastic version is created, giving a better sense of some of the manufacturing issues that might be encountered.
Just before returning to the bus, we were taken to a window overlooking Mazda’s private port. We saw massive parking garages outside, full of recently-completed cars and SUVs. They’d be driven onto the waiting ships in the port to be taken to other parts of Japan as well as overseas. If you drive a Mazda, there’s a good chance it started its life right here in Hiroshima.
A map of Mazda’s factory campus in Hiroshima
Visiting the Museum
Reservations to visit the museum can be made online up to a year in advance, but we made ours just a couple days before. The tours only run Monday-Friday and the English tour starts at 10 a.m. The museum is easily reached by train from Hiroshima Station.
If you can’t make it all the way to Hiroshima, Mazda has partnered with Google to make parts of the tour available via Google Street View. You can see the Entrance Hall, the History wing, the Rotary Engine wing and the Technology/Future wings of the museum. Alas, to see the best part of the tour—the assembly line—you’ll have to visit in person.
How do you think about the unthinkable? From a young age, I’ve been fascinated by Hiroshima. In grade school, I read a book adaptation of the 1983 television movie The Day After. While the movie/book focused on a fictional Cold War nuclear attack, it stirred a desire to learn more about what happened in the world’s first real atomic bombing.
In middle school, I did a presentation on Hiroshima. It involved a diorama and an egg cracked from a foot above, representing the mechanics of the bomb. I showed photos of the “human shadows” that I found in library books. The flash of the bomb was so bright it bleached the concrete, leaving a dark “shadow” of anything in between, including people. It was pretty heavy stuff for an 11-year-old.
Sometimes I worried whether having an interest in something so horrible was normal, but it turns out it’s at the core of who we are as humans. Research shows that witnessing the suffering of others triggers our deepest sense of compassion. It’s almost as if it is happening to us. It’s why events like the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the September 11 attacks and the recent events in Paris capture our attention so thoroughly.
History in Shades of Gray
History seems like something that should exist in black and white. An event occurs, it’s recorded and that’s that. In reality, history lives in shades of gray, colored by the perspective of those who experienced it.
It’s also stained with the hues used by those who write it.
Over the years, I’ve read accounts from the crew of the Enola Gay, the bomber that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima. I’ve read the justifications from politicians of the time as well as the opinions of modern day pundits. The most common argument is that the bomb saved lives by ending the war prematurely. On August 9, the day the second bomb was dropped in Nagasaki, U.S. President Harry Truman said:
We have used [the atomic bomb] in order to shorten the agony of war, in order to save the lives of thousands and thousands of young Americans.
True, the war did officially end with Japan’s surrender to Allied forces less than a month after the bomb fell on Hiroshima. But in reality, the U.S. had very strategic reasons for dropping the bomb on Hiroshima in particular.
Hiroshima had not been subject to repeated bombings unlike Tokyo, Yokohama or Toyama. It would be easier to determine the destructive power of the bomb on a pristine target. Once Hiroshima was confirmed as a target, all planned air raids were canceled to keep the city intact.
Hiroshima had several military targets thanks to its location on the sea. But more importantly, U.S. intelligence (incorrectly) determined there were no Allied prisoner of war camps in the city. However, at least a dozen American POWs were killed in the blast, a fact not acknowledged by the U.S. government until the 1970s.
The most significant consideration may have been the Soviet Union’s decision to enter the war against Japan. The U.S. utilizing the atomic bomb had as much to do with thwarting the opportunity for Soviet influence in the region as it did with “saving lives.”
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park as seen from the Peace Memorial Museum. The Memorial Cenotaph and Flame of Peace can be seen in the foreground. The Atomic Bomb Dome is in the distance.
The Story of the Bomb
We tried our best to create balance in our Hiroshima visit, knowing that the day at the Peace Memorial Park would be a weighty one. We ate okonomiyaki, drank sake and visited historic and beautiful Miyajima. But absorbing the atrocities of the bomb were an important part of the visit.
Just 50 yen (40 cents USD) gets you in the doors of the powerful and well-done Peace Memorial Museum. English-speaking tour guides offer their services for free. The guides are volunteers who have a connection to the bomb in some way. Our guide’s father lived just outside the city in 1945 and was exposed to radiation in the days that followed. He still qualifies for the special government health care pass for Hiroshima victims.
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“Mother and Child in the Storm” invokes the spirit of ordinary people to overcome grief and suffering
The Gates of Peace feature the word “Peace” in 49 languages. The 10 gates invoke Dante’s Nine Circles of Hell, plus the 10th Circle—the living Hell created by the bomb
Schoolkids walk by the Fountain of Prayer, commemorating those who died from their burns while begging for water.
The Peace Clock Tower sounds every day at 8:15 a.m., the exact time the bomb exploded over Hiroshima
A small painted stone was tucked behind the flowers in front of the Memorial Cenotaph
The Monument to 8:15 at the National Peace Memorial Hall is surrounded by roof tiles, shattered by the explosion
The museum is special not only for its contents, but also for its role in redeveloping the area around the hypercenter of the bomb. Construction of the museum and surrounding park began in 1952, focusing on remembering the victims in a way that promotes ongoing peace in the world.
The aim of the museum isn’t to paint America in a poor light. This museum is about peace going forward while making sure future generations don’t lose sight of the realities of what happened on August 6, 1945.
Photo taken by the crew of the Enola Gay one hour after the bomb exploded over Hiroshima (National Archives)
Inside, the first image you encounter is a wall-sized photo of the mushroom cloud, taken by the crew of the Enola Gay an hour after they dropped the bomb. It’s followed by snapshots taken by amateur photographers from outside the city. Even in a city that had grown used to air raids, there was a sense that this one was different.
A lifesize replica of bomb victims, their skin dripping from their bones
The realities of the destruction and the toll on human life are presented in provocative detail. Crumbling brick walls line the hallways. A scene backlit in a fiery red shows women and children walking through the rubble, their clothes hanging in tatters and their skin literally melting off of their bodies. Sadly, this isn’t done in exaggeration, but in historical accuracy.
A scale model of Hiroshima showing the size of the fireball created by the atomic bomb and complete destruction of the surrounding area.
A scale model shows the size of the fireball caused by the explosion in comparison to the city below. It’s massive and unimaginable. The shockwaves and firestorms flattened the entire city.
Yoshito Matsushige’s photo of a makeshift relief center, one of only a handful of known photos from the day of the bombing. The young girl at the back found her father at the relief station, but her mother was killed in the blast.
Photos from inside the city on the day of the bombing are rare. According to our guide, there are only three, taken by photographer and Hiroshima resident Yoshito Matsushige. Matsushige recognized the importance of the moment, snapping a photo of a family reuniting outside a makeshift relief center. Other memories of the days surrounding the bombing are thoughtfully captured in drawings from those who survived.
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The rubble of the city is recreated inside the Peace Memorial Museum, approximating the feeling of life in Hiroshima in the days after the bombing.
“Little Boy,” a replica of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima
Photos show the shadows created by the bomb’s flash. At far right, the pattern of the woman’s dress burned into her skin.
Iron shutters on a building buckled under the pressure of the blast
Part of the original girders of the Aioi Bridge buckled from the pressure of the bomb’s blast. It’s unique T-shape provided a perfect target for the Enola Gay.
Two thick volumes list all of the victims of the bomb. Best estimates are 66,000 killed by the bomb and another 69,000 injured.
A school pin on the tattered remains of a school uniform worn by a girl on the day of the bombing.
Tattered school uniforms worn on the day of the bombing.
Personal belongings gathered in the cleanup. Metal and glass containers melted and fused to each other.
The pressure from the blast impaled this shard of glass into a concrete wall.
A white wall stained by the radioactive black rain that fell as the bomb remnants mixed with the residue from the fires.
The Kabe Police Relief Station struggles to cope as more injured persons are carried in. Drawn by Shigeko Yano, 30-years-old at the time, on August 8, 1945.
The physical artifacts carry the most weight. Remnants of school uniforms burned off the children who wore them. Small details are left intact, like a school pin attached to a shirt collar. A metal lunch box with a child’s lunch still inside, burned to an unidentifiable black mass.
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A person sitting on the steps of Sumitomo Bank waiting for it to open was exposed to the flash from the atomic bomb explosion. Receiving the rays directly, the victim must have died on the spot from massive burns. The surface of the surrounding stone steps turned whitish from the intense heat rays. The place where the person was sitting became dark like a shadow.
The shadow on the steps of the Sumimoto Bank as it appeared in the days after the bombing.
Sumimoto Bank donated the steps of its Hiroshima branch. The steps show one of the aforementioned “human shadows.” It’s thought to belong to a customer sitting on the steps waiting for the bank to open. A dark spot still remains, its owner vaporized by heat of the 10,830°F blast. In an instant, humans disappeared from the face of the planet leaving nothing but a dark spot on the ground.
The tricycle belonging to 3-year-old Shinichi Tetsutani, killed on the day of the bombing. His beloved tricycle was buried with him.
Shinichi’s Tricycle
One of the more touching stories accompanies a rusted tricycle belonging to 3-year-old Shinichi Tetsutani. Shinichi was riding his beloved toy in front of his home on the morning of the bomb. He was badly burned by the flash and died later in the day.
Shinichi’s father felt his son was too young to be buried alone, so he buried his boy and the tricycle in a grave in the backyard. Forty years later, Shinichi’s father recovered his son’s remains and moved them to the family cemetery. The tricycle was donated to the museum.
Hiroshima’s Children’s Peace Monument, dedicated to 12-year-old Sadako Sasaki who famously folder 1,000 paper cranes as a wish to recover from leukemia caused by the atomic bomb.
Children’s Peace Monument
One of Hiroshima’s most famous stories belongs to Sadako Sasaki. Sadako was the inspiration for Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, a children’s book written by American author Eleanor Coerr. The real-life Sadako was 2-years-old on the day of the bombing, living just over a mile from the hypercenter. The force of the blast sent the toddler through a window of the family home. Her mother found her outside, apparently unharmed.
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Actual cranes folded by Sadako Sasaki in her hospital room as she battled leukemia. These are about the size of a U.S. quarter.
Actual cranes folded by Sadako Sasaki in her hospital room as she battled leukemia. These are about the size of a U.S. quarter.
Smalled cranes folded by Sadako Sasaki in her hospital room. These weren’t much larger than the common housefly.
The statue of Sadako atop the Children’s Peace Monument
Some of the thousands of cranes donated by people all over the world
A dove created with hundreds of folded paper cranes
A close-up of the dove, the paper cranes can be seen in detail
Nearly 10 years later, Sadako developed an acute form of leukemia and was given a year to live. While in the hospital, she met another girl just a couple years older than herself who told her the legend of senbazuru. Anyone who folds 1,000 paper cranes would be granted a wish.
In all, she folded more than 1,400 cranes, some as small as a housefly, before losing her battle in October 1955. Her classmates folded 1,000 cranes that would be buried with her. The paper crane is now a popular symbol for peace in Japan and around the world.
In 1958, the Children’s Peace Monument was unveiled in the Peace Memorial Park. Sadako is on the top, holding one of her cranes. During our visit, groups of children passed through to ring the bell which, of course, has a bronze crane attached to its chain. Around the outside, display cases hold thousands of paper cranes that have been folded by children around the world and donated to the park.
Hiroshima Today
Today’s Hiroshima resembles most other major Japanese cities, built and rebuilt since the 1950s and full of office buildings, shops, restaurants and parks. Yet, Hiroshima’s history always contains a dark footnote.
Hiroshima Castle catches the afternoon sun
Hiroshima Castle was constructed in the 1950s, but was destroyed by the atomic bomb and rebuilt in 1958.
The Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall opened on August 5, 1915, but was destroyed by the atomic bomb. The rubble has been preserved as the Atomic Bomb Dome.
The historic Shukkei-en Gardens were designed in 1620, but suffered extensive damage by the atomic bomb and were renovated in 1951.
Messages on the wall at Fukuromachi Elementary School. The wall was blackened by the fire. Teachers and pupils wrote messages regarding their whereabouts on teh wall with chalk. Similar messages were written on walls all over the city. Those searching relief stations for family and friends looked for messages like these.
Fukuromachi Elementary School opened in February 1873. 160 students and teachers were killed by the atomic bomb. It reopened in May 1946 with 37 students.
To experience Hiroshima in person is to have the most effective history lesson possible. Hiroshima wasn’t a city full of military personnel; it was a city of families. Mothers. Fathers. Brothers. Sisters. It was people going about their daily lives in the midst of a World War. Fishermen and businessmen. It was a city of people whose lives were destroyed in a literal instant.
But it’s also a city of hope, literally built on the mistakes of the past. It’s living proof of the resiliency of people in spite of the evils carried out in the name of war and righteousness. Hiroshima is a lesson that should never be repeated, but should be learned from over and over again.
