Hiroshima

Lundi nous arrivons sur Hiroshima (en même temps que tous les autres touristes on dirait). Nous allons directement au musée de la paix en passant par le dôme qui était la mairie et qui est l'un des seuls bâtiments restant. Il y a trop de monde dans le musée ce qui rend la visite plus difficile et il est moins intéressant que celui de Nagasaki. Moins d'explications et moins dénonciateur.
Puis nous allons dans le parc du château qui est rempli de cerisiers en fleurs (la carte mémoire de l'appareil photo se remplit trop vite...) et le soir nous allons boire un coup avec Cyrille qui est aussi au Japon.

Le jour d'après nous allons sur l'île de Miyaji qui est l'une des 3 plus belles vues du Japon et jumelée avec le Mt St Michel. Les daims sont en libertés sur l'île et il y a un magnifique Torii (porte) dans l'eau. Nous prenons le funiculaire pour accéder au sommet de l'île où des temples se cachent dans la forêt, la vue est magnifique sur la baie. Nous redescendons à pied ce qui nous permet d'avoir une très belle vue sur le village et le Torii. Nous attendons le coucher de soleil pour prendre quelques photos puis nous rentrons sur Hiroshima où nous pouvons enfin avoir notre saucisse purée dans un pub. Nous finissons la soirée dans un bar métal (ils connaissaient ni Mucc ni Dir en grey :'( ), nous pouvons échangé avec les barmans japonais en anglais et en français car l'un d'eux a travaillé 3 ans sur Marseille! Le monde est petit!

On Monday we arrived in Hiroshima - along with all other white tourists in Japan, it felt like. We went straight to the Atomic Bomb museum, passing the A-bomb dome on the way. The A-bomb dome is the former city hall, which was directly beneath the atomic bomb when it exploded (at a height calculated to cause the most destruction possible). Most of the city was completely destroyed by the blast and fires and subsequently reconstructed but the citizens decided to preserve the A-bomb dome, as it came to be known, exactly as it was after the bomb in remembrance of the suffering. The museum was very similar to the museum in Nagasaki, but I found it less moving - probably because there were so very many people crowded into the rooms. The tone of the museum was also different - in Nagasaki the tone is neutral, bordering on critical of the Allies (which seems fair), in Hiroshima the tone was more apologetic.

Next we headed to the grounds of Hiroshima Castle, which had beautiful cherry blossoms. Full bloom was on Sunday, so the petals were still covering the trees but just starting to fall. I managed to catch some petals as they fell to the ground and make a wish, and even caught an entire cherry blossom that fell off the tree. Guillaume took some very artistic photos. In the evening we met up with a friend of Guillaume's and his friend who are travelling in Japan too.

The following day we went to Miyajima, an island off the coast of Hiroshima, which is one of the three most scenic spots in Japan and twinned with Mont St Michel in Normandy. The weather was beautiful and so was the island - it has shrines all over it with Torii gates and little statues, deer roaming free and cherry blossoms in full bloom. We took the cable car most of the way up the central mountain and then climbed to the peak for gorgeous views over the sea and the mountain. Then we made our way back down in time for sunset and high tide at the main torii gate situated in the sea. The vermillion gate (cleverly illuminated) against the blue sea and setting sun was brilliant - it definitely earns its title as one of the best views in Japan. After taking millions of photos we headed back to Hiroshima and found an Irish pub for tea (where I had the sausage and mash I've been craving since India) before going to a heavy metal bar. The staff at the bar were incredibly friendly (despite not knowing MUCC, Dir en Grey or X-Japan, much to Guillaume's disappointment) and it turned out that the chef had spent three years living in Marseille! Small world. 

A-bomb dome

château Hiroshima

Miyajima

bébé buddha