After arriving at the hostel, we headed for Kure, which used to be the naval headquarters of Japan.
The reason for visiting Kure was to see the Yamato Museum.
The museum was amazing. The first part of the museum was showing the history of the buildup of the Japanese navy, as well as militarism in general, and how Kure evolved from a normal shipyard into a Naval powerhouse. The reason for this transformation was because of the First Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, and how both wars demanded a reliable port to transport troops and the need for a large navy.
The Yamato was the largest battleship ever constructed on the planet, and it was built in Kure. The image above is a 1/10 scale model of the ship. However, even though it was the largest and most powerful battleship on the planet, it was virtually useless because naval battles during the Pacific War favored the use of aircraft carriers, not battleships. Therefore, the Yamato was primarily used as a support ship, and was mainly used as a base of operations to conduct the fleet, often moving between the two major Japanese naval bases of Kure and Truk. Only once did the ship ever fire her guns, which was at the Battle of the Philippine Sea. After that, the last time the ship engaged the enemy was during the suicidal mission of Operation Ten-Go, where the Yamato was sent to engage American forces at Okinawa. The Yamato sank on on April 7th, 1945, before even reaching Okinawa.
Here are some pictures of the museum:
This is what the Yamato looks like now, just north of Okinawa.
Farewell letters to loved ones before departing on Operation Ten-Go.
Post cards, I assume, that can be sent from the ship (all regarding naval life in a humorous tone).
A piece of a downed American Plane, Lonesome Lady.
After both Atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it was from Kure where soldiers came to investigate and aid the victims. The above image is of a drawing done by one soldier in Hiroshima based off of what he witnessed.
This is a statue of Poseidon at the entrance of the museum. I took this picture as we were leaving.
We returned from the museum back to Miyajima for the night, because Justin and I were pretty tired. The next day, we woke up bright and early to depart for Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.
This building is known as the Genbaku Dome (atomic bomb dome). It is quite surreal, to say the least, to stand in the same spot where an atomic bomb went off, killing tens of thousands of people immediately. The Dome is pretty much the exact same as it was after the bomb went off, despite three instances of restoration (to keep it from crumbling to the ground).
Afterwards, we went to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.
These are middle school students on a drill. When the war heightened, schools became places to indoctrinate future soldiers.
Pamphlets to urge citizens to recycle whatever metal they had for the war effort.
War bonds. From the pictures above, it is easy to tell that every day life was dictated by the military and the war.
Because of the ever-growing threat of air raids, the government realized that cities and towns with densely packed houses and buildings would create a massive fire that could do just as much damage as the initial raid. Because of this, the citizens of Hiroshima were made to demolish many buildings and houses to prevent possible outbreaks of fires. Many people say that this was a factor of the high death toll, because everybody was outside the moment the bomb was dropped.
A watch with the exact time the bomb went off (8:15AM).
The epicenter of the bomb.
There are many accounts of the horrors that followed.
Young Girls picking up bones, August 7, 1945, by Harune Horimoto (16 at time of bombing, 72 at time of drawing).
"There were two young girls picking up the bones of their dead mothers. The only clue for them was a deformed bottle at the bedside that had been used for collecting small coins. They found their mothers, only half of their bodies burned. I still don't know what happened to my mother, who was in Nakajima."
The purpose of the museum is to ensure that nothing like this happens again. The tone of the museum was extremely neutral, and never hinted at any resentment, which surprised me. In fact, towards the end of the museum, there was a display of all the letters of protest written by all the mayors of Hiroshima demanding the abolition of all nuclear arms, written to either the UN or US (or both, probably). There was also a gallery of protests against nuclear arms and war from all over the world
At the museum, like many of the places we visited, were many elementary and middle school students. I couldn't imagine what it would be like for me to be there, at that age, and in my own city, to see first-hand what hell on earth looks like. For some of these kids, this could be there grandparents generation. I just wonder if they can actually comprehend what it is they are seeing, because I probably would not have been able to.
Visiting both Kure and the Hiroshima Peace Museum provided drastic contrasts to two sides of the same coin: the build-up and thrill of patriotism and militarism, and then the effects of what follows that no one thinks about.
On a brighter side, after leaving Hiroshima, we went back to our hostel in Miyajima. This is what Miyajima is famous for.
Our hostel was right on the water front, right next to the ferry that takes you to the shrine. Couldn't have picked a better location.
On the ferry.
Yeah, the shrine was cool and all. However, what really got me excited about being in Miyajima is, like Nara, they have these!
My heart was melting like crazy, and these ones didn't bite as much, either!
After we got back on the ferry, it was time to leave Hiroshima, and begin the trek back to Tokyo station. We had to ride two different shinkansens, and in total, the shinkansen travel alone took over five hours. We didn't arrive back to our dorm until well after 10:00PM. We were pretty tired, for it had been a long day.
The trip was good and memorable. I can definitely say that I returned back to Kanagawa as a different person. I'll upload some cool videos I took later, but right now, I am about to head over to some school festival. Until then, peace.
