LuisJp

We sometimes use the same kanji, chinese charater, to the words with different sounds. For example,

1) 天津(Tenshin) is the name of one of the major cities in China, Tianjin. Or, 天津丼(Tenshin-don) is the name of one of the popular Japanese-Chinese dishes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenshindon

2) 天津小湊(Amatsu-Kominato) is the name of a port town in the Boso peninsula, which is famous for its Tai, the king of fish in Japan.
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%AF%9B

And more, we spell "つ" with tsu or tu. All these tricks could make a search by alphabets more difficult.

kalihiwai2

Thanks for the great trip report
Taking notes

Peter_T

DAY 3. KURASHIKI
Sorry for the wait! As promised, here is the next instalment:

Since there were no curtains in my room I woke up together with the sun and decided to walk around before I had to leave.
There isn’t anything worth of sightseeing in the small town I stayed the night, but there is a shrine (Omiya Jinja) nearby, so I went to check it out and, funny thing, I found an old kura storehouse just like the ones I’d be seeing the in a few hours in Kurashiki, only much smaller. Having the place to myself, I wasn’t embarrassed to stop and stare at it closely, so I was able to have a good look at the architecture.

Back at my hostel, I don’t know how I managed to fall asleep again after packing my bag and having a shower, but when I woke up it was already half past eight so I quickly got up and hurried to the station, leaving a note behind saying I had enjoyed my stay very much. I like to be at the different sites at opening time to make the most of the day, but I arrived a little late to Kurashiki.

For those of you wondering what there is to do in Kurashiki, the city has a neighbourhood by the name of Bikan preserved as it was in the Edo Period. The buildings in Kurashiki are traditional Japanese storehouses known as ‘kura’, hence the name of the city. Kura were used to store only precious items, like rice or sutras later on, and started appearing as early as the Yayoi Period. There are many types of kura storehouses such as ‘azekura’ (log cabin), board-wall kura (you can see some at Shirakawa-go), ‘ishigura’ made out of stone… but the ones we find in Kurashiki are known as ‘earthen kura’. These types of constructions usually have a wooden structural frame with the walls being covered in clay and coated with plaster in order to make them fireproof. In Kurashiki we can see two different styles of tiling: laid diagonally and fixed with white plaster to keep them in place — this style of tiling is called ‘namako’ (literally ‘sea cucumber’ because of the rounded plaster) — and horizontal tiles. I think the tiling is to protect the walls from damage since the clay isn’t too strong.

Today, many of these old storehouses have been turned into museums and shops. In all honesty I wasn’t sure if I’d like Kurashiki too much since it seemed to be a more touristy area but, although it was touristy, many of the people there preferred to do some shopping while I was completely alone in the museums I went to. I enjoyed Kurashiki very much.
Reaching the Bikan area I first stopped at the information centre to buy a ticket for a boat ride (500yen) down the canal passing through the middle of town. I had arranged the dates so that I would be in Kurashiki on a weekend since they only offer boat tours on Saturdays and Sundays, and I had my fingers crossed it wouldn’t rain today.
They gave me hour for 10:30 and since it was just past 9am, I had time to visit one museum first. The Toy Museum was my favourite, with displays of toys from all over Japan ranging from figures portraying legendary characters such as Kintaro, Momotaro, and the one and only Urashima Tarou (to state the most popular), but also full tables of kokeshis, darumas, kites and —I had to look up this word on translator, so I’m not sure if it is correct— spinning tops. The owner of the place has the world record for spinning a spinning top for the longest time, and he had his certificate displayed for all to see.

I left the museum running once I saw what time it was, and the boatman was delighted to see a foreigner in Kurashiki. I think the boat was what made my day, nobody there spoke English and the twenty minute tour down the canal was entirely in Japanese but the guide was very expressive and very interested in what he was saying: his excitement showed and made me excited too, even though I didn’t understand much.
We crossed another boat with a couple getting married, we had to duck underneath trees at some points and we were able to see the beautiful houses from the water, as well as some old writings under the bridges.

After the tour, Momotaro Museum was next up. I found this place a bit disappointing. Although I’m an immature twenty year old who loves legends and ‘children things’, this place was a bit too childish even for myself. That being said, I’m sure it would be fun for kids — there were many optical illusions that were amusing, and most of the books, posters and figurines were child-oriented. A man who worked at the museum showed me around, and there was also a small horror house in a corner of the museum which, I must admit, was pretty scary because I couldn’t see where I was walking.
After making a quick stop at Ivy Square (I don’t really know what there was to see there other than, well, ivy) I walked around a few shops. The things I bought in Kurashiki were a tenugui towel since I hadn’t brought any towel from home for after my showers, and two tatami heri (borders) with beautiful patterns —one black with golden flying cranes and the other blue with different fish pictured—, both from the Toy Museum’s gift shop. I also met a big statue of Kitaro from ‘Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro’, so of course I asked someone to take a photo of me with him.

Achi Shrine is also easy to find, though nothing other worldly. I sat down on some steps at the back of the shrine to eat a few snacks I had, but was interrupted by a giant wasp buzzing around me. I got out of there before it decided to come any closer and decided to go for lunch since it was already pretty late (in Spain we eat at 2pm).
I tried Kurashiki's food speciality before leaving, Bukkake Udon, at a place near the station, but let's just say I was glad when it was over.

Tonight I’d be sleeping in Onomichi, so I thought I could make a stop at Fukuyama Castle on my way there. It does seem like I’m changing hostels every night and doing lots of ups and downs, but it turned out cheaper for me to move around as I saw the sights rather than base myself in one place and have to return there after every day. I was excited to go to Hiroshima so it was nice being on a train going in that direction knowing that I’d be there the next day.
Sitting on the Sanyo Line yellow train everyone seemed to be taking photos of, I started cleaning up my day pack a little and found a key in one of the small pockets. I had forgotten my backpack in the Kurashiki Station locker!
Quickly getting off at the next station, I hopped onto the next train going the other way and backtracked to Kurashiki. I had to explain the situation to the station master since I couldn’t get out with the train ticket I had (the machine wouldn’t have accepted it), and after he laughed at me I was reunited with my bag once again. Of course, by this time I wouldn’t have made it to Fukuyama Castle with enough time to look at it properly before its closing time, so I went straight to Onomichi without my little stop along the way.
Fukuyama Castle is right next to the station though, and is easily seen from the train itself. I had never seen a (Japanese) castle from so close! I couldn’t wait to go there some other day during my trip and visit the inside.

Onomichi is a small city next to the Seto Inland Sea. A chain of islands connects Onomichi to Imabari City on Shikoku Island, the smallest of the four main islands of Japan, and the cycling path passing over these islands along with the bridges connecting them is Onomichi’s most popular feature (it is called the Shimanami Kaido). Unfortunately I had to take out this activity from my plan since I do not have the physical strength required to do it all in one day and preferred to spend my time elsewhere this time around, but it is definitely something I would like to do at some point. Instead, I would be doing the Onomichi Temple Walk the next day, which also promised to be very nice.
Soon after exiting Onomichi Station I was met by a different castle, Onomichi-jo. Onomichi Castle was built in the late 1900s as a tourist attraction, it has no historical relevance whatsoever, but it still looked pretty perched at the top of the hill. Now, however, it is abandoned and entrance is not permitted. I was looking for the statue of Fumiko Hayashi, a writer, and she happened to be covered in pink and blue hydrangeas. The shopping street was covered with Tanabata decorations hanging from the ceiling all the way from start to end, and as I had never seen any before I was very excited to look at the children’s drawings and the wishes hanging from the bamboo trees.
During the rest of the day I decided to take it easy and went out for a walk along the road next to the sea. I tasted Onomichi ramen, Onomichi’s speciality, at a cute family restaurant near my hostel; unfortunately it was similar to my experience with Kurashiki’s bukkake udon.

Coming up: Onomichi temple walk, Fukuyama and spotting lovely houses along the Sanyo Line!

thursdaysd

Thanks for all the details! I am really looking forward to Kurashiki, now, especially as I will be there on a weekend.

russ_in_LA

Loving your report! Please let us know what you didnt like about the udon and ramen. I love noodles so I'm just curious. Thanks!

Kavey

So glad you remembered your backback in time to only backtrack a little distance on the train!

Enjoying reading your report hugely.

Peter_T

Sorry for the delay! You can read the photo version instead if you prefer: https://tokyoanecdote.wordpress.com/?p=1261

DAY 4. ONOMICHI and FUKUYAMA

As mentioned last time, today’s topic is the temple walk of Onomichi. It is slightly embarrassing to say (or write, I guess) that I got lost before even reaching the first temple, but that’s all on me for there was a sign pointing the way that I hadn’t seen. I stopped at a bench outside the first temple, Jikoji, to have my breakfast. It was the first time I tried a macha swiss roll and instantly fell in love. I ate many of them during my trip, buying one every time I saw it in a konbini.
Jikoji Temple had many hydrangeas that would’ve looked beautiful earlier in June, but they were mostly wilted by the time I went there. There were quite a few other flowers to make up for it. A mother carrying her crying and struggling daughter to school passed by, determined to get her to class in time.
The walk includes 25 temples and is a mix of slopes, stairs and turns as one passes through the residential streets. Some of the temples had their gates closed or were simply deserted but open, later I realised that this is probably because it was a Monday. I wasn’t looking at my map and signs seemed to be non-existent, but there was a different temple around every corner so I just jumped from one temple to the next. Maybe I missed a couple.
What I remember the most from Onomichi, however, were the bugs. Wasps and bees reaching unimaginable sizes and buzzing way too close for comfort, insects of all colours that really just looked like a flash of red or blue or green as they flew past in a hurry, dozens of beautiful dragonflies, spiders hanging from every corner. The most memorable was the giant centipede I caught creeping along a wall; it was the length of my hand! I kept my distance since they are very venomous, it soon went through a window and into someone’s back garden.

After only four or five temples, steps began to dominate the walk. The first few were fine, but as I turned a corner only more steps appeared, and then more as I turned again, and more all the way to the top. Hiking Mt.Shosha was honestly easier than this, although it is mostly the heat’s fault as well as that of the buzzes I kept hearing from insects flying past non-stop.
Another man was the only other person who hadn’t taken the ropeway up to the observation point, and we exchanged ‘ganbatte’s and ‘atsui’s every time one of us advanced the other.
Senko-ji seemed like a tourist hotspot even though the rest of the walk was empty. From here you can see the whole city stretch out below as well as the sea and Mukoujima Island right in front. IF you’ve seen any photos of Onomichi, chances are this red temple is part of it. There were three different counters selling temple goods (lucky I learnt to read the sign telling me where to get a goshuin stamp to add to my collection), a group of ladies taking a rest on the benches, the ropeway that I saw pass by was crowded with people. The man that had also taken the steps leaned against the rail next to me as we both enjoyed the view of the city below. I deemed it unnecessary to go up even more to the observation platform since the views from the temple itself were already stunning.
The walk down was much more enjoyable, the streets became more narrow (which also meant less wasps) and I felt like I was seeing more of the daily life than during the first half.
My favourite of the route was by far Ushitora Shrine, two huge trees with moss on their big branches almost covered the whole grounds and gave me some much needed shade so I could have a bit of a rest.
I’m going to nominate Taisan-ji as my second favourite, it had quite a few statues of ‘see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil’ with a little twist: instead of covering their mouth (or eyes or ears) the monkeys were shouting. Not too sure what that is supposed to mean as I doubt the temple was dedicated to evil or anything similar, but it was amusing nonetheless.
Saikoku-ji is dedicated to tabi shoes and has six giant shoes hanging from the entrance gate as well as a row of hydrangea bushes leading to, you guessed it, more steps. Most of the temples were small and I don’t know anything about their history. Honestly, I doubt I’ll even remember most of them a few years from now.

Once I considered I’d seen enough temples, I headed back to my hostel to pick up my bag and head off to a different place for more sightseeing. The owners of the hostel were outside taking photos of their new bike and I was able to say goodbye and thank you to them in person.
The initial plan was to go to Takehara as I made my way to Hiroshima for the night, but Kure Line had been closed for a few days because of heavy rainfall (hard to believe, seeing how hot and sunny it was in Onomichi), so I moved Takehara to another day and decided to attempt another visit to Fukuyama Castle after missing out on it the day before.

Only just exiting Fukuyama Station, the steps to the castle were right in front of me. I was excited to be here since this would be the first castle I went inside… but it was closed. I then realised that it must be because it was a Monday, the day when many museums and apparently castles have their day off. I made sure to check the timetables of the places I’d be visiting so this wouldn’t happen to me (I learnt my lesson when I wasn’t able to see the Imperial Palace in Tokyo last time), but nowhere said that Fukuyama-jo would be closed on Mondays so I supposed it meant there were no closing days. I’ve informed jcastle.info about this so they can update their database.
Anyway, although the main keep was closed the grounds were still open, so I was able to see the yaguras from up close (and touch them!) and walk around the main keep.
Mizuno Katsunari, cousin of Tokugawa Ieyasu, was the first of the Tokugawas to be stationed in Chugoku (1619), his job was to keep an eye out on Hiroshima and Okayama areas (being non-hereditary vassals I guess there were deemed to be tensions over the successors). As a Tokugawa he was given a lot of money, materials and even buildings being transferred from Fushimi Castle to build Fukuyama Castle quickly. The castle was completed in 1622, unfortunately it was mostly destroyed in air raids during 1945, the only survivors being a yagura and one of the gates.
My visit to the castle didn’t last too long though and, pitying myself for my bad luck at not being able to see the inside of the main keep, I decided to at least make the most of Fukuyama and walk around for a while.

I came across a shrine called Fukuyama Tenmangu, a red bridge crossing the small stream (canal?) that was running between the road and the houses of the street. Many steps later I finally reached the main complex. This shrine was very different to the temples I’d seen earlier in the day in Onomichi; firstly because of the vibrant red colour and the size, but also because it was hidden between trees that gave it shade, crows substituted wasps and ‘deserted and empty’ became ‘mysteriously silent’. I definitely enjoy shrines like this.
Unsurprisingly, the two museums near the castle were also closed, but the park and the many statues were still very enjoyable to walk through. While I was waiting around for the train on the lower platform I heard a rumble of a train passing by on the tracks above: a shinkansen! It would still be a couple days until I actually saw one but hearing it and knowing that it was so close was still very exciting. I can’t wait until a future trip when I can finally ride one myself!
But alas, I was stuck with taking locals since it was nearly 3000yen cheaper (no seat fare). I won’t complain though, it turned out to be my favourite train ride of the trip. I read a description on japantravel.com by someone who said: “Rolling green hills and picturesque countryside scenes will have you wanting to stay on board the train until the sun goes down”. That’s definitely the best description I can think of. The view of the beautiful old houses interrupted by rice fields every now and then and lush green trees that stood tall with dignity covering the mountains all the way into the distance. I think that is what I love most about local trains, being able to see the landscape pass by slowly, the day-to-day life of the people getting on and off at every station. Many of the houses had shiny brown tiles that made them really stand out. I don’t know if that’s a characteristic special of this area or if it is also seen elsewhere, but I made a game of spotting as many as I could. I also saw kura storehouses similar to the ones in Kurashiki fly past, even kura with shiny brown tiles!
I caught a glimpse of the SkyBridge near Hiroshima Airport high up in the air as it started to rain. The rain only made the countryside look even more beautiful, it finally felt like I was there during rainy season.

After about two hours that went by very quickly, the countryside scenes were left behind and a city atmosphere took its place. I decided to start writing an email to my parents to fill in the time left to my destination, but soon the speakers announce the next station: Hiroshima! Just as I heard the name of the city I looked out the window again and the first thing I saw was the Peace Pagoda at the top of a hill north of Hiroshima.
As I got off the train and made my way outside I finally put good use to the umbrella I’d bought at Sannomiya my first day, although I didn’t need it much since there were only a few steps until the tram that took me all the way to Dobashi Station near my hostel. I had made it! Hiroshima was my absolute must-see for this trip and the rest of my itinerary was planned around my stay at this city. Finally the changing hostels every night had ended and I’d be staying in Hiroshima for 6 nights in a row, no more ups and downs and forgetting my backpack. I was looking forward to getting to know the city in the days to come.

Next up: Hiroshima bomb-related sites

Peter_T

Thank you to all for reading!
Russ_in_LA, I generally like noodles and had udon and ramen many times in different places and enjoyed them a lot, I guess I was just unlucky with these two dishes I tried. In Bukkake Udon’s case I liked the udon itself, I just didn’t really enjoy the toppings added. Onomichi Ramen was a bit too fatty or oily for my taste.

Kavey

Really enjoying the report, Peter and looking forward to reading about your Hiroshima visit.

Peter_T

DAY 5: HIROSHIMA (Peace Sites)

Warning for this will be an emotional post (and somewhat graphic) for my first day in Hiroshima visiting the Peace Park and Museum. I fitted in most of the a-bomb related sites into one day so I could enjoy a different and happier side of Hiroshima for the days to come, but it ended up being pretty upsetting.
For the worst of reasons, Hiroshima needs no introduction. I hadn’t really learnt about Hiroshima much at school: since I’m from Spain, Spain and other European countries usually took the spotlight when it came to the history we learnt. It was mentioned as something that happened but we spent very little time learning about Japan or the US. So before going I wanted to know as much as I could about the tragedy to properly understand the experiences of those who lived it and had been reading quite a bit about the bombing before I arrived. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to complete my senbazuru (1000 origami cranes) in time, so I only brought 50 small squares of paper with me and made some cranes while there, leaving them at the different memorial sites individually.

Leaving the hostel at 7:15am I crossed the Peace Bridges south of the Peace Park along Heiwa Odori as I made my way to first find some breakfast.
I’d seen old photos of one of the bridges from 1955 (they were built in 1952) and had seen it pictured a couple of times as I was reading about the bombing before my trip. I read that there had been a competition to design the bridge and the one existing today is that of the chosen winner, Isamu Noguchi. One is named Tsukuru (to build) while the second is Yuku (to depart), they are a symbol of the reconstruction of Hiroshima after the bombing. Both are easy to find; they’re on either side of the park behind the Peace Museum.

After buying my sushi breakfast at a konbini near Hondori I decided to eat next to the Dome. It was constructed in 1915 as a facility for the display and sale of commercial products within Hiroshima prefecture and was the location for the Hiroshima prefecture art exhibition and other such events. Seeing it in 2D in photos was very different than having it right in front of me, the burns were so clear and I wondered how the building still managed to hold itself up. The dome survived because it was almost directly below the explosion, meaning the pressure pressed down vertically and saved a few of the vertical walls. Of course there are other more technical reasons but that isn’t my area of expertise and explaining it would be much too difficult for me. If anyone is interested I’m sure you can look it up and take it from someone who knows more about this.
I imagined people of the past walking around inside the building when it was still in its original shape. What were they wearing at the time? Were they in a hurry? Were they talking to someone? What were they thinking about? I’m sure their life was very different to mine, and yet we were both in this city with the same name.

Before any sightseeing, I went to the Bus Centre to pick up a discount pass I’ll talk more about in the next post, but they turned me away since apparently I could only buy it the day before activating it or the same day. It was almost eight and I had a date with the Seiko Clock at 8:15 so I walked there slowly over the T-shaped Bridge. Otherwise known as the Aioi Bridge, this was the apparent target of the bomb. Even being so close to the hypocentre it somehow managed to survive and after a few repairs it was still usable for over 35 years. The bridge here today was built in 1983 but has kept its distinctive T-shape.

The Peace Clock or Seiko Clock in the northern area of the Peace Park rings every day at 8:15am, the time of the explosion. As I reached the Peace Park a class of school children started to sing in front of the Children’s Monument. It started off as a sad song but the ending seemed to be a message of hope. Silence fell upon the class as they left their cranes at the monument, and I went back to the clock in time to see it strike 8:15. Leaving my first crane next to the clock at that time I think it was a good way to start my introduction to the bombing of Hiroshima.

There are many monuments in the park and all deserve to be looked at as one thinks about the history behind them, but I won’t mention all of them here. Instead I’ll talk about the four that moved me the most.
The Burial Mound may be the least impressive of the monuments but it holds the ashes of 70,000 victims who were never identified or whose remains were unclaimed by living relatives. How many people must’ve lost someone they loved, never knowing exactly what had happened to them, where they were at the time of the explosion? Never seeing their body or ashes probably meant never having closure, the what ifs and the hows in the back of their minds for the rest of their lives. Or whole families whose existences were wiped out in less than a second, leaving nobody behind who would remember them.
Japan took control of Korea during the Meiji Restoration; many Koreans were forced to work in Japan because of labor shortage. At the end of the war about three million Koreans were living in Japan and it is said that tens of thousands of them suffered the atomic bombing in Hiroshima. They are a group of people that tend to be forgotten when talking about the Hiroshima victims, I don’t now any personal stories of Korean survivors and I don’t think they would’ve received the same care or treatment after the bombing as Japanese survivors would’ve had (not that there was much medical treatment for anyone). I think it’s important to remember they were there, the monument dedicated to Korean victims is also in the Peace Park.
During World War II students in Japan between the ages of 12-16 were sent to work because of the shortage of labor work: they were known as ‘mobilised students’ and mostly were in charge of tearing down buildings to avoid the spreading of fire in case of an attack. The ‘Memorial Tower for Mobilised Students’ was built to remember the more than 10,000 mobilised students who died during the war.
There is another monument similar to this one. Sadako Sasaki was two at the time of the bomb. She grew up seemingly perfectly healthy until she was diagnosed with leukaemia at 12 years old and had to be hospitalised. A friend told her about an ancient legend saying if one makes 1000 paper cranes they will be able to ask for a wish — Sadako managed to complete the cranes just before she died, wishing for peace and for no other children to have to suffer like she did. Her classmates decided to also make 1000 cranes in her honour and it has today become a symbol of peace.

I didn’t take any photos inside the museum since I think it’s something that I couldn’t capture well. The museum is heartbreaking to say the least, it’s a pity they were doing renovations at the time of my stay and I only got to see half of the exposition. Only five minutes in I was already crying, but I didn’t even bother hiding it since I felt that it was okay to express my feelings outwardly in this kind of situation.
It’s hard to imagine how horrible and devastating the bomb was by saying the number of those who died; when it’s such a large number it seems more like a statistic than anything tangible. The museum did a good job of exposing individuals’ stories which made it feel much more real. There were many items from people who were in Hiroshima at the time of the explosion, from clothes, tickets, tins, notebooks, name tags and Sadako Sasaki's paper cranes to even fingernails and hair.
One of such items was a lunchbox still containing the burnt food of a mobilised school boy, Shigeru. His mum had made his lunch that morning before he set off to meet with the other students. His mother went out to look for her boy after the explosion but she only found his lunchbox with the food she had made that morning — now burnt into a lump of black — next to a pile of bones. Shigeru’s mother scattered his ashes alone that night.

Alongside some architectural structures and pieces, pottery and glass and explanations about what radiation and black rain do to the human body, the Peace Museum covered many aspects to do with the bombing. There is now also an area with a few photos from Obama’s recent visit to Hiroshima.
The peace sites don’t stop after the Peace Park and museum though, there are buildings that survived the bombing and smaller museums and dedications that are also worth a visit.

The Memorial Hall a minute walk from the Peace Museum is also in the Peace Park. It has a solemn and quiet atmosphere that gave me the space to think about the bomb and the museum I’d just been to.
In the last room there are very few seats and they are very uncomfortable if you manage to grab one, but do try and stay until the end of the video for it explains personal stories of some of the survivors. Since it is filmed in first person it feels much more real than what reading an explanation would, it brought tears to my eyes imagining myself in their situation; seeing my sister die right next to me, not being able to find my mum after days of walking through rubble and ruins looking for even just some proof that she used to exist, being next to my dad at the time of the explosion only for him to be gone forever only a second later.

The Rest House also located in the Peace Park is one of the few buildings left standing after the explosion.
It used to be a kimono store until it was purchased by the Prefectural Fuel Rationing Union in 1944, only for the roof to collapse and the interior to be destroyed one year later by the bomb. All people inside at the time were killed but one man that was in the basement, making him the closest survivor to the hypocentre. The building was later reconstructed and today it is a shop, rest house and information centre with some bathrooms open to public use. The basement has been left just like it was at the time of the bombing and open to visitors, though not well known to tourists.
I went to the counter and asked if I could go down into the basement (‘asked’ may be a bit of an overstatement, I really just said ‘chika’ for ‘basement’) and they gave me a quick form to fill in with my name and nationality. The lady then picked up her keys and opened a door followed by steps to the bottom floor. She also asked me to pick a helmet from the shelf just in case and left me to make my own discoveries.
It is a single room — what must’ve been three rooms, but the walls understandably aren’t in the best shape —, a corner full of cranes where the survivor was located at the time.
There is not much to see, nothing that deserves an explanation or a sign, what is special about this place is imagining what the man must’ve been thinking and doing at the time and right after the bomb. Did he lift his head to see shelves and boxes thrown all over the floor? What must he have thought when he opened the door (was the door still there?) to see the world outside in flames and chaos and rubble?
One of the survivors explained how he was a child at the time of the bomb, walking through the town to get away from the burning city. A woman, still alive but only just, called out for help and grabbed his arm. The child, of course scared to see the figure touch him when she hardly looked human anymore because of her melting skin, pulled away. The woman’s hand broke off and was left stuck to his arm. I’m sure the experiences of the survivor of the basement weren’t too different and he must’ve been terrified to see the state of his home town without even having seen how it happened.

Making another stop at the Genbaku Dome I thought about how it must’ve felt like to look down at the river of corpses on that day.
Right after the bomb, fire was threatening in every direction and people’s skin melted on their bodies, it only seems obvious that the river would be the safest place to run to at the time. But soon the water was hardly visible, the river being an accumulation of floating bodies instead. It must’ve been horrible to look at, knowing that those were people you once crossed on the street and might’ve even known. The drawings I’ve seen done by people who were there at the time are heartbreaking, and hard to believe sometimes that this was something that actually happened.

Near the Dome is a small temple called Sairen-ji. It doesn’t really look like a temple from the outside, but there is a window holding a statue and a coin box. Just outside the temple, on the corner of the building, is another statue. This Jizo was located almost directly below the blast and a dark shadow can be seen around the base of the statue, a result of the radiation lightening the rest of surface that wasn’t shielded. There are a few Jizo statues that survived the bomb, known today as ‘Hibaku Jizo’. Jizo is a deity able to descend into Hell to rescue souls, particularly those of children. He is often depicted with the shaved head and robes of a monk, stone figures are typically adorned with red bibs or children’s clothing and often serve as a memorial to children whose lives were taken away too soon. If there is a hell after death I hope Jizo was able to save the victims of Hiroshima, they don’t deserve to go through hell twice.

Not even a minute later is another important site. Shima Hospital is considered to be ground zero as the bomb exploded only 580m above the building. The hospital was completely destroyed and the 80 patients and medical staff died instantly. Kaoru Shima, founder of the hospital, and his attending nurse were away from Hiroshima at the time as they had gone to assist a difficult operation at a hospital in a nearby town: they were the only two survivors. Dr. Shima returned to Hiroshima on the night of August 6 and began treatment of the injured people. The hypocentre was determined by the direction of shadows caused by the heat ray. Those directions were plotted on a map, and the point where they intersected was to be where the blast had come from.
The new Shima Hospital built in 1948 stands in its place, today named ‘Shima geka naika’, and a small plaque can be found at one side marking the hypocentre.

The Former bank is another of the buildings that survived the bomb despite being only 380m from the hypocenter and today it looks as it did when first built. Since the armoured shutters on the first and second floors were closed at the time of the A-bombing, the interior was not badly damaged. However, on the third floor where the shutters were open it was completely burned.
Only two days later the bank reopened for withdrawals and provided space for temporary branches of other financial institutions in Hiroshima which had been rendered unable to conduct business. This is a building that is important for the reconstruction of Hiroshima from a financial aspect.
The inside of the building was unlike anything I’ve seen in Japan before, looking instead totally western. I wonder if the Dome was similar to this on the inside? At the time of my visit they were doing a small exposition with photos from the occupation of Japan by Americans after the war. As I walked in a lady was excited to see me and talked to me for a while, although she didn’t speak much English and I didn’t speak much Japanese, so our conversation didn’t last long.

Located only 460m from Shima Hospital, Fukuro-machi Elementary School was one of the closest schools to the hypocentre and suffered extensive damage. At the time of the bombing there were more than 100 students and teachers at school and nearly all died instantly. All the wooden structures collapsed and burned completely except for the west wing, the only reinforced concrete structure that retained its original shape. Three of the students survived, all of which were downstairs in the west wing taking off their shoes. They had been taught to head to Hijiyama Hill in case of an attack, so they pushed their way through the ruins, bodies and burnt trams full of burnt people who had died still standing to reach that point. I think it’s lucky that they were given those instructions beforehand because a child in such a situation wouldn’t have known what to do.
Many students from the school had been evacuated before that day to relatives’ homes in the countryside or temples that looked after children. The museum told me how the evacuated children used to live far from their home and families and there are a couple of stories about it worth reading on the bottom floor. One of the surviving students in the building at the time also told their story.
After the bombing the west wing of the school became a place of refuge and a relief station. One of the walls, black from being burnt, became a message board to find missing people, today you can still see the wall as it was then with all the writing written by people trying to find their family.
Don’t miss out on the video downstairs: it talks about the discovery of the wall but, most importantly, finding living relatives today whose family wrote on the wall. Seeing a daughter read the message written by her mother in hopes of finding her deceased daughter (the sister the woman was never able to meet) was heart wrenching and it was definitely the place that made me cry the most out of all the memorials in the city.
Classes at Fukuromachi School started once again ten months after the bombing with a total of 37 students and now the west building has been reconstructed and works as a small museum. The rest of the school is new and I could hear the children outside laughing and playing. I imagined all the beautiful sounds just suddenly stopping like it did back then.

Instead of making my way to Honkawa Elementary School, another peace museum similar to Fukuromachi School, and visiting the memorials behind the Peace Museum I headed to Hondori to take a bit of an emotional rest from all the A-Bomb sites. Hiroshima has two different Daiso 100 stores, so I stacked up on the bean chips I love and also bought a few packets of miso to try and tabi socks with pictures of origami cranes. I hadn’t had a full conversation in English since the man I met at Mt.Shosha who offered me a ride back to the station, so it was nice to meet some other tourists in the hostel.
In the evening I bought some food and ate in silence. Hiroshima has done an amazing job of rebuilding itself since the day of 1945. I couldn’t help but look at the peace sites and think about how difficult it must’ve been, how much pain was caused and how fragile the things I have are — how easy it would be to loose them —, but seeing what a wonderful city Hiroshima is today gives me hope. I definitely wish nothing even remotely similar to this ever happens again.

Peter_T

PS: You can see photos at https://tokyoanecdote.wordpress.com/...-of-hiroshima/

All the peace sites are free apart from the Peace Museum that costs 200yen. The Memorial Hall hosts public readings of personal stories of the bombing on the second Sunday of every month and the library there also offers more stories and videos of people’s experiences. The Peace Museum gift shop is also worth a look if you’re looking for a book about the bomb. I bought one full of pictures drawn by survivors; they put a lot of effort into drawing those pictures because it brought back memories that they didn’t want to remember, many of the images are gruesome and disturbing. The least I can do is look at them with attention so that that effort wasn’t wasted and so that what happened will continue to be remembered.

I didn’t mention it before since it didn’t really fit with the rest of the mood, but I also visited the Rai Sanyo Shiseki Museum right next to the Former Bank. The Rai Sanyo Shiseki Museum has some works and materials related to writer Rai Sanyo, a representative thinker of Japan's late Edo Period. In 1800 he ran away from home (Aki Domain, today Hiroshima) to Kyoto but was captured and placed under house arrest, confined in a room within his residence. This room, where Rai Sanyo is said to have worked out a draft of his "Nihon Gaishi" history of Japan, was once designated a national historic site until it was destroyed by the bombing. However, the room was reconstructed in 1958 and can be visited today. There’s another room with a few works from Rai Sanyo but I’m guessing it would be interesting to those who know who Rai Sanyo is since there isn’t much to the exposition itself. Another area hosts the temporary exposition, in my case I saw many scrolls painted with Indian ink (sumie) which were all truly beautiful. It’s a pity photos were not allowed so I can’t show you any, but it’s what I liked most of the museum.

Thank you Kavey for your encouraging words! I'm sorry for taking so long to write the trip report, I'll try to keep you all updated soon enough.

Kavey

Peter, I'm lost for words. The depth of research and the way you gave your heart so fully to visiting and truly understanding and remembering the Hiroshima bombing, it's inspirational. I am so moved to read about your experiences and your thoughts especially. Thank you for sharing such an intimate diary of this with us. It feels a privilege to read it.

Peter_T

Thank you, Kavey. It’s always hard to put down in words experiences like this but I hope this at least works to give a bit of insight on the bombing for those who can’t go to Hiroshima themselves.

Peter_T

DAY 6: HIROSHIMA (Temple walk + kagura)

Despite the saddening first day in Hiroshima I woke up in a good mood the next day and excited to get started. The weather lived up to my hopes of what the rainy season would offer, pouring hard and strong all day long. I don’t see rain often in Spain which is a pity since I think it is absolutely beautiful (need I say it’s my favourite weather?), so while I’m sure many tourists of the hostel cursed their luck that morning as they looked up at the sky, I was delighted.
The rain wouldn’t be interfering with my plans so I set off to Hondori Station to catch the Astram Line to Fudoin-mae Station. Today I had planned the Futabanosato Historical Walking Trail — in other words, a temple walk in the north area of the city — and a special show for later in the afternoon. I didn’t know how long the walk would take me so I kept my itinerary open just in case.

Temples and shrines aren’t usually what come to mind when one thinks of Hiroshima, but it is true that there are still a few in parts further away from the city centre that survived the bombing and a few of those which didn’t where rebuilt once again in the same location. My main goal to do the Hiroshima Temple walk wasn’t to see temples though — I’d already seen plenty and would still be seeing more in the days to come — it was rather to get to know the residential areas of the city and how people lived today, in a Hiroshima that has raised from the ashes and pain it once felt but today has an identity of its own beyond the bombing.
It wasn’t a particularly breathtaking walk, but it kept me entertained and I enjoyed being outside in the fresh air after so many days of heat. I feel like there isn’t enough information available in English regarding this route, at least I didn’t find as much as I would’ve liked, so I’ll try my best to explain how it was.

Hiroshima’s history started more than 400 years ago when Mori Terumoto built a castle on the delta, near an already existing small town, and developed the area into a striving castle town. Mori Terumoto, Fukushima Masanori and the Asano clan (so many important names belonging to the history of Japan, I can’t believe they were all here!) erected shrines and temples, along some that were already much older, north of the castle to defend the domain. The Futabanosato Historical Walking Trail visits a few of those which were rebuilt as well as passing through the Waterworks Museum (which I forgot about / didn’t find) and the Peace Pagoda. For those who don’t have the time to do the whole walk there is a shorter version only counting seven of the temples, although they are dedicated to Shichi Fukujin (the 7 Lucky Gods), so I guess they are the most important of the route.

But enough explanations, let’s just get down to what I did personally. The train was empty, only myself and another girl occupied the car, and my station was announced much earlier than expected. Exiting the station I found a sign right away pointing the direction to the first temple of the route, Fudo-in. Fudo-in promised to be the most impressive although it turned out to be pretty small. What was certainly impressive was the Niomon Gate at the entrance, two stories tall and a combination of brown, white and black that emphasised its elegance. The old priest of the temple accompanied Hideyoshi on his invasion of Korea and it’s said that the timbers to build the gate came from the country.
I actually didn’t see too many Nio statues this trip so it was good to see the two there greeting me on my way in.
The main hall, the Kondo, is the largest remaining example of Karayo building in Japan. Karayo was the Chinese style of architecture that was particularly popular with Zen temples in Japan. A bell tower, a small inari shrine and an overgrown garden are the only other things in the temple grounds, so it wasn’t long until I was heading off to the next site.

It took me about an hour and a half to get from Fudo-in to Anraku-ji. It shouldn’t really take that long but I was walking slowly and took the long route along the river instead of through the streets, stopping every now and then to look at the white and grey herons. I couldn’t find any of the other three temples or shrines in-between so I backtracked and took a different street every now and then around where the shrines were supposed to be. I also walked all the way down to Hakushima Station accidentally because I skipped the zebra crossing before the bridge and ended up doing a very long loop to get back on track. A man saw me walk past outside a gas station and he waved to me enthusiastically.

Anraku-ji is small but the streets in the area are lovely. I sat down on the only bench I found all day that wasn’t soaking wet at the temple and watched a few women pass by on their way to the cemetery behind the temple before continuing. It would’ve been more work than desired to get to just one of the temples, but combining all of them together made it worth it. Walking through back streets and seeing Japan’s daily life in the city (in the rain!) was very nice and I even pictured myself living in a place like this.

The next four temples were very close together and easy to find. Nigitsu Shrine (one of the Shichi Fukujin, dedicated to Ebisu) had a man that was for some reason measuring the statues. Myojo-in (dedicated to Bishamonten) is next to a pre-school and was filled with the voices of shouting children as well as plenty of interesting statues and Tsuruhane Jinja (Benzaiten) had a team of men cutting leaves of trees under the heavy rain.

Toshogu Shrine (Fukurokuju) was the only one where I found other visitors, but most of them were leaving in their cars or where inside the closed building. I didn’t know if I was welcome inside since the door was closed and seemed unwelcoming, so I asked a miko where I could get a goshuin stamp instead of attempting to enter off-limits territory. She may have been the loveliest person I met in Hiroshima, her smile when I asked about the shrine stamp was almost blinding and she took my stamp book away happily, asking me kindly to please wait for a while until she returned. She came back with my shuincho as well as a map of the route I was doing, and was surprised that I intended to go all the way up to the Peace Pagoda in this weather.

Looking back, I admit it may not have been the brightest idea. Kinko Inari Shrine, which for some unknown reason I always call Kusado Inari Shrine, is right behind Toshogu-jinja and torii lead up the mountain path heading to the Peace Pagoda for a while. The torii were pretty short, so I had to duck my head while walking under them. Small fox figurines and cute little shrines next to the steps appeared at every corner (the steps did a zig-zag path), the light hardly reached the ground through the trees and it felt like I was walking into a realm of unknown spirits as the path only got darker, as if the foxes eyes were following me as I continued.

I eventually abandoned my umbrella when the path only got thinner and I had to duck more, although the occasional droplets fell onto me and slid down my back. I felt lucky that I had decided to bring my thin jumper on the trip after all. After a while I came across a small covered structure that I decided to hide under as I sat on the floor and rested my legs for a while. When the mosquito flying around me got too annoying I continued my way. The trail wasn’t very clear so I climbed up a few rocks and through an opening that looked like it could be the continuation of a path. It probably wasn’t though, for only bushes and small slopes could be seen on the floor of the mountain rather than a walking route.

Soon I was lost, walking around a forested mountain in the rain. The only person who knew where I was was the miko of Toshogu Shrine, if something happened to me I doubted anyone would be finding me anytime soon, but just as I thought that I spotted a clearing where the white sky and fog finally made an appearance. Some stairs leading somewhere around the corner, I knew I had made it to my destination and, sure enough, around said corner I could see the spike of the pagoda peeking out from the top of the stairs.

For something that can be seen from so far away it was smaller than I had imagined, but no less impressive. Apparently there are supposed to be good views of the city below but I only saw white and silence. I didn’t want to let go of the ambience that permeated the air (I was still fixated on the inari shrines and hoped a yokai procession would make an appearance) so I stuck around for a half hour until I started to get cold.

I decided to make my way back to Hiroshima Station instead of continuing with the temple walk, I’d already seen my must-sees and the shrines left were further apart and harder to find. The station was mostly a straight line from the pagoda and I didn’t have to look where I was going because it seemed like everything gravitated towards the station anyway. I mentioned a couple of posts ago that I managed to see a shinkansen in person during my trip: today was the day! A sleek bullet train slid by in front of me into the station and out of sight, but it was enough for me to let go of the mysterious mood and almost jump up and down in excitement.
The station was abuzz with baseball fans dressed in red and white and face paint, apparently Hiroshima’s baseball team was playing today and had everyone in a good mood.

I’d been mostly living off konbini bentos since the start of the trip, so I decided to have a big lunch before resting a while at the hostel. I met a family of catalans from around Barcelona who were in for their first trip to Japan, after Hiroshima heading up to Magome and Tsumago along the Nakahechi route (jealous!). I met sixteen catalans during the next week, which is especially impressive considering Catalonia isn’t really that big. It seems like Japan is a tourist magnet ever since the Barcelona manga-boom from three years ago.

I also finally managed to pick up my pass and just outside the Bus Centre Information Corner there were a few people selling fresh vegetables at some stalls. I bought a see-through peach mochi from one of the sellers, I can finally cross ‘eat mochi from a leaf’ off my bucket list! Definitely one of the best, if not THE best, mochi I’ve ever tried. The ones I’ve eaten in Japan so far seem to all be filled with red bean paste that isn’t fully crushed, leaving bits of the bean skin in the paste inside, while the ones I buy at the Chinese wholesale food supermarket here in Spain all have the paste fully crushed and homogenous. I personally like the homogenous paste better although I’ve now gotten used to both styles.

Moving on, there is a place in Hiroshima where they do kagura shows every Wednesday (http://www.rcchall.jp/bunkac/html/kagura/), kagura is a traditional Japanese performance (also has only male actors like Noh and Kabuki) focusing on the dancing aspect. But before I start telling you about the show I went to and to better understand the significance of kagura, a story is in order.

Susanoo seemed to have a few anger management issues, and when once upon a time he got angry and destroyed his sister Amaterasu’s land out of jealousy, Amaterasu fled and hid in a cave taking with her the light from the world for she was (is?) the sun goddess. With the earth in darkness the land soon became infested with demons and evil; people came from far and wide to try and get Amaterasu to return and shed her light once again. After many attempts to convince Amaterasu to leave the cave, it was Uzume who finally managed. She hung a mirror and jewels (two of the three Imperial Regalia of Japan) outside the cave and danced — the cheers of the other people made Amaterasu peek outside to see what was worth so much noise… when she saw her own reflection in the mirror she was startled enough that the others could pull her out of the cave. Uzume’s performance is said to be the origins of Japanese dance and more specifically a kagura dance.

Kagura is common in Hiroshima and Shimane Prefectures, so I wanted to see if I could see an example during my stay as part of getting to know the culture of the area I was in. This theatre in Hiroshima has two different shows every Wednesday; the first starts at 7pm and the second at 8pm —two different stories—, both lasting about 45min with an intermission session between them.

I didn’t know how many people there would be so I arrived a bit before 5pm, time when they start selling tickets, to make sure I would have a seat. There are two entrances to the hall and both are easy to see if you know where the theatre is. I thought I had found a little known treat to enjoy with the locals, but there were many people in the common area waiting around and even a couple other foreigners later on.

This isn’t something I would ever dream of doing elsewhere, but I found it safe enough to abandon my bag in line as I went out to walk around until the doors opened (to be fair, many did the same).

There were plenty of spaces available even if I had arrived later —more than half the theatre—, but the regulars were very excited and ran in quickly as soon as the doors opened to get the best seats. It was funny to see older men and women scurry along, almost pushing past just so they could get a good spot.

Photos are only allowed in certain areas of the theatre so I took a seat further back to take some photos, however I was so enraptured by the show I totally forgot about my camera and didn’t end up taking any! Another foreigner sat next to me so we talked until the lights were turned off and the musicians appeared on stage. After a few bows the four of them sat in a corner of the stage, not out of view for the music was an important part of the show, and the flute began playing as the act started.

As the legend goes, Prince Yamato killed his older brother. His grieving father King Keiko, fearing the evil nature of his son, sent him to Izumo Province and then to the land of Kumaso (Kumamoto Prefecture) to battle against rebels, hence keeping him at a safe distance.
There are many stories regarding his adventures, but we are interested in the one that explains how he defeated the Kumaso warriors as that is the theme of the kagura show. He disguised himself as a maid attendant and infiltrated himself into the banquet where the Kumaso were feasting and drinking. The Kumaso warriors didn’t realise it was simply a disguise and kept drinking as quickly as possible. When the Kumasos had become drunk, the prince made the most of the opportunity and stabbed them to death. As one of them lay dying he praised Yamato for his well thought-out plan and gave him the title of ‘Yamato Takeru’, ‘The Bravest of Yamato’.

Fun fact: before departing to Izumo he prayed at Ise Shrine asking for the blessing of Amaterasu already mentioned, and later during his life he came to possess the ‘Kusanagi no tsurugi’ sacred sword (the last of the three of Japan’s Imperial Regalia) which Susano-o gave to Amaterasu to ask for her forgiveness after his rampage that sent her to the cave! It really just ties the whole kagura experience together, knowing that they are all connected somehow.

The kagura had its own version of the legend, making Yamato Takeru fight against the Kumaso warriors once they were drunk instead of a simple quick stabbing. Totally worth it though, the sword fight was the best part since there were the six actors on stage dancing around together so rapidly and with much grace that I suspect wouldn’t feature in a real sword fight. Even though I knew how the story went the show had me on the edge of my seat, excited and impressed, hoping the show would never end for the full 45 minutes. At one point the actors were twirling around each other, Yamato Takeru’s men unclipped their clothes and their costume reversed, showing a burst of colour as they danced in circles. The crowd and myself went wild clapping and cheering, for me it was totally unexpected and the fight that followed only seemed more intense now that the ambience had changed so dramatically.

Even after 45min of dancing the act seemed to end too soon. We weren’t allowed to eat food in the theatre so I thought that the bag of snacks I’d bought just before going in had been rendered pointless, but seeing as many people left through a side hallway leading to the emergency exit doors I decided to follow them. Turns out there is a seating area and some bathrooms at the end of the hall and served as a good space to eat said snacks and stretch my legs during the intermission.

When I was in high school I wrote a 70 page project about the movie ‘Spirited Away’ from Hayao Miyazaki, looking into aspects of Japanese history, folklore and real life influences that the movie had and this introduced me to the world of yôkai, led me to reading ‘Kwaidan’ from Lafcadio Hearn and researching all kinds of Japanese monsters. It’s really what sparked my interest for Japan and still today legends and mythology are two of my favourite aspects of Japanese culture. The character Kamaji from the Ghibli movie was inspired by the Tsuchigumo, so I was familiar with the legend before arriving to Hiroshima, but they gave me a sheet of paper in English explaining the two shows anyway and it was useful since I had never heard of the first one.

Hence, Tsuchigumo is a personal favourite yôkai of mine and was what I was really looking forward to (both shows were amazing though, I couldn’t choose which one I liked best).

The second act’s story featured Minamoto no Raiko. He was ill in bed with chills and fever and thus sent his maid, Kocho, to a doctor in order to pick up some medicine. On her way back Kocho was killed by the Tsuchigumo, a spider demon, who disguised himself as the maid so he could once and for all solve the deep-seated grudge he held against Raiko.
Tsuchigumo changed the medicine for poison, but Raiko noticed something was off and attacked the impostor with his sword Hizamaru. His retainers Urabe Suetake and Sakata no Kintoki followed Tsuchigumo as he fled to his home in Mt.Katsuragi and, after a fierce battle, finally defeated the demon.

The producers really put in a lot of effort to make the best show they could, even a waterfall of cobwebs (strings) fell around Tsuchigumo as he entered the scene, and was present during the whole show even as Tsuchigumo, defeated, fell to the floor with a flip of his white shaggy hair.

During the battle the taiko drummer, who had been sitting down, stood up to be able to hit the drum as hard as he could, each beat matching the intensity of the fight. He looked like he was thoroughly enjoying himself and trying his best, I could see the sweat rolling down his forehead all the way from my seat.

What really wrapped up the whole experience was being able to try on the costumes after the show. The costumes were heavy and definitely difficult to dance with but beautifully embroidered, many ran up to me and asked for photos once I put on the Tsuchigumo mask. I was honoured to be able to meet the taiko drummer for he really made the kagura show much more memorable and exciting.
Only 1000yen I think it is a great way to learn about Japanese culture and have an amazing time. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face for the rest of the night.

Before heading to my futon I found a teppanyaki restaurant to have some of Hiroshima’s okonomiyaki. I couldn’t leave Hiroshima without tasting it since I was trying to be slightly more open with my food choices this trip (I’m a picky eater). After my failed acceptance of Kurashiki’s udon and Onomichi’s ramen, I’m glad to announce that I enjoyed the okonomiyaki! It was a bit difficult to cut but I managed to get the hang of it by the last few slices, and seeing the woman cook it in front of me was fun.

Day two in Hiroshima turned out to be just as memorable as day one. I was already jittery with excitement and wished the next morning would come soon.
(My shoes took three days to dry.)

Peter_T

Sorry for the delay! Finally here with the next report of my time in Hiroshima. Photos: https://tokyoanecdote.wordpress.com/...-of-hiroshima/

Kavey

Loving your reports still!

russ_in_LA

Fantastic! Still following along.

dgunbug

Wow...what a report! This is really impressive and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

kalihiwai2

Great trip report.
Must read for those Hiroshima bound.
I like how you went off the beaten track.
That has been our experience, a bit off the "must see" list and you find yourself by yourself or at least with no crowds at a more re;axing pace.

someotherguy

I'm also following along with great enjoyment.

Back to Onomichi. Have you seen the film "Tokyo Story"? This is widely considered the best film ever made and aside from its artistic merit it provides a view of Japan just after the war, which seems to be one of your interests, so I think you'll enjoy it. Anyway, the parts of the film that are not set in Tokyo are set in Onomichi and there's a museum about it there. I've not been (didn't know about it) but Mara mentions it in one of her reports.