We took the Shinkansen to Hiroshima. We had to change trains in Kobe, as recommended by the JR agent. She said that changing trains in Shin-Osaka is more difficult, because the Shin-Osaka station is much larger. We got seats only in a quiet car on the Shinkansen from Kobe to Hiroshima. A quiet car means that no talking is allowed, no announcements are made, and the person who sells food from a cart does not make any announcement. You have to watch the electronic message board carefully to know when to get off. There was no room for us in a regular reserved car. I was afraid that Rena will not be able to stand the enforced 90 minutes of silence, but she managed well with the help of the DVD player and earphones.
We got lost in the underground passages below the Hiroshima train station on our way to the tram. A uniformed employee showed us the way out to the tram. We took a tram to the A-bomb dome site.
We visited the A-bomb dome (the old industrial promotion hall) and took many pictures around it. We also visited a small statue that became rough from the radiation, except for the piece that was in the shade. Then we crossed the bridge to the Peace Memorial Park. We visited the Children's Peace Monument, which commemorates Sadako Sasaki, a 12-years old girl who was exposed to atomic radiation when she was two years old. She fell ill with radiation-related leukemia ten years later. She believed that if she will fold 1,000 paper swans she will be cured. Despite her effort, she died after an 8-month struggle. We also visited the peace clock tower.
Dorit and Shirley stayed in the tourist information center because of the heat. I took Dan and Rena to the National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims. It has many exhibits showing the experience of the bomb survivors. From there I took Dan and Rena to the Peace Memorial Museum. After a few minutes Rena said that she has a stomach ache, so I told Dan to complete his visit in the museum in one hour, and I returned with Rena to the tourist information center. Dorit used this opportunity to visit National Peace Memorial Hall and the Peace Memorial Museum by herself. When Dan came back, I took Shirley to visit the Peace Memorial Museum. It had several exhibits showing the role of Hiroshima in the military buildup before and during the second world war. It explained the politics behind the bombing, and the restoration efforts afterwards. A large section of the museum was dedicated to the horrors of the A-bomb itself. It showed pictures of wounded and burnt people, as well as full-size diorama with wax figures of atomic bomb victims. Shirley did not like the detailed models and pictures.
We left the museum when it closed, and then we took the tram back to the Hiroshima train station. The girls bought something to eat while I got the seat reservations. We arrived in time to board the Shinkasen to Osaka. In Osaka we switched trains to Kyoto. We bought two boxes of Osaka sand pies, which were not tasty at all.
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