Hiroshima

I took a couple of days off work to visit Hiroshima. I've been once before, but a very short work visit. This time I went as a tourist.

I took the JR shinkansen from Tokyo station through, Yokohama, Nagoya, Kyoto and, Osaka, Okayama to Hiroshima.

A train transfer from Hiroshima to Miyajima station a ferry trip across to Miyajima island. There were oyster farms in the bay.

As we approached the island we could get a view of the Itsukushima shrine from the sea.

At the ferry building, we were met by some local deer. The deer wander the streets of Miyajima, quite oblivious to, or comfortable with all the tourists.

Having a rest in the shade

Itsukushima shrine was first erected 1,200 years ago. It is a shinto shrine and is built on piers over the bay. The torii is built below the high water mark so when the tide comes in, it appears to float on the sea.

A visitor from the Hawkes Bay gets his feet wet

From Miyajima, I caught the ferry back to the mainland and got the Hinoden streetcar back to Hiroshima.

I got off at Genbaku Domu Eki (Atomic Bomb Dome Station). It is right opposite the A-bomb dome.

The A-bomb dome is the former Hiroshima Prefecture Industrial Promotion Hall. At 8:15am, 6th August 1945 the Enola Gay dropped the "Little Boy" atomic bomb and it was detonated approximately 600 metres almost right above the building. Because the blast was directed vertically downwards, the columns allowed it to retain its shape. 

One block away from the dome is the Hypocentre. This is the spot directly below the blast. Every other building within about 2km from here was flattened by the blast. Over 70,000 people were killed instantly and another 70,000 died from radiation related injuries. It was literally chilling to stand in this spot. I hope to heck that nothing like this ever happens again.

The area near the dome is now a Peace Park. The museum is dedicated to the abolishment of nuclear weapons.

Hiroshima today is a bustling, vibrant, affluent city.

I walked to Hiroshima castle. It was built in the 1590's, however, the castle was totally destroyed by the A-bomb and was faithfully rebuilt in 1958.  The castle tower now is a museum to the samurai period and has displays detailing the origins and growth of Hiroshima.

Nice views from the top of the tower

I stayed the night at the JAL City Hiroshima business hotel. 

For dinner I ventured into the city and found the okonomiyaki district. Hiroshima style okonomiyaki is world famous in Japan.

The next day I took a 45 minute train ride from Hiroshima to Kure. Kure City was a base for the Imperial Japanese Navy and shipbuilding yards. 

Most famously, the biggest battleship the world has ever seen, Yamato was laid down and built here. There is now a Yamato Museum. It documents the shipbuilding history of Kure and also the story of Yamato.

This is a 1/10 scale model of battleshipYamato. It is 26 metres long. 
Yamato was 72,800 tonnes and was the heaviest and most powerfully armed battleship ever built. She had nine 18 inch guns which was the largest caliber artillery ever on a ship. The guns could fire shells 42km. Yamato could do 27 knots. She was sunk 7 April 1945 as part of a suicide defence mission near Okinawa.

 There were a number of other displays at the museum.

Back to Hiroshima Station to pick up the 300km/hr Nozomi Super Express back to Tokyo. Hiroshima is fantastic city to visit.

Soma Nomaoi

I went to Minami-Soma, in Fukushima to see the very famous Nomaoi festival. It is over 1,000 year old and celebrates the region's affinity with and heritage for horses. 
The trek there was pretty long as parts of the regions rail infrastructure are still ruined from the tsunami. Access is from the north via Sendai, but it took a train, then a bus (rail washed out) , then another train to Haranomachi Station.

A short walk from the station took us to the main route which was to be the 3km parade called Ogyouretsu from the Ogawa Bridge in the north of the town to the Gohonjin field. 500 samurai on horses paraded. Some of the riders were actual descendants of samurai lords. All of the kacchu or armour was from the Edo era.

The samurai started down the street. 

Every one had a distinctive and individual kacchu and helmet.

The riders and horses just kept coming and coming down the street.

Some heavy duty horses - massive Clydesdales!

Some cool horse hair samurai helmets.

The cutest samurai.

We then went to the ground for the kacchu-keiba - horse racing.

The riders took off their heavy armour, tied on their white hachimaki (headbands) and raced around the 1,000m track. They still carried their hata (flags) tied to their backs.

Rough stuff. In this race, two riders fell and the horses kept going. 

Then was time for the sinki-sodatsusen. A rocket fires two flags into the sky that explode open in a firework. The goshinki (god flags) flutter slowly to the ground as the horsemen pursue the flags. A battle of men and horse ensue until two riders escape with the flags and ride to the top of the hill to claim their prize.

This ambulance was kept pretty busy through the afternoon.

At the end of the day it was a train, bus, train, shinkansen (bullet train), and metro back to Tokyo. 
The Soma-Nomaoi festival was an absolute highlight of tradition, spectacle and scenery.