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2016 Travels
Hiroshima, Japan

September 30th to October 2nd, 2016

Below: We traveled from Tokyo to Hiroshima on a 200-MPH bullet train. That was cool.



Below: At this fun restaurant, the entire counter is a cooking surface and you eat your meal right off the grill.



Below: We took a ferry to Miyajima Island where there were tame deer and Ninja Warriors walking around.



Below: It was overcast and we rode a cable car through the forest up into the clouds.



Below: This is the Itsukushima Shrine.



We decided to come to Hiroshima because of its historical significance. On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb here which instantly destroyed the city and killed 140,000 people. We thought we were prepared emotionally, yet we were deeply touched by what we saw. At ground zero there is a park with a very graphic museum, several profoundly sad memorials, and the remnants of a building that has been preserved. Nowhere are there any accusations of fault ... neither on the part of Japan nor the United States. Everywhere there is a call for world peace. The name of the park at ground zero is "Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park."



Below: Origami birds (cranes) made from colorful paper are a symbol of peace in Japan. There are tens of thousands of them in the Peace Park, strung together in colorful streamers. People from all over the world continue to make the cranes and deliver them to Hiroshima. A Japanese lady gave Jamie two paper cranes as a gift.









We recommend a visit to Hiroshima to every American; but brace yourself.