How did this happen so fast?
Day 1 seems so long ago, yet so close.
This is part of the peace memorial at Hiroshima. It is a tragedy because of what the city once was. At first, the seeing the Peace Memorial brought a sense of calm. At the same time, it was preparation to see the details of the horrors of the atomic bomb. The monuments brought awe and human desperation to the story of Hiroshima as opposed to a date, name, and place. Suddenly, everything was so real. It was raining that day, bringing even more reality to the history living out loud.
This is the last standing building from the original Hiroshima. There was debate as to whether they should have preserved the building, but the people of Hiroshima wanted a monument to recognize the pain they have been through and their hopes for the future without nuclear weapons in the world. Honestly, the human tragedy of the disaster makes me understand the problems and absolute destruction of the atomic bomb, but I don't know whether complete disarmament is the answer. There are too many villains willing to make nuclear arms outside the public eye to make that kind of solution feasible. The decisions of politicians on the issue of nuclear weapons make our world. I never really sit around acknowledging that with every breath I take, there is the possibility of the world's nuclear annihilation and self-destruction, but Hiroshima brought that fact into light.
This is another part of the peace memorial for the children of the survivors and orphans. The paper cranes you see displayed alongside the goddess are planes made for children to survive these horrors. It is said that if you fold a thousand cranes that your wish will come true, these cranes are hand-made by other school children of Hiroshima. Their heartfelt pains are visible through these thousands of strands of cranes.
This was the sign at the front of the Hiroshima Peace Museum. Every time that a country decides to research nuclear possibilities, the mayor of Hiroshima sends a letter requesting them to end their experimentation and end nuclear arms warfare. So far, there are 595 letters total and the last one was written to Barack Obama.
After all the intensity of Hiroshima, we had a free day. A couple of us decided to do two adjacent cities in one day. We went to Osaka and then to Nara, of course. I am in love with Nara for all intensive purposes. It is rich with history, people, and great shopping. Of course I love it.
Above is a picture of the Osaka Sky Tower. It is a feat of architecture for the Japanese. It is beautiful. Absolutely amazing views of the city...
Not only did we find the architecture beautiful, but we stumbled upon the Aloha Festival in Osaka. Apparently, the Japanese are fans of Hawaii in a big way. These girls were on stage when we arrived. It was funny because even for someone in Japan, I can't escape BBQ. :-D
This is a small model of the tower that we found in the lobby of the building...
After our free day, we went to Mt. Koyasan. Mt. Koyasan is the headquarters of esoteric Buddhism and the home of Kukai's mausoleum. Kukai was the founder of esoteric Buddhism. While we were visiting, we stayed in a temple lodging. What that really means is 1) I lived in a yukata or simplified kimono 2) we took mass showers 3) this was our room 4) we woke up for meditation at 7 am and 5) we ate tofu and vegetarian friendly meals only. It was amazing. You aren't allowed to take pictures inside the temple or I would have. Nevertheless, the rock gardens at the Shioji Temple along with the priestess teaching us chants was absolutely awesome. I loved Koyasan. I wish that we stayed there longer, earlier.
This is my buddy Kiah and I wearing our yukata wears. Everyone wore the same outfit, it was awesome. So incredibly hilarious.
This morning, we went to visit Kukai's mausoleum before we left for Narita Airport. These are the pictures from the middle of the temple where they placed several bodhisattvas.
These are the mountains of Kukai.... How I will miss them.
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