Day 30.  We start the day taking a high speed bullet train from Osaka to Hiroshima.  It is ~1.5 hours and we travel the equivalent distance of going from NY to DC.  Their bullet trains allow a lot of people to live in one city and work in another.  Impressive. I’m thinking a lot of people back home when they’re on the 405 at rush hour are thinking they wish LA had bullet trains to get from one part to another.  But alas, California decided to spend $100B on a bullet train to Sacramento of all places and when know when it will be completed.  But I digress.

On the train, my Japanese bathroom challenges continue.  There are two bathrooms.  Once is occupied and one says vacant.  Everything else is in Japanese but there are two buttons – one green and one red.  I got this one.  I push the green button and nothing happens. Hmm.  I push the green one again really hard.  Nothing.  I try hitting the green one multiple times in succession.  No luck.  It’s apparently broken or stuck shut.  The other bathroom door whooshes open and the person exits.  I’m now convinced if I go in that bathroom and start hitting buttons, I’ll surely be locked in there.  Someone else walks up to go to the bathroom so I have to make a decision. Mother nature wins out and I take my chances.  Fortunately, I don’t get locked in.

 Our first stop in Hiroshima is the idyllic Miyajmi Island which houses the splendid Itsukushima Shrine. The centuries old shrine meaning “shrine island” is known for its iconic “floating” torii gate.  Both the shrine and the Torri gate are unique in that they are built over water seeming to float effortlessly in the ocean during high tide.

 The island has deer similar Nara.   Oh great, I’m still traumatized from the shorts-eating deer at Nara and now I have to face it again?  I’m thinking I should have gotten a rider on my insurance policy that covered getting attacked and or eaten by deer.  Our tour guide assures us that these deer won’t bother us because people aren’t allowed to feed them so they have no expectations of food.  This turns out to be somewhat true but the deer do still try to steal food out of your hand when you’re not paying attention.

 Today was the hottest day so far on the trip.  Over 90 degrees and a million % humidity.  I don’t do great with the extreme heat / humidity and I had been awake since 2am working on booking future travel.  So when everyone is taking 45 mins in the souvenir shop which is delaying lunch and the ability to sit in an air conditioned venue, I kind of lose it.  I know there are going to be a few days like this in the course of a year-long trip.

In the afternoon, we visit the Atomic Bomb Done (UNESCO site) which is the site of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in August of 1945. The structure is meant for individuals to gain a deeper understanding of the impact on Hiroshima’s people by the war and the atomic bomb.  We visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park where exhibitions present the history of the atomic bomb. Then we go to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.  Through scientific explanation and exhibitions of items belonging to victims and their story, the museum tells the story of Hiroshima before and after the bombing.  The museum continues to spearhead the global movement towards nuclear disarmament and world peace.

The afternoon experience was very powerful.  It reminded me of the 9-11 Memorial in NYC.  It must have been challenging for the Japanese tour guide to present the history of the Hiroshima bombing to a group of Americans.  I came away with a newfound understanding of the experience of the people and what they went through that one doesn’t get reading a textbook.