I wanted to let people know that we've taken the restrictions off the blog. You don't have to login or go through any extra steps any more and you can share it with other people if you like. The address is http://fitzpatricksinjapan.blogspot.com/ It is not supposed to show up in search engines though. So you won't be able to search Google for it.
Two weeks ago, while my parents were visiting, we took the opportunity to visit Hiroshima Peace Park and and island called Miyajima, which is located nearby. The Hiroshima Peace memorial was incredibly touching. It felt a little uncomfortable to be an American in such a place, surrounded by the consequences of our country's decision to drop the A-Bomb. However, that feeling was completely internal. The display, while incredibly graphic does not place blame or accuse. Instead it simply does its best to make the point that something like this should never happen again.
The kids being paper cranes
The kids visited the museum with us, but having been warned by friends that the second floor of the museum was extremely graphic, I took the three kids outside once they'd seen the first floor. Just the small piece that they saw seemed to really affect them. None of them really new what a bomb was or the impact it could have on someone. They were appalled that our country had inflicted such devestation. I tried to explain some of the complex circumstances that led to the decision, but it was difficult.
While we were waiting for the others, several older Japanese approached us. They were very kind, interested in where we were from and very polite. They attempted to teach us a little of the language and then told me I needed to take the children inside since the temperature had quickly dropped and it was getting chilly.
I really wanted to see the rest of the park that surrounded the museum, so we started walking through it. The first thing we came to was the Cenotaph for the A-Bomb Victims.Fresh flowers are still left here daily. This is L standing in front. Through it you can see Flame of Peace (which will be kept burning until all atomic bombs are gone from the Earth) and the Atomic Bomb Dome (one of the few buildings still standing after the bomb, everyone inside died instantly though).
The kids' favorite part of the park was the Children's Monument. This is a memorial to all of the children who died from the bomb or it's after effects. It was inspired by a little girl who was 2 yrs. old when the bomb fell. At age 11, she was diagnosed with leukemia. Based on an ancient Japanese legend, she believed that if she folded 10,000 origami paper cranes, she could be healed. She died before she reached 10,000. Her classmates finished the paper cranes for her. Today children from all over the world send paper cranes in various patterns as a pledge for peace. This is one of the displays that are in glass displays around the base of the monument. The top is a statue of a girl holding a paper crane.
When we left the memorial, all three kids started crying. People walking by were so touched. I saw them looking at the kids and almost crying themselves. I felt so ashamed...the kids were crying because they were cold...not because of the memorial! I made them press on to see the A-Bomb dome up close though.
We met back up with Matt and mom and dad at the museum and headed back to the hotel.
The next day we headed to Miyajima. Miyajima was considered a holy island in the past and the Tori gate that marks the Shinto shrine, Itsukushima Shrine, was built out into the water.
In fact, the entire shrine is surrounded by water at high tide. This way commoners could visit the shrine without profaning the sacred island. The red tori gate surrounded by water is one of the more famous images in Japan. The entire island was beautiful! The kids favorite parts of the experience were taking a high speed ferry to the island and the deer that roam free all over the island. There are signs everywhere warning not to feed or pet them, but they are fairly aggressive. We saw one take a chomp out of a tourist's shopping bag. Another tried to steal a plastic samurai sword from one of the tourist shops! L and K were especially enthusiastic about the deer and didn't want to leave.
I loved the statues of fantastical animals guarding the temple and the stone lanterns lining the way to the shrine. The tide slowly came in while we were there and we got to watch what seemed like an ordinary shrine slowly be surrounded by the waters of the bay. It was gorgeous!
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