Day 10: Hiroshima
First goal was to figure out how to pronounce the city name. Is it Hero-sheema? He-RO-shema? Turns out the Japanese pronunciation doesn‘t stress any of the syllables: Hi-ro-sh-ma.
Tsukemen from Reimenya
Tsukemen or “dipping ramen” is popular in Hiroshima. You get a plate of cold noodles, veggies and pork, and dip them into a spicy sauce. You can choose your spice level, so I went for the max, which was pretty spicy, especially for Japan.
Hiroshima Peace Park
The site of the bombing. The building closest to the hypocenter (first image above) is actually still standing and preserved.
Hiroshima Peace Museum
Didn’t take any photos, but also toured the Peace Museum. Unfortunately, right after I entered, a group of like 150 middle school kids came in behind me, which made this a slow tour.
It was well done, though definitely had a specific perspective that it wanted to convey. The focus was almost entirely on the effects and aftermath of the bomb on civilians, and particularly on children. A lot of the broader historical context of the war was breezed over or skipped entirely. It was a powerful presentation, I guess I was just expecting more of history museum.
Walking Around
Got some ice cream, saw another heron, walked by (but didn‘t tour) Hiroshima Castle.
Shukkeien Garden was really nice and relaxing.
Hiroshima Carp Game
Got a last minute upper deck ticket to see the Hiroshima Carp play the SoftBank Hawks of Fukuoka at Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium. It‘s a fun place to see a game! Ticket was like $20, beers were $5, and the Hiroshima fans are very loyal.
After climbing a million stairs (remember I biked 80+ km yesterday), I had no luck finding my seat, so I retreated back down to the main level to grab a beer and some food.
Climbed back up, still couldn’t figure out where I was supposed to sit, tracked down a nice security guard and felt better when he also couldn’t figure it out at first. We figured it out together though. There are two Section 206’s I was looking in 206 on the first base side, but my ticket was in the Section 206 on the third base side. Who designed that? I thought things were supposed to be more logical in Japan.
By the time I got to my seat, the Carp were down 2-0, and that was about it for offense on either side until the 7th inning. It was a fun atmosphere! The crowd has different chants for each player, and everyone is having a good time. There were a few Australians sitting near me, so had some people to talk to. Also bought a shirt.
The game got exciting in the bottom of the 8th. With 2 outs and a man on first, and still down 2-0, one of the Carp’s better hitters came up. The count went to 1-2 before he fouled off 4 pitches in a row and then… stuck out. No joy in Mudville, but still a fun night!
