ADSactly Travel - Finding Peace in Hiroshima
Finding Peace in Hiroshima
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The beautiful city of Hiroshima, Japan is legendary for its natural surroundings and is the capital of the Hiroshima Prefecture. Just as exciting is the city's vibrant nightlife downtown, where the skyscrapers remind you that you're in a major city. The city holds annual festivals all year round that represent many cultures including an impressive Christmas set up filled with illuminated ornaments through the downtown streets every year.
Hiroshima is famous for its pancake-style dish called okonomiyaki & its fresh oysters. When visiting the UNESCO World Heritage Site the Itsukushima Shrine, you can see the countless oyster traps along the shore. These are some of the most delicious oysters in the world and have made the city also known for some amazing oyster rice bowls and lunch boxes.
The city's dedication to their professional baseball team, the Hiroshima Carps, shows their loyalty and passion in a symbol that stands for one another. For a major metropolis, the people are kind and genuine who will go out of their way to help you. This type of welcoming and generosity makes me always look forward to spending great days amongst awesome people and an incredible city.
The Magnificent Hiroshima Castle
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We started our adventure with plans of seeing the Hiroshima Castle before shopping at the Pacela Mall. It had been a while since my last castle so I was pretty excited because they always get me in the same mood I get when I watch an awesome documentary. Castles are symbols of power and everything in them were designed to maintain that power so we can admire the great details that went in to fortify them.
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The castle grounds were interesting to see and we got a feel of what a modern army barrack may be like, in its simplest form. Hiroshima Castle also is known as Carp Castle. It still has a few of the stones that once belonged to the buildings that housed and trained the warriors that protected the castle. As we approached and entered Carp Castle, one can easily be in awe of the architectural details that make up the modern castle.
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We entered Hiroshima Castle's museum and got a briefing on its history from its informative first floor. The history is well documented by visual and audio aids with a souvenir shop you can purchase educational books from.
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The second floor is full of astonishing armor and swords both historic and modern.
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If you're an O.G. gamer like me, then you'll want to spend extra time on this floor admiring the perfected craftsmanship that goes into making these weapons & sets of armor.
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The following floors are full of artistic tapestries and full of displays dedicated to many artists and craftsmen of Hiroshima both past and present.
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At the very top of Carp Castle, you can use its coined telescope to look over the city with the castle's remarkable view. It was there, that I took a deep breath and realized, I had found a piece of the peace that lives in Hiroshima.
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I have been visiting Hiroshima for years, so as I looked over the city for the first time, I appreciated every person that had shown me great kindness over the years in Hiroshima.
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Before we left the castle to visit the on-site shrine, we managed to find some samurai outfits they let visitors borrow and took some fun photos.
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We stopped by to do a great deed at the Gokoku Shrine and ask the universe for empowerment. We washed the front of our mouths and our hands with the waters of the shrine's fountain like in all shrines across Japan.
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In Buddhism, doing a great deed means adding selfless acts to your karmic cycle of lives. Many people visit temples & shrines to donate or even clean the temples & shrines. We had a very uplifting praise and donated for our great deed. I always love getting consecrated items as souvenirs so after we did our great deed, I manage to find two items for great health and protection while traveling. We left the castle extremely happy with the visit and headed to the Pacela Mall for a few rounds of power shopping.
The World Renowned Itsukushima Shrine
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We began our day hanging out at Pacela Mall, had coffee, some ice cream, and had an excellent lunch before heading to Miyajima Island. We wanted to get there during low tide because the famous giant torii is submerged during high tide. As we exited the ferry, I was welcomed with an unexpected surprise. More than 1000 wild Sika deer live naturally with the locals and some even interact with island visitors.
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The deer are abundant for such a small island and are along the coastline that's filled with restaurants, bakeries and souvenir shops. As you approach the Itsukushima Shrine, you see a lot of visitors standing next to the giant torii during low tide, taking thousands of photos. The Itsukushima Shrine is a UNESCO World Heritage Site so there are also a great number of tourists, not just Japanese visitors. We walked across the ocean floor to view the infamous giant torii and was in awe of the beauty of the ocean.
As I stood next to the giant torii, I marveled at the size of it and examined all the sea life that lives on its base. I understood why it's equally special during both times of the day. When the tide is high, the naturalistic water setting for the Itsukushima Shrine itself is breath-taking. During low tide, the giant torii gets the spotlight because of the access to it, for all the photographers and visitors. One could experience it all if you were able to get there in the morning or spend one night there and the whole day after before coming back to the mainland.
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We decided to cross over the romantic rock bridge and admired the Itsukushima Shrine from the ocean floor. The bridge leads you to the end of the shrine and in front of Daigan-Ji Temple so we stopped in to do a great deed and say a Buddhist prayer.
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We were greeted by the nicest bhikkhunī who explained to us the importance of the merging of Shintoism & Buddhism in Japan.
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She taught us our greatest lesson in kindness and we happily did a great deed before moving on.
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We walked back through the island's alleys full of shops and eateries tasting different food along the way. There were delightful souvenir shops that we bought countless items from and we also got to see the world's biggest wooden spatula on display.
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We crossed back over on the ferry a little exhausted from all the walking and quite hungry from all the food tasting. We all had experienced the greatest time together on Miyajima Island. Next time, we'll have to experience it all again during high tide.
Hiroshima's Famous Oyster Rice Bowls
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We found a small restaurant right at the ferry docks that served glazed oyster & grilled eel rice bowls and we wasted no time ordering. We ended the evening with one of the greatest meals to date, topped with a few bottles of Asahi beer. The eel was grilled to perfection and the glazed oysters were so large, it may have taken me four bites to eat one. The restaurant staff was welcoming in what seemed to be a family business.
We arrived back at our hotel exhausted and full of beer, oysters & eels. We continue to drink into the night and laughed about our Sika deer friends. I look forward to the day I get to return to Miyajima Island to experience the nature trails and the ropeway that takes you above and through the forest. A great way to spend the day for any adventurer. Our overall trips to Hiroshima are always wonderful mainly because of the kind and hospitable locals. There's always a smile on my face from priceless memories, when I leave Hiroshima on the Shinkansen.
Authored & Photographed by: @stewsak
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This was a very touching thing to read, thank you for sharing it. As an American living in Japan, I consider it my duty to visit Hiroshima at some point to pay my respects. But even after living here for years, I haven't quite managed to work up the courage to do it (yet). I'm not convinced that an act as evil as the atomic bombings was necessary to end the war, and I feel ashamed of my home country when I think about it. But the past can't be changed, all we can do is look forward to the future and take to heart the message of the Peace Memorial Park: that everything in humanity's power be done to ensure that such an unspeakable act never be repeated.
I feel the same way as an American-Thai. Atomic bombs are acts of evil and we the American and Japanese people are not to blame. Those results came from that generation of unfit leaders. Not that this generation of unfit leaders are any better, just saying. But this isn't the Peace Memorial of Hiroshima, this is the museum inside the Hiroshima Castle that's mainly about the city's history and fine arts. Thanks for coming by and hope you have an awesome week!
"Always grateful for having you along on our journeys..."
Wishing you the best, @adsactly & @stewsak
Awesome travel write-up as always! While I've visited other cities of Japan (Kyoto, Tokyo) I haven't visited Hiroshima. The castle looks like it's in excellent condition, those are some interesting artifacts on display. It is very hard to imagine, though, what it was like to actually be a samurai in those times - can you imagine trying to attack one of these, or even destroying such a magnificent work of architecture? Of course back then, we don't want rivals to look better than us but still, hard to imagine more violent times.
The food looks great, eel and oysters are so good, especially when the Japanese cook it. It's great that they apparently still have an abundance of local seafood; it's pretty tragic when the local wildlife gets overhunted into local extinction; even where I am in the United States, in the past there would be tons of salmon but the salmon runs are slowly dying over time...
That spatula is a funny picture, clearly made as a statue and not ever used. But as for massive spoons that were used, I did visit a museum in Canada where it had on display an artifact used by the native Americans - a solid thick spoon as long as your arm, huge but still usable, mostly in festivals.
Some might say a good deed is its own reward but I like the idea of having positive karma... but maybe I should pray at a Buddhist temple first?
Over the years, Hiroshima Castle has been renovated by some of the city's finest artists and their work is displayed at the castle's museum. Awesome work by awesome artists. With great karma, you are the temple. Sure praying with monks at the temple is awesome, but you are the walking good deed and the reward is knowing you make a difference in people's lives every day. I super appreciate you joining us for this post and hope you have a wonderful week.
"Always grateful for having you along on our journeys..."
Wishing you the best, @adsactly & @stewsak
I read about the fact that if you are going to visit Japan, then you must visit Hiroshima, the city where the first atomic bomb was dropped in 1945. I think that this is what he is "famous" in the whole world. Nevertheless, I believe that this was a horrible tragedy. I read that in the famous garden of "Sykken" there is a tree that survived a nuclear strike. It is a symbol.
Now Hiroshima is a big modern city. In this city, much has been done to make people remember the world. Hiroshima can be described as a unique city and the capital of the peaceful life of the whole planet.
Your journey shows the best places in this city. I learned about many sights and most importantly thanks to the excellent photos I felt the atmosphere. I am impressed by the temples and culture of Japan. You were able to visit many beautiful places. I liked your trip. Especially its final part where you are tired but happy drinkers :)
Well done!
The people of Hiroshima are pure joy and make each trip full of priceless memories. I super appreciate you coming by and hope you have an outstanding week!
"Always grateful for having you along on our journeys..."
Wishing you the best, @adsactly & @stewsak
This adventure in Hiroshima which known as the largest Island in japan, This island is very rich in culture and history. This city have ruled by Asano clan a japanese samurai clan. If you ever imagine how bloody the war was, using knife or sword not that bullet thing, blood are flowing over the ground. Upon seeing the picture of the castle, I could say that the castle is very rich in history, in the 1st floor of the castle as stated where the audio and visual of the war would experience, In the 2nd floor the armors of the warriors that I consider as a treasure. And thank for @adsactly for me to know that there are 1000 wild Sika deer who live with the poeple through local zones, The delicious Hiroshima's Famous Oyster that makes my stomach starve. Such a wonderful and full of learning travel, I am looking forward for some of your adventure, may @adsactly visit Philippines as my motherland :).
one of the places i have to go to!
so much history there!
what they felt no one night ever understand!
it's heartwarming to see the area is getting itself back slowly
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Wow, great images and post. I love the Japanese design aesthetic. From the architecture to the armor, even the display mount for the samurai sword is unique and well thought. I'm surprised to see the worlds largest spatula just because I wouldn't think that would be found to be an important endeavor. Regardless, cool stuff thanks.
We all sat there and debated whether it was a wooden spoon or paddle, then I did the, "Look! What's that?!" as everyone turned, googled it and BAMO! Spatula. LOL. I wasn't expected that so it was a funny surprise. Thanks for stopping by and have an awesome week!
"Always grateful for having you along on our journeys..."
Wishing you the best, @adsactly & @stewsak
wow this place is soo beautiful and peaceful 😍
The locals are also a joy to be around. Thanks for joining us and have an incredible week!
"Always grateful for having you along on our journeys..."
Wishing you the best, @adsactly & @stewsak
I have read your ''ADSactly Travel - Finding Peace in Hiroshima''article
Thank you @adsactly for sharing your article
I always read your good posts.
with best wishes from @popyhq.
....Supported by @banjo
So happy that you enjoyed it. It was a wonderful trip filled with great people along the way. Hope you have a terrific week!
"Always grateful for having you along on our journeys..."
Wishing you the best, @adsactly & @stewsak
Hi there, @adsactly Very valuable information, for anyone thinking of traveling to Japan. We are from The Curator. (A post style magazine on Steemit) We do curating for informative, creative, entertaining, yet undervalued posts. We love your fantastic post. And we feel that it is undervalued. We would like to share it in our magazine. But first, we would like to ask for your permission to add your post to our next issue, With a picture from your post. That we will use as a thumbnail, We will share a portion of the post gifts. With the posts that we share in that issue. If you agree to this. Please let us know below this comment, at your earliest convenience.
So happy you enjoyed it. It was an awesome trip and the people of Hiroshima are always welcoming. Thanks for coming by and hope you all have a superb week!
"Always grateful for having you along on our journeys..."
Wishing you the best, @adsactly & @stewsak
Hiroshima and Nagasaki are the world historical cities according to atom bomb blast.
These both cities recovered their state and pace very soon in the world.
Now Hiroshima is a peaceful place.
The people of Hiroshima are amazing people and like you said, they recovered quickly and well. I'm proud to call them my friends. All of them. Appreciate you coming by and have a marvelous week!
"Always grateful for having you along on our journeys..."
Wishing you the best, @adsactly & @stewsak
Well said bro I also appreciate you for calling them friend like me