We got up and ate breakfast at a beef bowl place close to the street car station. We went to Hiroshima Peace Memorial and Peace Park. It was a rough time walking through and reading all the first hand accounts and seeing all the drawings of the bomb survivors. The memorial and exhibit was really moving that I was at a lose of words on what to say or write at the end. It should be some place everyone should visit once in their life.
We (Mom and I) left the group and made our way back to Hiroshima station to meet Kumi and travel to meet her brother near Joge so that he could drive us to my grandpa's brothers house. The train ride was really long and we had to transfer once to another train. I say about two hours by train to where we stopped. We met Kumi's brother, Chiaka when we arrived at the train station. My grandpa's sister Rose was waiting in the car. She looked exactly like uncle Fred back home in Hawaii but not like my grandpa, and now i know where I get my infectious laugh from!. I get my laugh from Aunty Rose.
They all talked about how my aunty's and uncle's are doing in Honolulu. I didn't understand a lot but I knew who they were talking about. We arrived at my uncle George's house. We exchanged presents to one another when we got there. Uncle George looks like uncle Fred and aunty Rose but not like my grandpa. They played Hanafuda while I watched baseball. We ate snacks and hung out for about an hour and a half. Aunty Rose, Chiaka, and Kumi had to leave because they lived far away and weren't sleeping over. We said our good bye's and I thought to myself I'll probably never see aunty Rose again because it's so hard to travel here, she also knew this but we both were so happy to meet finally. We took pictures and they left the house.
At first I felt a little uneasy staying at uncle George's house along with aunty Tomoe and mom but I came to realization that it was exactly like staying at my grandpa's house back home. I felt George treated my like his own grandson. We talked and drank tea until about 7 p.m. when his son Kazuki came home and brought a ton of sushi and all this food for dinner. I drank some Sho Chu and whiskey "black" while uncle and aunty drank beer. I was surprised that they drank but we Kanpai and had a feast for dinner. I ate and drank so much while watching Formula 1 on tv. I ate so much that I had a kanak attack and fell asleep and I didn't sleep correctly under the heated blanket... so I was freezing most of the night.
March 26
The next day we spent the whole day at uncle's house. I n the morning they cooked so much food for breakfast. We had sausage, bean sprouts, cheese bread, tea, and eggs with tsukemono. After we ate we went to visit our ancestors graves. The first set of stones were my great grandparents. The ones behind was my great great grandpa and his children. There were more stones to the left, aunty Tomoe said we don't know who they are but they are related some how to our family. They suggest that it dates back to the 1500's maybe earlier. We came back near the house and went to visit a samurai grave. After that we came back in the house and ate lunch. Steak and fried chicken. After lunch I crashed out on the futon for two to three hours. When I woke up uncle had some oranges but it didn't curb my appetite. I was hungry again and we waited till about 8 to eat because everyone went to take a bath in the furo. The bath experience was on another level. It was in the mid to lower forties but warmer than last night. I'm guessing my body adjusted to the temperature but it was still really cold! In the bath you rinse with water and soap up. You wash all the soap off and you sit in a tub after filled with really hot water. It was like a jacuzzi but it didn't bubble. That night Kazumi brought home shabu shabu meats. We ate and drank like the night before. I was just as full as the night before. We played a little Hanafuda with grandpa and Kazuki. We arm wrestled a little too! This time around I fell asleep the correct way sleeping under the heated blanket. It was a lot easier to sleep that night!
Outside the Peace Memorial.
Hiroshima before the atomic bomb.
Hiroshima after the atomic bomb.
A bike and a helmet melted from the bomb.
This was the most moving room for me where survivors of the atomic bomb drew what they saw the day of or days after the bombing. Some of the pictures they drew were graphic and the little card on the bottom explained first hand accounts on what they saw.
It is unbelievable what they saw and what they went through.
Peace Park with the eternal flame and Genbaku Dome lined up.
Genbaku Dome
First day at my uncle's house with mom and aunty Rose playing Hanafuda.
My family in Joge Japan
Mom and uncle George.
Kanpai on the first night with lots of sushi shrimp and takoyaki!
Second day was in the rice fields and a little exploring on the mountain side.
We went to a temple close to our uncles house on the second day.
Lunch at uncles house.
After my bath on the second night I went to take some night time photos. The ring around the moon signifies there will be rain the next day.
Our last dinner together... Shabu shabu.
My thoughts on Hiroshima... This was the first time I went to Hiroshima. The city it self was not like other cities in Japan. I felt Hiroshima wasn't as welcoming as the others. For some reason the hotel we were staying at wasn't that great either and they weren't too service oriented like Iwakuni. The city felt dirty, there was tagging in a lot of places and lots of rubbish compared to other parts of Japan. But don't let that stop you from going. The food is great, you have to try the Hiroshima style Okonomiyaki! The one major place to visit is the Peace Park and Peace Memorial. The Park we ventured at night on the first night and it was great! I got to take some sick night time photos of the Genbaku Dome. The Peace Memorial is really good too. It's very depressing yet you learn what the Japanese people had to go through and you kind of sympathize with them. It is some place everyone should get a chance to visit!
Visiting and meeting family was one of the main purposes of this trip. I finally got to meet some of my Japanese relatives that live there. They live far away and I understand now where my grandpa came from and how that side of the family operates. They live far in the country but live happily with each other. They are rice farmers and samurai.I'm so grateful for my mom on taking me on this trip to meet them. This will probably be my only time I see them in my life time!
Like I said before take advantage if you do have family over seas to see them because you don't know if you'll ever meet them in real life. I was lucky enough to see them before they pass away.
I can now say that I know where I come from and am proud of it.
Stay tuned for more in rainy Nara!
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