Well, I've been doing splendidly as far as planning and "making itineraries" goes, and today I shattered my nice record. Oh well.
I started off going back to the park to visit the museum. It makes you think, that's for sure. I was particularly impressed by the objectivity of it, coming from a Japanese beginning. The displays on conflagration and its effects were horrifying- I'm glad I hadn't had anything to eat beforehand, because my stomach was turning as it was. What bothers me most about the incident was the complete lack of warning given. I understand the reasoning behind the dropping, I suppose. I don't understand Nagasaki, and I firmly believe there should have been warning for Hiroshima. It seems like, even with warning, even with evacuation, the Japanese would have realized the potential of the atomic bomb...there didn't need to be the huge loss of life.
Anyway, the musuem was sobering and somewhat depressing, but again, seeing Hiroshima now is just amazing. It's because of how well the city has recovered that I'm glad they preserved the A-bomb Dome; otherwise, you would truly have no idea of the destruction, and no reminder of why it can't happen again. The Dome is a shredded concrete skeleton among all the new buildings- the contrast is even more stark if you stand across the river and compare the present Dome to the picture of what the building looked like before the bomb dropped.
After the museum, I went to the stadium, andbought my ticket for the game before setting out for Miyajima.
What I SHOULD have done, and what I actually meant to do originally, was take the JR line down to the port area. But I took the streetcar (no subway here, god damn it), got off way too early (typical), then spent an hour wandering random Hiroshima before coming to my senses and getting back on the streetcar. The rest of the trip (to the port) took a long time, so had I kept walking I'd have really been screwed.
I got to the docks and took the free JR ferry (rail pass perks!) over (10 mins), realized the torii wasn't going to be floating, as it was low tide, and stepped off the docks to find all these DEER just chilling. Awwwww. They let me get right next to them. I think I was very Flame-sick at the time. I miss my Flamey.
The torii is apparently one of the three most-photographed sites in Japan. Obviously, it's more photogenic when the tide is high, and it thus looks like it's floating, but I was impressed nonetheless.
I am going to leave my cafe place now and see if it's still pouring out.
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