A Morning in Hiroshima

Today, my family and I went to see the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Dome, Museum, and Park. It seems weird to say it was beautiful because of how tragic it is. I have been quite excited to see the Peace Memorial Museum because I learned about it in my Japanese Art Before and After World War II Course, and most of my friends had already been to Hiroshima, so I had heard a fair amount about it.

We left from Hiroshima Station and saw the Dome first, then did a short walk to the Peace Memorial Museum. Along the way, we saw the large flame that will burn until nuclear weapons no longer exist on earth. We also stopped shortly at the Children’s memorial, which had lots of student-made art and a statue of a girl holding a paper crane. I later realized that it came from the story of Saduka (?), who folded 1,000 paper cranes in hopes that her illness would be cured. Now, the crane is a universal symbol of peace and hope in Japan. There were many students on a field trip today, but it thankfully wasn’t too crowded. I saw a teacher carrying something extremely colourful. It looked like some kind of drape with a rainbow, but I was too far to see.

In the beginning of the permanent exhibition, there is a model of Hiroshima City and a projection of the explosion that was heartbreaking. It is still very hard to conceptualize a bomb wiping out such a large city. The exhibit was quite graphic from black and white pictures of the injured and dead covered in scars to belongings of those who died. There was so much clothing found that was completed tattered. Some were even blood-stained. Many objects were fused together by the heat of the bomb. In this picture, it shows a stack of plates completed fused into one piece.

We set off to see another garden, but it started snowing and the loop bus didn’t actually continue past the station, so we decided to head back to Tokyo and get to our hotel at an earlier, more convenient time. After settling in, we found a tonkatsu place since my dad really wanted to try it in Japan, and headed out. Apple Maps said it was on the other side of the station, but we couldn’t find it once we got there. When I asked the train information worker if we could come in just to go to the restaurant, he said it would cost 140 yen. This was kind of ridiculous, but we figured it was fine. Unfortunately, we walked around in circles on the first floor AND B1 level. One article I read said it was INSIDE the station on B1F, but another said it was at the exit that we originally came from and not the other side of the station. We were quite determined, and even checked out of the station, but to no avail. We settled on a very interesting Indian-Japanese fusion restaurant because they had a tonkatsu curry. Someone was even kind enough to move her seat so that we could sit together. That really made my day. This was honestly one of the BEST meals I have had in all of Japan. The Indian curry was such a great pairing with the fried pork cutlet. I loved the rich tomatoes and creaminess compared to the typical Japanese brown curry. I absolutely loved this dish and wish I could get it when I go back home. We may not have found Tonkatsu Suzuki, but we may have found something even better!