Day-29: Hiroshima, Japan

Day-29: Sunday, March 2, 2014

Beginning Location: Inland Sea En-route to Hiroshima, Japan
Interim: Hiroshima, Japan
Final Location: Tsushima Strait, East China Sea, En-route to Shanghai, China

Slept late today, well until 0700 anyway. We weren’t to arrive at Hiroshima before 0900 so this was to be a relaxing morning. I went out for photos of our entry; the morning was hazy but the sun was working hard to break through.

Oyster Beds

Hiroshima is reported to produce 70% of Japan's edible oysters.

Red Right Returning

Green on the Other Side

The Welcoming Committee

Overnight we were never really out of sight of land as we passed amongst the various islands in the inter-coastal waterways of the south islands of Japan.

Tour Guide

Today we will be taking the “Shukkei-en Japanese Garden” tour. The garden dates from the year 1620 but fell victim to the atomic blast of August 1945. The garden has since been restored and is a place of serenity as compared to the current day hustle-bustle of Hiroshima.

As luck would have it, at the garden we had two unexpected treats, firstly was a bonsai display and secondly a photo shoot of a recently married Japanese couple in traditional attire.

The bonsai display was perhaps the best I’ve seen, included were single trees of ages greater than 200 years and samples of forested bonsai trees. The variety was greater than any I’ve ever seen.

The wedding photo op was interesting in that the bride and groom were posing for photos both wearing traditional garb for the event.

But about the gardens, there were numerous bridges of many varieties spanning the ponds and streams. There were herb gardens, tea gardens, bamboo forests and an area dedicated to cherry and plum trees, both just beginning to bloom for the season.

Though the garden was less than a mile from the atomic blast epicenter, several of the trees survived to this day, apparently protected from the thermal energy and whiplash wind effect of the blast.

"Atomic Dome"

From the garden we drove to the center of Hiroshima, as it existed in 1945. Here we stepped upon the grounds of the Peace Park. Across the narrow stream stood the iconic “atomic dome” and just a short distance beyond is the estimated locus of detonation though at an altitude of about 1,900 feet. Within the Peace Park are many memorials and shrines, as one would expect.

Children's Memorial

Strange as it may be, Sheila and I have now stood at the site of the world’s first and second atomic blasts, the first in New Mexico at the Trinity Site located in the middle of the American desert with no injuries to speak of and today at Hiroshima the detonation site of a similar weapon used against a nation resulting in the death of thousands of Japanese citizens.

By 1230 we had returned to the ship, cleared immigration and within two hours were underway for China.

The outbound journey was a long haul through the Japanese “Inland Sea”, an inter-coastal waterway of sorts through a series of islands between Honshu to the north and Kyushu to the south.

In preparation for the upcoming China visit we attended two enrichment lectures, “Modern China” and “Imperialism Versus Nationalism – An Unequal Contest, The Opium & Boxer Wars in China”. The contrast between the “sleeping tiger” of the past and the “roaring tiger” of today is huge. China for the 19^th & early 20^th centuries was a quiet and meek isolationist country but today is a country on the road to surpassing not only the U.S. economy but attaining a position of leadership in the world as we know it in many aspects of power, both economically or socially. We were reminded that China with nearly 1.4 billion people is a country with huge growth opportunities, a society with a tremendous appetite for material goods whether its an Apple iPhone or a Gucci handbag.

As a U.S. citizen it’s hard to imagine that our country won’t always be on top in almost every aspect of global power whether it is economic, militaristic or social. That being said the obvious growth of China is changing the playing field and we may just see the U.S. fall behind in many aspects of global leadership over the next 10-20 years. Who knows what that means, but obviously time will tell.

The loud and clear message to America is, don’t underestimate the will, determination and ability of China to surpass the U.S. as a global leader in our lifetime.

Following the lectures we resumed our trivia exploits, tonight answering 13 of 20 questions correctly. That wasn’t enough for the top three places. One team, unbelievably scored a perfect 20 points. Questions included:

• Regarding the iconic “Happy Face”, what two features did the original Happy Face have?
• What African country’s name is derived from the Latin word for freedom?
• What word is used as a name for a “baby turkey”?
• How many moons does the planet Mars have?
• What is the 2^nd largest country in South America following Brazil?
• What number of carats represents near 100% gold?
• How many “bits” are in a “byte”?

We moved from Trivia to drinks in the bar with a Mother/Daughter duo we had met through our GoNext travel connection.

After several drinks we “up-scaled” our attire and met two other couples in the Grand Dining Room for dinner. One couple we had met before is from Toronto and the other was from Holland. The “Dutch” folks were 78 & 85 and as the wife mentioned on their last journey as age was catching up. Strangely, at least to us as Americans, both couples had vacationed in Cuba. Once again we learned that our travel experience is relatively insignificant when compared to many of our fellow cruisers.

After dinner we moved on to another troubadour show, same guy, different show, but again entertaining in a music and comedic way.

Enough already, tonight we gain an extra hour of sleep as we cruise westward toward Shanghai. Tomorrow will be an “at sea day” of catch-up, rest, academy award games and any number of other assorted activities. Sometime tonight we’ll see our Internet restored and the casino and stores will be allowed to reopen as we pass from Japanese territorial waters.