Hiroshima, June 8

Today I have scheduled the Culture and Sights of Hiroshima and Miyajima. This tour is going to test my anxiety. There are too many people on this bus. We had 50 people on the tour in a bus designed for 40. Deep breaths.

We start with a ride along the coast to a ferry that will take us to Miyajima Island. As we ride, we're told to look out the window at the oyster farms. I couldn't see, but I was told that over 60% of oysters produced in Japan come from there. Okay.

When we get to the ferry terminal there are hundreds of people already there. I have flash memories of seeing ferries overloaded and sinking. My fears are unfounded. They have 6 boats shuttling back and forth, each carrying about 100 people and some cars. There are 3 decks and plenty of room. I find a place near the cars away from the people and feel comfortable. It's about a ten-minute ride to the Island.

I have a quick chat with the tour guide and find out what time they will return to the launch to catch the ferry back to the mainland. As the rest of the group trudges along to hear the guide talk about the Island, I venture off on my own.

Miyajima is an interesting place. I turn to Google and find an audio tour guide that lets me use the camera on my phone to show where I am and then it tells me, in English, what I am looking at. Very cool tech.

This island was a refuge and care center for immediate survivors of the bombing. It was far enough outside the blast radius to be unaffected. The island was established hundreds of years earlier as a Shinto shrine and place of worship.

There is a variety of wildlife on the island, including some very tame deer. The deer are not shy. They walk right up to the tourists looking for food. Unprepared visitors can lose their goodies to the deer.

I walked to a wooded park and enjoyed that a lot. I went to the shrine, to the rope walk, and to the aquarium, all without the tour group. Then I strolled down the shopping street. I made a few purchases of souvenirs before finding a beer shop. I tried, and liked, the Red Beer. I didn't eat lunch because that was the next stop on the tour.

I met the tour group at the pier and we headed back to the bus for a ride to lunch. We had Sashimi (raw fish), Miso soup, Tempura veggies, and fruit for dessert. You got to choose from Coke, Beer, Water, and Sake to drink. Sake, please! The food was good. I was a little squeamish about the sashimi—even the shrimp was raw. But I ate it. I do prefer the shrimp steamed.

After lunch, we boarded the bus for the ride to Hiroshima ground zero. Please see the post "Atom Bomb and Peace Memorial" for my commentary on that.