It seems like ages since I last wrote; not only have we been moving around the world quite a bit, but things have also been busy in both our work lives. During our last week in Japan, we took several additional train rides, saw more Japanese cities (and one village!), and got rained on a little too much.
Our first stop was Hiroshima (pictures here), the city everybody outside Japan associates with the sad event of 1945, when the United States dropped the first atom bomb over the city at 08:15 am on 6 August. As we wandered around the Peace Memorial Park and Museum, we were struck by a haunting sense of disbelief that any military (even in response to something as horrific as Pearl Harbor) could justify taking the lives of more than a hundred thousand people, so many of whom were civilians. Being here and reading about the “Hibakusha” (as the survivors are called) made this very dark part of history come alive, and didn’t exactly make me proud of my American heritage. A very sobering experience.
While in Hiroshima, we sampled Okonomiyaki for the first time; a savory dish made of a pancake base topped with cabbage, noodles, and a bunch of different ingredients we could not identify (which varied depending on the food stall). In search of something a little more rural after the city, we headed on to the town of Takayama (village photos here). Lucky to have a good day of sun and blue skies, we enjoyed a whole day of walking, passing temples and cemeteries galore. Many things reminded us of little villages in Switzerland; neatly arranged flower boxes, enclosed garden spaces, and all so clean.
In an effort to see Mt. Fuji, the mountain that really stands for Japan, we decided to make that our last stop. Summits can only be attempted during a few months a year (and we were too early), so that was not an option, but we’d have been happy seeing it. Sadly, our attempt was foiled by the weather (just like in Iceland!), and we spent a day in fog and drizzling rain. We never even saw the outline of the mountain, although many people pointed us in the direction! But because of the rain, I decided on an Onsen (Japanese hot springs) for my afternoon activity. Separated by gender, I was delighted to find that I was the only one there. As with everything in Japan, there is a lot of etiquette involved in Japanese bathing (upon entrance I got an A4 sheet –in English – of rules). After leaving my clothes in one of the baskets provided, I hopped over to the bathing area where the first order of business was to get squeaky clean. Little cleaning cubbyholes, where you sat on little kid’s plastic chairs and hosed yourself down, were provided. I probably broke a bunch of rules without knowing it, but the subsequent skinny-dipping (no bathing suits allowed; I love this place!) in the hot, outdoor pools was magical. It was drizzling rain from above, which was the perfect cool-down in between.
We arrived back in Tokyo the night before my flight for Zurich, enjoying a last Ramen soup for lunch and a celebratory dinner at a wonderful place called “L’Effervescence” (see pictures here). The morning after, we said our goodbyes at the metro station, and then each went our own ways for a few weeks… me to the airport, and for Phil farther on to Hokkaido (Japan).
