20231016 AAAA Trip - Hiroshima, Japan - Day 2 - Castle and garden plus Ninja vs Samurai and a kimono

2023 Alaska, Asia, Australia, Arabian Peninsula Trip 
Day 30/105 - Hiroshima, Japan - Hiroshima Castle and Shukkeien Garden

Before we get into today, let me address something from yesterday.  I said that the dome at the atomic bomb dome was reconstructed.  That was incorrect.  It survived the explosion and has been reinforced so that it can withstand time and remain a reminder of the horrors of atomic war.  I have updated yesterday's blog to correct that.

On to today...

We awoke to sunny skies and temps in the 50s, but that changed quickly as we hit the mid-70s mid-morning for an absolutely beautiful second day in Hiroshima.

Our excursion today was a 3.5-hour tour to Hiroshima Castle and then to Shukkeien Garden.

Our first stop was Hiroshima Castle.  The original castle was built in 1591 and destroyed in the atomic bomb explosion in 1945.  The area was designated as a national historic site in 1953 and a faithful replica of the castle was constructed in 1958.

One of the guard towers

A guard tower, a barrier wall, and a moat

Beautiful trees surround the area

The main gate

These openings were used as defensive tools to shoot arrows

The main gate from inside

This eucalyptus tree somehow survived the atomic blast.

Of course, there is a Shinto shrine on the castle grounds.  There are eight million gods in the Shinto religion and each shrine has a god.

Chrysanthemum is regarded as a holy flower and used for funerals - the gold emblem represents a Chrysanthemum

We finally reached the castle.

Arlona, filling in as our guide purchased our entry tickets

The castle is decorated with several emblems.  The fish at the top is Shachihoko, a legendary fish that can spray water to help protect the castle. 

The middle emblems are called Gegyo and Hafu  - the small white emblems at peaks that can also used to blow water on the castle

We entered and started the 100-ish step climb to the top, stopping along the way to view the displays.

Samurai must have been really short as this was how they traveled

All the swords were beautiful

We reached the top and enjoyed the views.

Arlona and Margo

Garry, Arlona, Margo, Jon

A cormorant, hanging out near the water

As we walked through the grounds and back to our bus, a couple of wagtails were frolicking in the grass.

We made the short drive to Shukkeien Garden a landscape garden in Hiroshima.  Japanese landscape gardens are different from traditional American gardens. American gardens tend to be in neat rows.  Japanese landscape gardens are random with winding paths to mimic nature.

A tea room

Garry, Arlona, Margo, Jon

I think the juxtaposition of the serene garden and the modern architecture is interesting

That is some serious bamboo

Oh, look - there's some accessible water, so...

Japanese maples starting to turn colors

We returned to the ship and had a nice lunch.  Arlona and I decided to wander from the ship. 

We took a walk north.

There really are vending machines everywhere - this was along the sidewalk

Nature always finds a way

We stopped at Aeon, a huge store with, well, everything.  The best I can equate it to is a Walmart, Super Target, or Meijer if you're from Michigan and the surrounding states.  Arlona found some yarn for potential future knitting or crocheting projects.

We have seen a couple of the BIC Camera stores so we decided to check it out.  We walked across the street and went up the escalator into BIC Camera.  The best way I can describe it is Japanese Best Buy.  Cameras, TVs, small appliances, computers, air fryers, vacuums – just about anything electronic.  

We just looked around a bit and started walking back to the ship.  One thing was walked past was a Mazda plant right in Hiroshima.

We arrived back at the ship and prepared to watch the port talk for tomorrow's port, Beppu.

One interesting thing we learned from our guide today was the difference between ninjas and samurai.  Samurai were warriors, sworn to protect their feudal lords.  They were skilled combatants and deadly.  Ninjas on the other hand were not warriors.  They only fought when they needed to.  Stealth was their advantage and they were spies, gathering intelligence on a feudal lord’s enemies without being detected.  Arlona, after hearing that, said that with this new information, she didn’t think that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were properly named as they fought a lot and had little stealth skills.  They were more like Teenage Mutant Samurai Turtles.  You just can’t believe what you see on TV these days.

After pre-dinner drinks in the Explorers' Bar, we headed to the World Café for their Asian night buffet.  In keeping with the theme, the Aquavit Bar was stocked with Japanese beer and Sake. 

Sapporo on ice

Sake

General Manager, Peter, cracking open a cold case of Asahi

We were both tired tonight so we decided to return to the room for the evening.  That also gave us time to do a little YouTube research on the kimono.  So, as promised yesterday, here is the lovely Arlona, modeling her new kimono.

I think it is a winning look for her.

They were showing a movie by the pool tonight. That meant we could go and swipe a couple of bags of popcorn and bring them back to munch in the room.  It will be an early night tonight.  Tomorrow, we’ll be in Beppu, Japan.