Hiroshima, Kyoto and Beijing

Our first day in Hiroshima, I spent in bed. Something I ate the day before didn’t sit well, but whatever it was, thankfully only got me. The next day I was feeling better, and we walked to spend the day at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. While eating breakfast, we saw that it was snowing, but we stuck with our plan. It turned out that the path from our apartment to the park was mostly covered. I hadn’t seen this many enclosed roads before. It was like markets where they cover the streets overhead, except this went on for several blocks. Our first stop was the Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims. It was simple and powerful in its message of reflection and peace. At the center is the Hall of Remembrance, where you take a spiral path down toward the center. The design makes you feel as though you are walking back in time, ending with a 360 panoramic photo of the city after the bombing. From there we walked to the museum, where everything became much harder to take in, with stories from survivors, photos, videos, personal items and objects left behind. Before entering the main area, there is a sign warning teachers and parents about bringing children. We walked through slowly at first, then moved through the second half more quickly as it became quite intense. By then the sun had come out, and we spent time walking around the rest of the park. We visited the Children’s Peace Memorial and learned the story of the paper cranes and Sadako Sasaki, and we saw the Atomic Bomb Dome, one of the few buildings that remained standing. Everything was done with meticulous care to preserve and honor both those who died and those who lived through it, turning a horrific event into a powerful reminder and a global call for nonviolence and disarmament. Now more than ever, as conflicts around the world are increasing and global stability seems fragile in a way I don’t remember seeing before, the message felt especially present.

While I was recovering on our first day, my partner went out in search of tea and ended up stumbling upon a small Brazilian store run by a family with one of their sons around twelve years old. A few days later when we returned, the boys were excited to hang out and play, practicing both English and Portuguese and throwing a baseball around. We chatted about our plans and mentioned that we hoped to visit Itsukushima Island, but since it was farther away, we decided not to go. They were emphatic that we couldn’t miss it and explained how easy it was to get there. They even offered for their son to take us. After a bit of convincing, the four of us were off to catch the tram. We commented on how the mix of the two cultures, the openness and friendliness of Brazilians combined with the safety of Japan, made it possible for a mother to let her young son take three strangers on a half-day trip. It reminded me of older times when things like this felt much more common. The tram ride was a bit longer than we expected, but the kids had fun playing on the phone and talking. After the tram, we took a short ferry to the island, where we walked around and had a delicious lunch. Our young guide was able to help us order and translate, we ate some Momiji manjū, and we saw the gate, or torii, which we learned marks the entrance to the shrine on the island dedicated to three goddesses who are protectors of women.

After a couple more days enjoying Hiroshima, including dinner with our new friends at a building where at least two floors were filled with small stalls selling only okonomiyaki, we said our goodbyes. I’ve seen streets and places with shops selling the same thing, but never so many mini restaurants selling the same type of food. I still don’t quite understand how they all make ends meet with so many options of the same thing. Maybe the simple answer is that it’s delicious, and people enjoy them as we did. The next morning, we were off to Kyoto. A couple of days after arriving, it was my partner’s birthday. We spent the day at Arashiyama district enjoying each other’s company and doing things she picked out. Amongst other things, we walked through the famous bamboo forest. Kyoto is full of history, having been the capital of Japan for a thousand years, and it is home to countless ancient temples. We visited Fushimi Inari, a Shinto shrine famous for its thousands of red gates donated by individuals and companies seeking good fortune or expressing gratitude. Nearby, we also came across a bamboo forest that was larger and less visited. The bamboo was carefully maintained, evenly spaced, and thoughtfully tended, creating a landscape I hadn’t seen before. We also visited Tōdai-ji Temple, which housed the world’s largest wooden building until 1998 and contains a massive bronze Buddha statue. But what captured my attention even more there were the hundreds of deer roaming freely nearby. We learned they are sika deer, considered sacred, historic, and protected symbols of the city. I haven’t seen such a deep integration of wild animals into daily life anywhere else. It felt slightly surreal. They’re considered dangerous and warning signs are posted, yet they walk among tourists as if they’re part of the crowd, their main goal being to get more deer crackers, which we had fun feeding to them.

On one of our walks through the city, we came across a bike rental shop. Even though we weren’t actively looking, it was on our wish list for this trip. The day we chose turned out to be one of the coldest and snowiest, which made the bike ride challenging, especially for the eleven year old. Still, with encouragement and care, he stuck it out, and we ended up having a great time pedaling up and down the river path. Riding bikes in Brazil is more challenging due to the lack of trails and lanes, and it showed in him being a bit rusty. It reminded us that when we return, we want to make a bigger effort to ride regularly. On our way back to Brazil, we returned to Beijing for a few days. We visited the zoo to see pandas, walked around the 2008 Olympic Village and stadium, and spent my birthday there. I woke up to candles and a birthday cake delivered to our door, which she ordered with help from the hotel staff. Afterward, we did some of my favorite things: exercising, meditating together, something we already made part of our mornings, playing a city building video game, eating local food, and watching a movie together.