Visit to Hiroshima - November 2004

Day 3 - Hiroshima Castle and Shichigosan Festival

Our final day in Hiroshima was kick-started with a brunch of Okonomiyaki (a particularly delicious omlette-esque food). Hiroshima style okonomiyaki is different from the Osaka style we are used to in Fukui because it has soba noodles in it and only a thin layer of batter on the base. If you get the chance - try it!

We then trundled (as fast as our now bursting stomachs would allow) to the castle in the north of the city. It was another beautiful day so we enjoyed pottering around the grounds and pondered how powerful the A-bomb must have been to physically lift the entire 5 story donjon and dump it in pieces many kilometres away. We were also lucky to see part of the Shichigosan festival (literally 7-5-3), where girls aged three and seven, and boys aged three and five visit a shrine to pray for good health in their life.

Adele and the camera of doom		Today it's the triangular window!
Ducks in the moat	A tree in the castle grounds	Berries in the sunlight
Shichigosan girl in kimono		Shichigosan boy in kimono
The donjon		The donjon hiding behind a tree

The journey home...

Nozomi Shinkansen	We decided to make the most of our time off by taking the fastest Shinkansen (Bullet Train) in Japan - the "Nozomi". In English this means "Hope" or "Wish", but I have a sneaky suspicion someone was having a joke when designing the front - it has the biggest nose of a train I have ever seen! We also managed to experience a disruption of service - a rare thing on the JR network - as the points failed further up the line... We made it back to Fukui at about 2:30am... So much for technology - bah!

If you are planning on a trip to Hiroshima, I'd recommend having a quick look at the following websites;

Get Hiroshima - http://www.gethiroshima.com/
Tourist info website - Hiroshima Navigator - http://www.hiroshima-navi.or.jp/

Maps are available at the station and many tourist spots. You can get your hands on a map published by "Get Hiroshima" from many bars and restaurants, which shows the best nightlife spots.