Nara, Miyajima, Hiroshima & Hakodate (Japan Vlog: Days 7-12)
16Thanks so much for watching! These past couple days have been short day trips out of Kyoto (Nara and Miyajima) and then traveling to Hiroshima and Hakodate.
Many of the things we did were kind of touristy take pictures and then move on kind of visits. One thing I've noticed while on this trip is that the historical signage isn't very good. Ginkakuji (the gold-leaf temple) for example was apparently burned down and rebuilt and has an interesting story as to why it's covered in gold-leaf, but none of that history is mentioned.
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Boulevard and Museum was very moving, educational and heartbreaking and was an exception to the signage bit. Everything was translated and extensive. There were a lot of first hand experiences of people there, photographs (taken by people you just know experienced the long term effects of radiation) of victims, first responders and scientists. One thing that I recall as interested was that the preservation of the A Bomb Dome was slightly contentious. Some did not want to have reminders of the city's devastation. Ultimately the city council voted unanimously to preserve it for the sake of the global community.
Shout-out to CherchePrime for recommending CoCo's Curry!
Hakodate is an active fishing port and famous for a pretty wide variety of food, one of which is squid. The Morning Market had these large tanks with squid where you could pay to catch a squid and the chef would cut it up for you immediately. It was cool but kinda sad watching people catch squid, knowing the unlucky winner would be eaten immediately after. Lots more coming about Hakodate! Our guide was super informative and Hakodate had a surprisingly interesting history that I wasn't aware of.
Song: Shura no Hana by Meiko Kaji
(also yes, I know the lyrics are tonally not appropriate but I really like this song and I was getting bored of YouTube's music library)