Kobe, Japan and Honolulu, Hawaii USA: Craig's list
For me, the most poignant and powerful parts of our visit to Japan was touring the "A-bomb" site and the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and Museum, a five hour drive from Kobe. It is difficult for me to comprehend what happened on August 6, sixty-two years ago, when the atom bomb was dropped on this city.
From the most recent (August 6, 2007) Peace Declaration by Tadatoshi Akiba, Hiroshima's Mayor:
"The roar of a B-29 breaks the morning calm. A parachute opens in the blue sky. Then suddenly, a flash, an enormous blast--silence--hell on earth. The eyes of young girls watching the parachute were melted. Their faces became giant charred blisters. The skin of people seeking help dangled from their fingernails. Their hair stood on end. Their clothes were ripped to shreds. People trapped in houses toppled by the blast were burned alive. Others died when their eyeballs and internal organs burst from their bodies--Hiroshima was a hell where those who somehow survived envied by the dead."
To look at Hiroshima now, it is hard to imagine what the photographs and maps show happened in 1945. The tone of the Peace Declaration underscores for me how significant the A-bomb experience is in the hearts and minds of some of the Japanese people. Approximately ten years after the bomb was dropped, the City of Hiroshima built the first phase of the museum and memorial. It was not until recently that the Japanese national government built a national monument on the grounds of the Peace Memorial Park. Considerable controversy is apparent today as some believe that the Japanese government should have acted sooner to acknowledge the Emporer's role in creating a situation in which the United States used the A-bomb on Japanese soil. The plight of the hibakusha, living victims of the blast, is a focus of local governments in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This group of Japanese citizens has faced discrimination in marriage and employment. They are by and large outcasts desperately in need of assistance for medical treatment and elder care. As in Vietnam with Agent Orange, the long term emotional, psychological, and physical effects of the A-bomb in Japan are palpable. Likewise, innocent citizens are those most impacted by the devastation created by war and indiscriminate "collateral damage" caused by our weaponry.
We visited the Shukkei-En Garden (circa 1630) which was reconstructed after the bombing. It seeks to replicate various landscapes and plant life in different regions of Japan. It is remarkable that these beautiful gardens exist and is a testament to the earth to somehow replenish and recover after what happened there. A stark reminder of the A-bomb is the one tree that survived the bombing on the hill of Miracles. As you may know, it is written in Japan's constitution that the country may not engage in war. Japanese find it ironic that the current president of the country that dropped the A-bomb to stop WWII is encouraging Japan to change its constitution to allow a militia to be formed in order to help the U.S. wage war around the world.
Again, from the Peace Declaration:
" The government of Japan, the world's only A-bombed nation, is duty-bound to humbly learn the philosophy of the hibakusha along with the facts of the atomic bombings and to spread this knowledge through the world. The Japanese government should take pride in and protect, as is, the Peace Constitution, while clearly saying "No," to obsolete and mistaken U.S. policies. Let us pledge here and now to take all actions required to bequeath to future generations a nuclear-weapon-free world."
Enough said.
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We have much to learn from the efficiency and ingenuity of the Japanese. Their transportation system is wonderful. The cities are exceptionally clean. The traffic is orderly and people wait for the green and stop at the red. Vending machines are everywhere vending everything to everyone. We even ordered our dinner using a vending machine which took our money and delivered our order to the kitchen which prepared our choices. People are exceptionally polite, eager to serve, and seem to find amusement in an english-speaker's attempt to communicate.
The food was good- including the Korean BBQ place serving very tiny portions of Kobe beef, a small hole in the wall noodle place for locals, and a culinary market including bakeries and candy makers ( in addition to a paper manufacturing factory that makes one piece of paper at a time- by hand).
One morning I took off on my own in search of a twenty year old "antique" cigarette lighter in the form of Godzilla that shoots fire from its mouth. It was an interesting cultural experience and treasure hunt looking for this item. I lost count at 35 shops looking for Godzilla and in doing so, saw a part of Kobe located literally under the elevated train tracks running through the city. It was here off (or rather under) the beaten track in Motomachi that one could find everything---except for the 1985 Beetland Japanese Toho Kaiju Godzilla lighter. Although failing at my mission, it was surprising how many people knew what I was looking for (after showing them a picture) and were eager to help me in my quest.
Since the 1995 earthquake, Kobe has done an amazing job recovering from the tragedy that killed 5,000 people and damaged thousands of structures. The view on top of a peak on Mount Rokko overlooking the city was beautiful and well worth the hike. The day before, our family made it to a cable car station to go to the top of the mountain but got there after it closed. A kind cab driver offered to take us to the top for a reasonable fare of $80. We respectfully declined and walked back to the ship only getting lost a couple of times. Japan is considerably more pricey than some of our recent Asian ports so the shopping was thankfully curtailed, alto not eliminated altogether.
After leaving Japan, we completed an eight day Pacific ocean crossing to Honolulu. During this leg of the visit, we crossed the International Date Line and added another April 15 to our year. So 2008 for us will be 367 days long- including February 29 and a second April 15. The crossing was long but generally handled well by the community. We raised over $20,000 in an on-ship auction for several charities and are also in the tail end of an annual fund drive. There was considerable excitement about going to Hawaii although we were only going to be there for less than a day.
My clear highlight was having lunch at Ono Hawaiian Foods, a very local restaurant that has been around for many years replete with autographed pictures of hundreds of Hawaiians ranging from Don Ho and Miss Hawaii, 1975. We were clueless about what to order so we put ourselves in the hands of Vivian, the owner who whipped up a wonderful curry dish along with Kalua Pig and Laulau (steamed pork) , Pipikaula, Lomi Salmon (like a tomato salsa with bits of salmon), Haupia (like a beef jerky), Rice, and Poi. We did not try the Poke Squid, the Lomi Fish with Onion, the Portugeuese Sausage or the Boiled Plain Butterfish. Perhaps next time. It was wonderful! We rolled to Waikiki beach, a major disappointment for me. It is an over-crowded, narrow, fabricated renourished beach with erosion so bad that breakwaters have been placed to slow the run-off. Another testament to urban development and impact on our shorelines.
The city has changed considerably since I saw it last and it certainly merits a visit- although I recall when I was here before, Honolulu and Waikiki were not among my favorite places due to the heavy tourism. The cost of living is very expensive. Gas is almost $4 a gallon ( which might be comparable to the mainland for all I know). Next time I will follow my own advice and get off Oahu sooner than later.
We toured Pearl Harbor and the Pearl Harbor Museum which provided a bookend to the Hiroshima experience. Although a major American event, it pales in comparison to what happened in Japan. I can only hope that no more memorials will need to be constructed to remember events that should not happen in the first place.
On to Costa Rica!
Stay tuned....
Craig
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