hiroshima: the good, the bad, and the ugly (episode 1: the good)

i know what you're thinking.

another "episode 1" series?

sheesh, how many episodes you planning on starting?

okay, look, i promise there will be follow-ups on the other episodes too, there's just a lot of stuff to say about "episode" topics and i don't want to kill your eyes with tl;dr posts (that's too long; didn't read for anyone who might not know...but i'm sure you do).

moving right along -- as you all are aware, i live in hiroshima city, hiroshima prefecture. 

hiroshima prefecture is located in western japan, on the seto inland sea.

here.

and hiroshima prefecture itself is here.

i live in that big middle bit that says hiroshima (the smaller middle bit -- this was the best map i could find, sorry)

most everyone's impression of hiroshima (in the US anyway) is, of course, the atomic bomb. that's understandable -- that's about all you learn about hiroshima and it's definitely an important thing to learn, don't get me wrong. but that's not all there is to it.

what stands out me about hiroshima most is that it's not just a city that was bombed, it's a city that recovered from the bomb.

and that's what's most important.

let's get started.

the good.

1) peace. despite the horrors that the atomic bomb inflicted on the city, hiroshima turned its tragedy into a plea for peace, not war. there is such a huge movement for getting rid of nuclear weapons and encouraging worldwide peace here in hiroshima -- you don't find animosity towards americans nor does anyone try and put the blame on america for the bombing. i'd say that's pretty big of them, and deserves some praise.

2) greenery. hiroshima city is, no doubt, a city. tall buildings and shopping arcades, the works. but it's also a very green city. peace memorial park stands out as an example -- they turned the area around the atomic dome into a vast park where you can find tourists and hiroshimans alike. but everywhere you go has their own greenery -- flower pots line the outside of apartments and stores, flowers grow on the side of the road, between buildings, and in any space they can find. 

like here.

and here!

hiroshima is cut up and down by rivers too -- weeping willows and cherry blossoms line most every river bank, which gives you a great sense of the seasons, too. i dunno, i tend to think that cities with this much botanical variety are good cities (tm).

3) world heritage sites. okay, so i know UNESCO world heritage sites probably aren't as a big a deal in the US (at least i didn't know about them until i got here), but hiroshima is home to two world heritage sites: the atomic dome, and the itsukushima shrine at miyajima (i'll get into that later, just keep it in mind). that means that hiroshima gets a fuckton of tourists from both inside and outside of japan, which in turn means they've got a great, easy-to-understand public transportation system, and more guide books and pamphlets than you can shake a stick at (do people still say that?)

4) which is a great segway into my next topic: public transportation. i touched on this on the streetcar post but STREETCARS. efficient, timely, cheap -- what more can i say? there's also a loop bus that goes around the city to major tourist destinations, along with the regular bus service that goes ALL over the city and beyond, not to mention the train and bullet train system that go from hiroshima to ALL over japan. it's not just hiroshima's public transport though, japan's public transport on the whole is amazing.

oh, and there's ferries too! hiroshima has lots of little islands in the seto inland sea, mostly all connected by ferries.

5) safety and security. while there are some seedy places in hiroshima city, it's not like you're going to be mugged for going down the wrong alley. i've never felt unsafe, even if i'm out walking at night. this is actually true for most of japan, but -- unless you're like an elementary/middle school girl, you're very likely to be left alone (esp. if you're a foreigner). though sometimes weird old guys will try and use their terrible english on you... but that's nothing a glare of death can't solve!

6) food. being surrounded by mountains on one side and the ocean on the other, you get the best of both surf AND turf. the seto inland sea has a long and rich fishing history, dating as far back as the yayoi era (300 BC...!) oysters are the main brand seafood, but there's also octopus, billions o' fish, ocean eel (anago, OMG SO GOOD), squid... you name it, they've probably got it. as for turf -- hiroshima-brand kuro wagyu (prime japanese beef), pork, chicken... not to mention brand name rice, local vegetables and fruits...pretty much anything you'd need for everyday cooking, you can get locally. 

7) (mostly) lack of natural disasters. major snow storms? nope. typhoons? rarely ever a direct hit. earthquakes! this is japan right?! nope. sorry. hardly any, and even when they do happen, they make people in tokyo laugh by how small they are. other than the recent landslides due to the inordinately heavy rains we've had, hiroshima rarely has anything newsworthy happen.




okay, wait -- this is getting to be a tl;dr post, so i'll hold off here for now. but there's still more good to come! along with the bad, and the ugly. eventually.