Hiroshima & Miyajima: A Day Trip Worth Remembering
[Music] Hi, I’m Lady Mel with Good Dream Vacations this week. Here I am on Celebrity Millennium in Japan. Good morning from Hiroshima or Hiroshima as they call it here. So we have a celebrity shore excursion today. Um so I’ll show you the process when you get an excursion on board. We first have to go and meet at a meeting spot and this one is at the theater. All right. Hi. We’re here for the shorts. Yes, please. All the way down next to the stage. Thank you. I’m truly happy to have this opportunity to host a tea ceremony. Ah, there you go. I hope you enjoy. I hope you will join me and experience this beautiful traditional art which is based on Japanese culture and spirit at 34. So you have to sign in with your tickets front of the theater. But here all the tickets for everybody in your group need to be together. So we’re waiting for Skyler, right? Hi, we have uh eight together. Oh, I guess the peace museum. 37. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Good morning. Your tickets, sir. [Music] So, we are bus 37. And now we just have to wait for them to call us and then we we go that way. We’re off. Thank you. Hello, 50%. So, when you’re in an excursion by the celebrity people, you’re in a big bus with lots and lots of people. That’s why I like to do excursions through my other suppliers or just get a guide. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Decided to take us to deck three cuz we’re special. Okay. Thank you. All right. This is why here. Do you want to hold the rail or that is a steep ramp? All right, so we look for the number 37 on the little signs. Good day. Good morning. Good morning. Hi. Have a great day. All the way to the back, please. All the way to the back. All right, we’re the last bus. Good morning. Thank you. Hi. Hi. Thank you. Good morning. All right, we are doing the Hiroshima and Miaima half day receiver and water. Water. So, this is how they communicate to you during the um tour. So, it goes around your neck and then this is actually attached. You can do that. Easy. So there is a complimentary shuttle from the port into the city also if you don’t have an excursion. Um had we known that we probably wouldn’t have done those excursion and we would have just taken the shuttle in. waiting. We Okay, thank you. And good morning. Good morning. And uh this is the bus tour. Uh we go to the Hiroshima Miaima half day tour today. So, but we will go to the Miaima Island first in the morning. Okay. Good. And then we will come back to the mainland and visit the peace memorial park. Okay. Okay. So, but um today the lunch time is not included in the tour. So, you have free time on the island. So, you can have some snacks on the island. Okay. So, and uh from here uh we will go to the pier. We will go to the pier to go to the island. So, we will be on this bus about 30 or 40 minutes from here to the pier and then we will get on the ferry boat. The crossing is only 10 minutes. So, after getting on the island, I will take you to near the Shinto shrines. So, it’s a very nice photo spot to take the photo of the Tori gate, great to gate. Then uh you have a free time. You have some free time on the island. Then we will come back to the main and by the ferry boat again. And we will come back to the city center and visit the peace memorial park. The park includes the atomic bomb dome and the memorial monuments and museums. And then uh we will get on the bus again and come back to the pier. Uh it will be around 4:00 in the afternoon. Okay, this is the schedule for today. If you need water, water is here. So when you get off this bus, please pick up the water bottle from here. Please be careful about the dehydration, please. So my name is Arian Tako. So please call me Ari. A r i arit. I’m guide. I’ll be your guide today in Hiroshima. And uh today’s driver is Mr. Ishida. Mr. Mr. Ishida is our driver today. Hiroshima. In Japanese language, we call it Hiroshima. Flat. But in English, Hiroshima or Hiroshima. Either is okay. Hiroshima. Hiroshima. Either is okay. But in Japanese, we call it Hiroshima. Hiroshima. The sea to to our left side you can see sto inland sea inland sea means the sea is surrounded by uh many small mountain small islands islands. So you also may have noticed that there are many bamboo rafts floating around your sea. Have you noticed? So yeah they are oyster farm or oyster beds. So under the rafts, bamboo rafts, long wires are hang in the water about 10 10 m long wires hang into the water and all the wires are attached as scallop shells and the baby oysters grow on the scallop shells. So you can also see the bamboo racks. They are oyster farm. Yeah, they are also oyster farm just like I showed you in front pal. So the baby oysters grow on the scallop shells and it takes one or two years for the oysters to grow. And um Hiroshima produces about 60% of the eating oysters in Japan. They are only for eating not for power. So because Hiroshima’s topography is good for raising oysters. First atomic bombing. So the first atomic bomb was dropped on the center of Hiroshima city in 1945. So the city area, the city center was completely destroyed by a single atomic bomb 80 years ago. It was 80 years ago. But after the war, Hiroshima rose from ashes and grew into one of the be the most beautiful and very greenery and vibrant cities. So you can see how beautiful the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in the afternoon and Miaima Miaima literally means shrine island. Mia means shrine and Jima means island. So Jima means shrine island. So on the island is a very famous Shinto shrine called Itsukushima shrine. The Isukushima shrine is especially famous for its red buildings uh standing on the seashore. And you can you can you have seen the photo of the victory red victory gate standing on the sea. That’s a gate to the shrine. Soima is one of the three most scenic spots in Japan. I think the combination of colors are very nice. Red buildings and blue sea to the front and green mountains to the rear. The combination of three colors are very nice. Uh maybe n is another town that where many deer are walking. So there are two places in Japan that where deer are walking in N and Miaima Island. So in but in N the deer are considered messengers of god. So they they are given food here. But on Miaima Island, uh it’s prohibited to give food to deer. It’s prohibited because they are wild. The Miaima uh the the island itself was considered sacred. So there are many unique customs on the island. One of them was that the tilling the ground was prohibited which mean that agriculture was prohibited on the island. So there are no vegetable fields or the rice fields on the island. Then people didn’t need to drive away the deer because the deer are usually harmful animals because they damaged the vegetables. But there are no vegetable field on the island. Uh people didn’t drive away the deer. Then the deer became very friendly toward the field. This is our walking map. For today, we’re going to go here for the photo opportunity and see lots of deer and eat some oysters and maybe some lemon. So, the to near the tour to gate is a good photo spot. So, I will take you to the to gate and then you will have free time. So, uh this tour doesn’t include the visit to the shrine. Okay? So, we don’t visit the shrine, but if you want to visit the shrine in your free time, it’s okay. But you have to pay 300 yen at the entrance. And the shrine is only one way. So, if you want to visit the shrine, be careful. It’s one way. Entrance is here and exit is here. So, it will take time to go back. The shopping area is between the pier and the gate. So after taking photo near the touring gate, you can do shopping on your way back to the pier. And on the island, one of the most popular sweet are called mumiji mangju cookies. So uh the some two pieces of cookies comes on this tour. So I will give you two pieces of cookies. Okay. You may call just a cake. This is a sponge cake shaped in maple leaf leaf and ingredients or fillings are one of them I will give you two pieces. One of them are anko. Taco is sweet bean paste and the other is custard cream. Oh, yummy. The yellow is custard and the white is red bean paste. Okay, this is the white one which is the bean paste, right? I can’t really taste the taste. I’m going to try the other one. Bamboo. There are many bamboos. Okay. So, and that is a pier and and we get off the parking lot and we will walk to the pier for 5 minutes. Okay. And uh at the ferry terminal when I am buying a ticket, you can go to the bathroom. Okay. So then I will take you to the ferry boat and you will get on the uh island. But the ferry is very busy. Every time the ferry boat is very busy. So you cannot find me on the ferry boat. Then I will waiting for you on the island outside the ferry terminal building. I will walk through the fairy terminal building on the island and I’ll be waiting for you with the sign saying 37. This is the bus 37. Okay. All right. You can get a water if you need. Oh. Well, we have our other waters. Has a public aquarium. Number 37. Make sure you stay with your people. So, you can just come to the ferry yourself and uh get on the ferry. All right. To the fairy. Third floor is the observatory. So we want the right side on the third deck. The second floor is air conditioned. [Music] I’ve never dropped the magnet. So, those are the oysters, just like I showed you in French Polynesia when we went and dove down and got our oysters. Guys, that’s pretty good. [Music] Thank you for taking our long way to Nice copy for the ride. Crowded here. I think so. People that way, cars that way. I don’t know how you would have a car on this, but maybe there’s a car section. This is much much more crowded than the last time we were here 14 years ago. And going to the Miaima Aquarium. It has a lots of fun stuff. So, the shrine and the aquarium are to the right. Bus stop and taxi straight ahead. 37:45 10:45 here. Under the roof. So, unfortunately, it’s low tide. We were here at high tide last time and Skyler thinks that it is um it was sunset when we were here which could be if you look at the picture I think it might have been sunset. So, lemons and oysters are what you should be looking for for local fresh foods. I don’t know. Oysters. Lots of oyster places cuz they’re fresh here. This is a hotel on the island. So, I can book you to stay on the Aima if you’d like. Oh, cuz that’s a cake shop shaped like a maple leaf. This is the start of the shopping street. You can get a deep fried maple shaped cake there. Tastes like a donut. Might have to try that. More of the shopping street there. [Music] So you can visit this area on your way back to the pier. [Music] I don’t know. Okay. So, say Hiroshima. [Laughter] Oh, yes. This is the island of Yes, you know because I don’t. Very good. Every look so handsome. Okay, so we’re going to go down here since it’s low tide. So, there’s a path. So, you don’t have to take your shoes off if you don’t want to. Skyler went sideways. Perfect. Want to get in the sky here. Did you find something? A snail. A Well, you took him away from his home. Sweet. Oh, it’s a baby. No, this one’s cleaning the other’s ear. Let’s go that way to see the bigger. These are those cake things. Beers restaurants here too. And a coffee shop. Oh, this is what I would have liked. Frozen drinks. Hi. Is that an oyster with uh what’s underneath? Why don’t you just get one, Dan? Oh, do you have enough? [Music] Go, man. [Music] Here. You want me to hold something? It’s going to be hard to eat this. What’s on the bottom? Fish. Fried rice cake, I think. Oh, rice. Interesting. Is it good? Wait, wait. Deer poop. Mix. What? Oh, they put deer poop on top. Chocolate. Like chocolate. Why would anybody want that? Thank you. Delicious. You didn’t get deer poop on your No, I didn’t. Yeah. Tik Tok video. Exactly. Very refreshing. Dear labor. Hi, buddy. There were a lot more deer here the last time we were here and it was so much less crowded. These are the drinks. Oh, I don’t think I want any of that actually. Hi. Hi. Oh, it’s not a very good um angle. Nice. It’s supposed to look like a sword. It’s It’s actually a walk. All right. Okay. Very nice. Heading back to the ferry and then we’ll get the bus to the Peace Museum. All right, we’re going to be inside the air. Whoa. Is there There’s nothing that way. That was very nice day at Majima. I wish we had more time to really relax and enjoy it like we did the last time we were here. And now Hiroshima is one of my favorite cities to go to. There’s okonamayaki is their regional cuisine which are like kind of egg savory pancakes that are delicious. And we’re not going to have time to go have any because we’re we’re just going to have time for the peace park and the museum. So, and then we’re going to go back to the ship and I guess we’ll just eat there when we get back to the ship. Okay, we’re just about to the main via today. All right. All right. Now we look for 37. This is the JR West Miaima ferry. So, if you have a JR pass, it works on the ferry. We found our group. To the bus. To the bus. It’s a little confusing cuz there’s lots of celebrity people here. So, follow your sign. It’s a 37. The third the next one. Hey, that was super hot there. But very happy to be in the air conditioning with the water again. They did give waters which is nice. Now on to Hiroshima. 40 minutes of by this bus to the peace pass. Entering the delta, the Hiroshima Delta. Okay. So, we will soon be arriving at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in 15 minutes. So, from here I like to talk about the atomic bombing in Hiroshima. Okay. So, the we are now heading the peace memorial park. The peace memorial park was constructed near the hypo center ground zero. So, the park covers an area of 12 hectares. So the construction of the park started 1950 5 years after the bombing and completed in five years. It was completed in 1955. So uh let me tell you uh the outline of the atomic bombing. So the World War II started in 1939 in Europe and Japan and United States joined the war in 1941 by the surprise attack of Pearl Harbor. The at that time some countries including the United States were trying to develop the atomic bomb. The countries include United States, Japan and Germany. But Japan and Germany soon gave up the development plan and only the United States was succeeded in producing the atomic bomb and it was exploded in the test ground in July 1945 and in three weeks uh 3 weeks after the test bombing the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. The actual actual one was dropped on Hiroshima. first ever used on humankind. It was August the 6th, 8:15 in the morning, 1945. So soon uh we will be at the point of 2 kilometers away from the hypothe. So within the 2 kilometer radius of the hypo center all the houses were flattened to the ground and caught fire because the almost all the houses in Japan at that time were made of wood. So they were flattened by the blast and caught fire. So the the atomic bomb is can be characterized from three points. The first one is a big blast and the second one is a heat ray or the intense heat and third one is radiation. The first one is a blast as I told you within 2 kilometer radius of the hypo center all the houses were destroyed and the second one is the heat rays. Heat ray is intense heat. The um the bomb exploded in the air, not on the ground. The bomb exploded in the air about 600 m above the ground level. That’s 2,000 ft uh above the ground level. The temperature just below the explosion reached 3 to 4,000° C. It’s about 5,000° F. So the people as far as 3 kilometers 2 miles away from the hypo center suffered burns. So it was in August so people are dressed lightly and for some reasons it’s not confirmed the air raid morning or the uh air raid siren didn’t go off in time on that morning. So the people were directly hit by the bomb outside or under that buildings. They didn’t have time to go to the shelter. So they were heavily burned. So that’s the second point. And the third point is the radiation. Radiation is very dangerous and very harmful and is very strong in its penetrating power. So materials exposed to the radiation became radioactive. So many people entered the city center after the bombing looking for their family members or as a member of the rescue teams and some of them developed the same symptoms as those who are directly hit by the bomb. So these are the three big points different from the conventional weapons and as a result it is estimated only estimated that 140,000 people died by the end of 1945 in Hiroshima. It was August the 6 in Hiroshima. 3 days after Hiroshima, Nagasaki was hit by the second bomb in Nagasaki. They also have a lot of victims, but the number of casualties and victims are smaller in Nagasaki because the the size of the town area was smaller in Nagasaki and the hypo center of Nagasaki was not in the central area. So it was cloudy and they were not able to recognize the target. Then the drop the the bomb was dropped 3 kilometers away from the original target in Nagasaki. So as a result the number of victims are smaller in Nagasaki but still they have tens of thousands of victims and in Hiroshima the hypo center is just the center of Hiroshima. at the very very center of the city. So there are large large number of buildings. This wide street is called peace boulevard or it’s also called 100 m wide avenue. So this street was created after the world war. So among the trees you may find some memorial monuments dedicated to the atomic bomb victims. So you can see river and we have many bridges across the river. Across the bridge is the peace memorial park and the peace memorial park includes the atomic bomb dome and memorial monuments and museum. So we will start from the atomic bomb dome which is at the north end of the peace memorial park and we will walk through the peace park and get to the museum. Museum is at the south end. So we will walk through the park from the north to south. So we will get off the bus from the north and get on the bus again near the museum at the south. Okay. Yes. This is your uh this is the P memorial park and you can see many colorful paper cranes are offered and the museum building is to our left side. You can see this memorial. This memorial museum is over there. We will visit later. The the atomic bomb dome. You can see through the atomic bomb dome. Uh we will visit the atomic bomb dome. Yeah. Under the under the building. So just after the bombing many people jumped into the water to cool them down. They were heavily burned and many atic bombing victims jumped into the water but they didn’t have energy to swim in the water and many many people died in the water. Here the peace memorial museum asked the atomic bomb survivors to make drawings and paintings. And this is a statue of Gandhi Indian prime minister and that is another uh monument dedicated to this victims. There are many many monuments lined up in this area. So the bomb exploded in the air about 600 m above ground level at that point. [Music] This should be destroyed immediately because this is very dangerous painful memories. So the original target was this bridge because it’s a T-shaped bridge and they could recognize it. That’s before and after before and after the bombing. memorial and very peaceful and very these roses were gifts from other countries. Memorial of the mobilized students. I’m going to keep uh walking. This is not good. [Music] [Music] The symbol of prayer for world peace uh for world peace. This is the origami crane. And so you can leave them here. Oh, sorry. Oh, you can leave them here. Bring them. The flame of peace. So the message of Hiroshima is that nuclear weapons should be abolished. That is what they’re trying to tell people with these monuments in this museum. Oh, sorry. It’s a very somber visit here. It’s supposed to be very heavy just like when you visit Holocaust sites is in the same line as that pink bus is our bus 340 1 hour 1 hour. So there are two buildings and we’ll have an hour to see everything. Okay, thank you. Don’t tell me. [Music] [Music] It’s awesome. They say there’s a human shadow etched in the stone. So, I think that’s funny in the Japanese bathrooms that they uh have like running water playing. So, it’ll help you go to the bathroom building. It talks about the dangers of nuclear weapons. Then the science there’s a museum shop here. Peace panes. the stamps here too. Visitors lounge. So, this is the visitors lounge. They have some vending machines. It looks like they have ice cream. They have more shopping stuff here. And this is what I was looking for. There are some shaved ice. This these cakes too, but I’m thinking of getting H. Which is the best flavor? Strawberry. Strawberry. Uh, I like strawberry better than mango, I think. So, I’ll do strawberry shaved ice. Uh yeah, strawberry for me also. Two. [Music] It’s a lot of shaved eyes. I don’t know. Maybe we should have shared it. [Music] Don’t give yourself a brain freeze. Yummy. Oh, that’s tasty. That’s really good. Just what I needed today. Bus 37. We are all set to go back to the ship, people. Two more are on the way from our family. They’ll be here. Two two of our family are behind us. Back to the pier to your ship. Oleander. Oleanders. White oleanders. So, and there are many oranders given by Honolulu city to Hiroshima. So, Honolulu city and Hiroshima city are sister cities. So because as you know the Pearl Harbor is in Honolulu. So Honolulu also has a very sad history like Hiroshima but we became sister cities. One of the reasons that many people moved to Hawaii from Hiroshima before World War II. Uh it was it started in 19th century that many people moved to Hawaii from Hiroshima and after they finished their uh contract, they settled in Hawaii and some of them moved to the west coast uh to California and Seattle and Canada. So there are many Japanese Americans in the west coast and Hawaii and many of them were from Hiroshima. So at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941 of the population in Hawaii were Japanese and their descendant. So the population of Hawaii was around four four,000 and among them around 150,000 were from Hiroshima and their descendant dedicated to the high school students high school girls high schools. There was a girls high school here at the time of the bombing and many of them were engaged in the mobilized work to demolish the houses to create fire breaks. Shima cup our baseball team was established in 1950 only 5 years after the bombing. the four card sticker to the front and to the rear and even if they drive very slowly don’t rush. That’s because they are driven by senior citizens. So be careful. That’s interesting to drive in Japan. So Japanese people prefer smaller car or compact cars rather than larger cars. Please take a good rest tonight and take drink a lot of water please. The beer is good but beer does not help the dehydration. So water is best. So I have to say thank you for coming to Japan and to Hiroshima and thank you for joining my tour today. get to tip your guides, please. I don’t know what that understand. Okay. Ancient hearts. Well, we need the this part out. All right, that was uh very easy. We just had to go through a few steps for immigration, get our stamps on our passports, and now back to the ship. Watch the whole video now on YouTube. Please follow, like, and subscribe, and most importantly, please let me help you book your next dream vacation. Thank you very much. Hey, right.
Travel with Lainey, Alex & our family of 10 for a bucket list adventure through Japan and South Korea with Celebrity Cruise Line Millenium round trip from Yokohama. Watch the full video now on YouTube, best watched on your TV in segments: https://youtu.be/Do3A5foAYfAIn.
Cruise with us for a somber day on the sacred island of Miyajima with the beautiful iconic floating gate of the Itsukushima Shrine and the wild deer plus vibrant Hiroshima risen from the ashes of the first atomic bomb with the impactful Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Amazingly delicious strawberry topped shaved ice.
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