PADI IDC Countdown – 10 days to go (plus Hiroshima report)
So I was sitting on the plane taking off from Fukuoka on Sunday and it dawned on me that the next trip I take will hopefully shape my future career and life to come. A pretty daunting prospect and one I had in my thoughts for the entire flight back to Okinawa. And in 11 days time I’ll be in Koh Samui, hopefully having found a place to stay. But that’s all in the future, and I’ve a few things to talk about in the recent past first. So let’s get straight onto business, and my Hiroshima trip.
I headed up there on Friday night, with no hint of that typhoon that was forecast. Its movement speed just got slower and slower, and it ended up passing to the west of Okinawa on Sunday morning. Stayed at the Hiroshima Prince Hotel, which was a very nice place next to the inland sea. My only qualm about the place would be that it was a bit out of town, requiring a taxi to get anywhere.
On the Saturday, I went to Miya-jima to see its “floating” torii gate. This, and the surrounding temple, is one of Japan’s National Heritage sites, and it is pretty impressive. Usually, the torii gate stands proud as it comes out of the water, making for excellent photo opportunities. Unfortunately, due to the clouds and the low tide, it looked somewhat less picturesque. But it was still a very nice place to visit. I also saw and stroked deer, which was highly exciting! They greeted me as soon as I stepped off the ferry, and then were dotted all over the island. One of them started chewing on my t-shirt, which I wasn’t too impressed with. So I got rid of him, and maybe he’ll be a venison steak on a table somewhere now!
We also had Hiroshima’s famous food: the Hiroshima okonomiyaki. If you live in Japan and haven’t eaten this, then I must strongly advise you do. It’s probably my favourite food in this country, and is so rich in flavour. It’s contents are: cabbage, eggs, onion, beef, mushrooms, and fried noodles (in the Hiroshima version). It is cooked in front of you on a hotplate, and is then covered in mayonnaise and brown okonomiyaki sauce. And it tastes simply divine! Other varieties can include octopus, squid, tuna, prawn, and all sorts of vegetables. They are really filling too. We had ours in the Okonomi Village building, which is 5 minutes walk from Hatchobori station.
And then on Sunday we visited one of the must-see places in Japan if you visit. It’s not cute and “genki” and pretty like everything else in Japan is, but it’s much more powerful. I am, of course, talking about the A-bomb Dome and museum. As almost everyone knows, on August 6th 1945, the world entered the age of the nuclear, with the “Little Boy” bomb being dropped over Hiroshima. Hiroshima was one of 4 cities which was short-listed as targets for the bomb; others were Kokura, Niigata and Nagasaki. This weapon, which had cost the US government over $2 billion (in 1940s prices) to research and develop, instantly killed 70-80,000 people at 8:15am on August 6th. By the end of December that year, around 140,000 people had died as a direct result of the weapon being dropped on the city. Buildings were flattened for miles around (although amazingly, the bridge next to the dome, which was the intended target, remained unscathed), and the area after the blast looked like something out of hell. One thing that is interesting, is that US President Truman described Hiroshima as a military base, in a speech made on August 9th. He said, “The world will note that the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, a military base. That was because we wished in this first attack to avoid, insofar as possible, the killing of civilians”. This would suggest he was either unaware that Hiroshima was a city, or not being completely honest about the nature of the target. I wouldn’t like to speculate either way as I am in no way an expert. However, it is something which interests me, and which I may write a further article on if there is any interest.
So to visit the A-bomb Dome and look around the museum was a deeply moving experience. There was a monument to Sadako, a girl who developed leukemia because of the bomb. She was told by doctors that she had 3 months to live. She resolved to make 10,000 paper cranes, believing that if she succeeded in them then she would be cured. She died 8 months later, short of her target. But her gesture and determination impacted many people all over Japan, who started to make paper cranes in memory of her. The museum itself is as depressing as you could probably imagine. Most people go through it in complete silence, and I personally left feeling sick. Anyone who advocates using these weapons should definitely visit the museum here and look at the effects such a weapon can cause. Even after walking out of the museum, you are left with your mind filled with images and the transcripts of what the people of Hiroshima went through during those hours and days after the attack.
So my trip to Hiroshima was a good one, and I saw some things in Japan that I had intended to see while I am here. I also took the Shinkansen (i.e. Bullet Train) from Hiroshima to Fukuoka, where I flew back from. Now that is a pretty swift train! Very smooth ride too, and strangely dissimilar to the Trans-Pennine Express in the north of England! My other piece of news is that I met up with a Spanish diver last Thursday. She’d been diving the underwater ruins at Yonaguni, having recently passed her IDC in Australia. It was the first time I’d met her and we had a great evening, talking about almost everything we could. Hopefully we can keep in contact as she’s certainly someone I’d be happy to dive or teach diving alongside.
So, all trips out of the way now and it’s The Final Countdown, as perm-rockers Europe once sang. Enjoy your diving this week and be safe. I’ll be back in touch soon.
or Discuss this Article
Hey Dave,
It was so interesting to read your blog! That okonomiyaki sounds sooo good! That’s definitely an expierence to have visited the A-Bomb dome and museum. It represents so much sadness. It actually reminds me of when I was in high school. We went on a historical field trip from San Diego to Los Angeles to visit a museum involving the genocide of Jews by Hitler. It was so sad, and I too felt sick after leaving that place. As sad as the situations are, I’m glad that there are museums so that people can never forget the magnitude of what occurred throughout histroy. I don’t want to end on a sad note, so I hope you’re having a great day!!