Katrina's Adventures in Asia

My journeys in Asia, 2017-present. #katrinagoestoasia #katrinatravels

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Kikaijima Pictures

Since my phone was mysteriously destroyed two days before returning to the US, I lost all of my pictures and videos from the entirety of my trip. It was hard traveling internationally without technology or music for the long flight, but losing my pictures has had a longer lasting effect. Here is a collection of the pictures with the most meaning during my one month long internship that I could collect from various places and friends (big thanks to Nobu-san!).

One of my first days on the island I was invited to Sabani, the local late-night spot. I briefly learned the sanshin (a cousin of the shamisen) and fulfilled a PR mission for the Institute. It’s a really beautiful instrument and the singing style is so distinctive!

I also tried out the drum that goes with eisa ( エイサー) style of dancing native to the southern islands of Japan. The friend assisting me has studied the style since she was a little kid.

As part of a weekly English class, I once tried to explain my complicated organic chemistry research to a few of my new friends. It would have been near impossible for me to explain it in Japanese, as I’ve never studied the vocabulary required to do so; it was also to teach the students science-based English.

During a tour of the island’s garbage sorting center I got this snap of dark-toned glass bottles. The preferred alcohol of the island (for this color of glass) is fairly obvious; the same was true for the clear sake bottles.

My silhouette against a backdrop of Sugira Beach, a very fun beach (the best one on the island?) and the location of the yearly OTO Matsuri. The weather was consistently and undeniably gorgeous.

My first snorkeling experience with the Institute team! The water was much warmer than I had imagined, but I’ve only ever know the mostly frigid waters of inland lakes. This protected coral cove was far warmer than Lake Superior ever gets.

During the OTO Matsuri’s concert I participated in a style of free dancing that quite imitates the movement of water and is common to Kikaijima and the Okinawan islands. I’m dancing along with Professor Watanabe, President of the KIKAI Institute for Coral Reef Sciences. Look closely... the number of people watching (or taking pictures) from the background is exceedingly entertaining.

Fish are friends. Say hello to Nemo!

A beautiful sunset over Sugira Beach after a long day of SUP.

The most dear and central people to my time on Kikai. Thank you for taking care of me!!

A double birthday celebration commenced with an homemade ice cream sundae served in a giant clam shell and decorated with as many sweet snacks we could find at the grocery store. It was a successful surprise but melted immediately.

One of the days I helped out with English classes at the island’s (only) high school. The kids were shy but fun.

A yukata given to me by my neighbor grandma (谷本さんお祖母さん) when she very graciously took me to a small neighborhood on the other side of the island to attend their small festival (上嘉鉄の六月灯). I was literally the only person in the entire place wearing traditional clothing, and even though they had already finished the dancing portion of the evening to enjoy their picnic-like food and drink, everyone got up for a few more rounds of dancing. I was even photographed for the local newspaper...

A moment of reflection during paddle boarding in the mostly protected area of Sugira Beach. SUP ( サップ) derives from the English “stand-up paddle boarding.” Waves can be seen entering the cove between some rocky formations on the right side of the picture.

My two favorite little bros on the island, Tsuda-kun and Shin-chan, are following their passion for coral very seriously!

My college-aged peers during the Institute’s Science Camp for kids. The campers came from all across Japan to learn about coral, the ocean, and the environment, while these friends spent their college summer break roasting in the sun and roasting in the kitchen (to prepare meals for everyone). They also tolerated my exhausted Japanese after full days of working and insufficient sleep.

A portrait with the song- and dance-leading grandmas of the small neighborhood festival in Kamikatetsu. They are the literal living records of the island; without them, many of the traditions I experienced would be lost. (My neighbor grandma, 谷本さんお祖母さん, is in the pink and black outfit).

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Pictures Days 6-10

Since my phone was destroyed two days before returning to the US, I lost all of my pictures and videos from the entirety of my trip. Below is a collection of the best of what I could scrounge up.

OKAYAMA:

KURASHIKI:

HIROSHIMA:

FUKUOKA:

KAGOSHIMA:

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A Review of Kikaijima:

I’ve learned a lot and reflected extensively on my understanding and relationship with the environment during my time on Kikaijima. I spent 5 weeks on a sub-tropical coral island in southern Japan. I worked approximately 6 days a week to organize events, provide my English, and help out here and there at the KIKAI Institute for Coral Reef Sciences. The week before I started my internship I traveled down the southern part of Japan with a friend from college. We spent time in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Okayama (and nearby Kurashiki), Hiroshima, Fukuoka, and Kagoshima. During those 6 weeks, I became more comfortable and quick speaking Japanese, had fun, experienced the ocean more, and learned about coral, but I also spent a whole lot of time reflecting upon the natural environment and how human action is continuously degrading and polluting it.

There is a Japanese anime called “Barakamon” that takes place on a small, remote island in Japan called Fukue Island. I watched an episode or two a few years ago, and when I finalized my trip to Kikai all I could imagine was a lifestyle comparable to the anime. The kids are wild, non-standard dialect is prevalent, and the airport is so small that everyone immediately knows everyone who arrives. The main character deals with an empty, dirty house, a bath that doesn’t work, and random kids intruding in on his privacy. From an outsider’s perspective, that doesn’t sound so different from the experience I had on Kikai. The population of Kikaijima is approximately twice as much as the number of students at St. Olaf College, which I consider small.  I couldn’t turn on the hot water in the bath for a week and a half, and became very skilled at showering very quickly; however, it was a good way to cool down in the hot weather. I even fought with spiders, geckos and ants for control of the corners and crevices of the house. Regardless of those exterior struggles, after 5 weeks living in the Somachi/Shiomichi area of the island, I’ve become quite accustomed and quite fond of the little things, including the lack of ability to do much of anything in a small neighborhood on a small island. Going to the airport side always feels kind of exciting and liberating, but slowing life down a bit really changes your personal physical and mental health.

Being restricted or limited to such a location also allowed me to learn a lot about the land, ocean, flora and fauna of this place far from home, which only makes me more passionate about my study of the global environment. Humans are an inseparable part of the environment, but we are clearly distinct. No one creature treats the earth like we do, creating such huge chemical changes as to limit our future selves. It is a little depressing to think about it every day, but at the same time I’m learning more about our beautiful planet and experiencing parts of it that I’ve never seen before. It’s also astonishing to fully realize the extent of how similar and yet how different human experience within a location can be across the world. I think daily about how we, as a global society, can possibly attempt to prevent the worst damage caused by anthropogenic climate change and global warming. After I made presentations (in Japanese) about these topics, I now feel a little more comfortable using the vocabulary and communicating about a topic I only just (relatively) recently learned about in English. My short but intense month on Kikaijima forced me out of some comfort zones, pushed me to learn about completely new ideas, and allowed me to grow internally. Although this internship clearly is not a match for many people, it was a good one for me at this period of my life and has given me many lasting memories.

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8/6

So, by some mysterious forces (none of which are water, sand, or sun), my phone has died. Therefore, I’ve lost all of my photos and videos from the trip—both the tour through Kansai as well as everything from the island. I will have to ask friends and family to send back the photos I have sent to them in the hope of retrieving the most striving images. I have to travel without any assistance from maps, the ability to search the web, or find entertainment to kill time; a real challenge and bit of a bore. As for travel itself, I managed to get on the second (and last) flight of the day from Kikai to Kagoshima, arrived shortly after the typhoon, and then was able to continue on to Tokyo. I will update with pictures at a later date!

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8/3

Things have gotten crazy around the Institute. It feels like the population of Somachi/Shiomichi (the two neighborhoods where the Institute is located) has tripled since the campers (as well as a number of professors and some of the campers’ family members) have started arriving. The science camp will last for a week and a day after I leave, and then some of Professor Watanabe’s research students from Hokkaido University will come down for a boot camp-like experience. For once, this quiet “countryside” portion of the island has become a buzzing place brought under the attention of the police, firefighters, hospital staff, and a good portion of the islanders giving their time as volunteers to ensure the health and happiness of the campers. I’m excited to get to know the kids and get a taste of the camp before I leave the island. However, a typhoon (#9) is coming. It will interrupt my flight path to Kagoshima and therefore possibly to Tokyo. Although the island has been great fun, hopefully the typhoon doesn’t prevent me from leaving and cause me to miss my international flight.

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8/1

Something that bugs me about being a foreigner in Japan in the amount of compliments I receive on my Japanese. First, when I tell Americans that I’ve studied the language for four years they immediately ask me if I’m fluent. I don’t think anyone can be fluent in Japanese after studying at a normal pace for only 4 years. If I had studied in Japan for 4 years in a remote area under a strict teacher I could probably become quite close to fluent. But I think it’s close to impossible to do that out of the context of the place in which the language is spoken. To me, fluency includes an intense understanding of the culture behind a language, so it requires extended study of the people, cuisine, pop culture, history, and politics of a country in context to really become “fluent.” In my opinion, fluency is also being able to hold a conversation about anything people might talk about over dinner without any major hiccups. Even if someone knows nothing about calligraphy, they recognize the words “brush” and “ink,” but if my English brain hasn’t had the chance to ever make the connection between those items and the vocabulary used to describe them (like as shown on TV as a baby or in an experiential class in elementary school), then there’s no way I can discuss those topics easily and fluidly. So, when Japanese people tell me my Japanese is pera pera (an onomatopoeia that roughly translates to being fluent), I mean it when I say I’m not. In my opinion I’m still at the imitation stage of an elementary school student, simply with a much larger capacity for studying complicated topics and learning complex grammar patterns. So, no, I still have a long ways to go before I’m fluent, and yes, I will still make a lot of mistakes in all aspects of my use of the language between now and then.

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7/21

Last night I dressed up in a very pretty yukata (the summer, cotton version of a kimono), borrowed from the kind grandma that lives next door, to go to a matsuri in the shuraku called Kamikatetsu. I was the only person wearing a yukata (everyone else was in casual clothes) and they were enjoying a late night picnic. The sunsets pretty early in Japan, which is good with such hot weather in the summer. One of the uncles at the matsuri told me that I have a nice way of speaking (Japanese). It was the first time I’ve ever heard that from anyone!! I was so happy to hear it because I’ve always felt (and been told) that I have an American accent. I probably still had an accent, and he probably just meant that I sounded like I’d received a proper Japanese education (which I have, thanks to my hardworking professors). However, I still want to speak Japanese more clearly and with as little accent as possible. Sometimes I can actually feel my mouth forming the wrong shape and then can painfully hear the mispronunciation. It’s something which usually happens when I’m in a rush to explain something or at the end of a long day.

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7/13

I’ve experienced my first full earthquake! Two times before when I was working in Tokyo we apparently had some tiny shakes… but this time I was sitting down, quietly working on something, and it actually kind felt like some more substantial rocking! I guess it could be compared to turbulence on an airplane, except in less dimensions. I’m not sure how dangerous it was (I’m thinking it wasn’t really impressive) but it lasted like 7 seconds, so… I actually felt it this time! Edit: it was reported as a 3.7 on the Richter scale. Cool.

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7/12

My English is taking some damage. I spend 90% (or more?) of my time speaking, writing, and thinking in Japanese these days, so it takes some good effort to switch back to English. And when I do, I often mix in random pieces or phrases of Japanese. I experienced this phenomenon once before when I was in Tokyo for 2 months for an internship at EF Education First, but it wasn’t nearly as strong as now because many people at the office wanted to speak English with me, and I let it happen. Plus, I was only two years into learning Japanese at that time. Now, with twice as much education, it feels a bit stickier to switch between the languages. But I’m thankful for the boost to my speaking ability.

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7/9

During the time that I’m on Kikaijima this month, I’m going to cook at home like a vegetarian. Why?

First, it’s good for the environment. Meat production takes a lot of water, produces a lot of CO2, and isn’t necessary all that healthy (at least in the amount that Americans eat it), and all the other typical reasons one can easily find online. I’ve also thought about becoming a vegetarian for years (actually, ever since I entered college and got serious about the environment) but the food systems available to me at home (like the kind of food my parents cook, or a large majority of the interesting options in the school cafeteria) have always been meat based, or include a considerable portion of meat.

Second, I’m living on a semitropical island… the fresh vegetables from the island taste so good that there’s absolutely no reason to not enjoy them. And they’re cheaper! But they still come in plastic, and a wider variety of fresh produce is grown outside of the island so I only have so many local choices. However, I’ve not actually become full vegetarian. For the sake of hospitality, if I’m invited to eat out with someone, or someone invites me to eat at their home (which has already happened twice, surprising), I do not hesitate to eat any meat and everything else in front of me. Nowhere else will I get to eat みそ魚 (smoked fish with miso paste) and ヤギ刺身 (goat sashimi, so raw goat meat) in a place where it’s made best. There is no way I would inconvenient my hosts or ask for special food to be ordered when I’m only just starting to try this different diet. It doesn’t seem right as this time.

Third, I always seem to have some sort of stomach ache after eating a “normal” meal heavy with meat, dairy, and oil. If I ever eat at a clean/vegetarian place, I never have any post-meal pain, which is such a small but impactful part of life. Unexpectedly, it seems like a number of the islanders are aware of special diets or vegetarianism to some degree. Great!

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7/6

Since the amount of materials written about Kikajima in English is close to zero (I haven’t been able to find any yet), I’d like to give a little introduction of Kikaijima that can’t be easily found online. Kikaijima is a part of Kagoshima Prefecture, the Amami Island chain, and located in the south of Japan halfway between Kyushu and Okinawa. The name Kikaijima, which roughly translates to ‘Happy World Island’, is also called Kikai Island. For being formerly controlled by the Ryukyu Kingdom, Satsuma Clan, and occupied by the United States military, the island is a small place but maintains rich, distinct culture and language history. A look at the Google Maps version of the island shows a number of vaguely labeled neighborhoods. These neighborhoods are called shuraku (集落) and have individual characteristics. Some islanders say people from certain shuraku have certain facial features and coloring. Historically, even the languages of each shuraku were different, and people tended to stay within their small social groups. For example, something said in passing to compliment a nice little boy on one side of the island sounded like cursing on the other side of the island and might cause him to cry. The local language has generally been lost to standardized Japanese within the younger generation. The best place to hear the remains of it is on the local bus as the grandmas taking a ride chat with their friends. Each shuraku also has their own bon odori dances, only traces of which are left today. Kamikatetsu, a shuraku on the southern edge of the island, is the location of the annual summer bon odori and a strong place for current dance practices. I had the opportunity to practice with them for two hours once and sped through a great number of dances they are preparing for this year’s festival.

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7/2

Even though I’ve only been here for two days, the work is really beginning to pile up. I’ve been given a number of small projects, but am also preparing for a number of big jobs in the next month. There are many events going on in the town this summer (with only 7000 people they hold events pretty often to keep life interesting) so it’s easy to get busy with those kinds of things too, especially on the weekends. I personally think they are an important part of my general education and experience while I’m here, but it’s very tiring to stay out late many nights a week. I’m looking to make a vlog-type video from the 10 days we spend traveling the Kansai area, but I’ll need to find time soon!!

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6/30

Kagoshima > Kikaijima

Kyla and I woke up and got ready to leave this morning. She got on a flight back to Tokyo to get on a standby flight to the US. My flight left a little later so I took a little more time to pack. However, I ended up meeting her at the airport anyway– both of our flights left from the same small terminal, a few gates apart, and I took a method of transportation that got me there a little quicker… so I was able to meet her before her flight departed.

The baby propeller plane took off a little late, but I made it to Kikaijima, an uplifted coral island to the east of Amami Oshima and part of the Amami Island chain, halfway between Kyushu and the Okinawan island chain. I write more about the history of the island in a different post. I was met at the airport by Kana Sasaki-san, my advisor for this internship, in the tiny “arrivals” section of the airport. I’m looking forward to the internship! The airport, port, and most of the activity of the island happens on the south west side of the diagonal island. One road goes around the edge of the island, and one or two roads cut through the middle. The one bus on the island comes every three hours or so.

I stopped by my accommodation, borrowed from a kind lady, to drop off my luggage and quickly check out the location of the Institute, where I start work tomorrow. The staff took me out to dinner at a cute place on the airport side of the island called Jubei, where the owner of the house I’m staying at works. Kana-san, my advisor, and Taro-san, one of the staff/researchers, drove me to buy household items and groceries, which was a big help. Everyone is so generous and kind! I’m looking forward to getting ot know everyone starting tomorrow.

One of the high school students, Tsuda-kun, basically rode everywhere with me in the car today. He’s really interested in microplastics! Another student that often comes to the Institute, Shintaro-kun, is interested in ocean acidification. He has a fun personality. Mocha-san who runs the cafe at the Institute is really nice too. As for my job while I’m here, I think I already know that I’ll help with English a significant amount. I have plans to help with a workshop for some middle school students sometime this week. There’s also going to be a beach cleanup later in the month, and I’m trying to see if they would be interested in having a zero waste workshop with the people on the island. Environmentally sustainable lifestyles are not well understood in Japan, so I’ll see if I can spark some new ideas.

From now on, if you’d like to follow along with during my adventures on Kikaijima, please look under “Kikaijima Internship” on the right bar, search for #kikaiinternship, or follow along with the regular updates (if you see them in time) on the main page. Thank you for reading!

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Day 10

Our second day in Kagoshima started with a ferry ride to the very nearby Sakurajima. It is an active volcano, and during the entirety of our stay it has been shrouded in rain clouds. It is Japan’s rainy season, after all. What we wanted to do the most was just take the ferry over there and back, so we didn’t spend much time on the island. Plus, it was extremely humid and kept raining on and off. We peeked into a shrine right next to the ferry port and stopped at a rest stop (道の駅) to cool down and get a snack. It was a short but enjoyable mini excursion.

Next, we met Megumi-san, one of my old coworkers from my internship at EF Education First two years ago, and her family just after we returned from Sakurajima by boat. Her husband and daughter Yoh came to pick us up. The three of them graciously planned to take us on a drive around Kagoshima-- and they really did! We started with a lunch of fresh bonito fish (かつお) from a place on the ocean about an hour south of Kagoshima City. It was so delicious and fun to share various dishes.

We next drove a little more south to get to a black sand “onsen” (砂むし温泉) in a town called Ibusuki (指宿). It was crazy! They buried us in the steaming black sand just for 10-15 minutes. It was quite hot, so I had to release my arms and toes to cool down a little past halfway through. Next, we drove even further south to visit the southernmost train station in Japan! Our gracious hosts took pictures with us and let us hold their child. Little Yoh is so cute... but she’s very serious in most pictures!

We next took a looping route back to the city. They had hoped for beautiful views of the towns below, but due to heavy mist we spent an hour driving through the mountains seeing nothing but white all around. Once we made it back to Kagoshima City we went to a certain little store to get some shirokuma kakigori, a very famous shaved ice dish. It has a mix of fruits and plenty of sweetened condensed milk.

The Sasaki family were such nice hosts to the two of us! It was so much fun to see their newish hometown and meet their baby girl.

When we got back to the hotel we browsed Netflix a little bit and enjoyed some snacks because we ate so much at lunch and the kakigori was quite large. Today was a really great way to end our time in Kagoshima and the whole Kansai trip. It was so much fun to go from place to place with Kyla and try to get to the heart of each location in just one day.

Thank you for following along! Until next time, Kansai~ bye bye!

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Day 9

We’ve finally run into trouble. I’m surprised we made it this far without any bumps! Due to heavy rains (like, landslide-inducing volumes of rain), the Shinkansen from Hakata to Kagoshima-chuo stopped at Kumamoto. We were told to wait or decide to take another form of transportation. Luckily, we hung around, got some breakfast at a station conbini, and heard that a train was going to be leaving! The line for the unreserved cars was super long so I ran to get us reserved seats using our JR passes, and we got into a reserved car just on time. We really thought we weren’t going to be able to get to our next accommodation and would have to spend a ton of money to stay the night in Kumamoto, or that all the food in the station would get sold out so we would go without food overnight while waiting for the rain to stop… but all good! No zombie apocalypse, either! It was great!

Due to the delay we dropped our stuff at the hotel and went out again as quickly as possible. We started at the Museum of the Meiji Restoration. While there, we learned that there were two men from Kagoshima (Saigo Takamori and Okubo Toshimichi) who were a very integral part of the Satsuma Clan and eventually the Meiji Restoration. NHK has even produced a drama titled Segodon about the things Saigo Takamori and the people around him accomplished during their time. It is based on a book of the same name.

We enjoyed the museum for a few hours and then went to lunch at Zino for hambagu (same kind of stuff that we ate in Hiroshima. It’s somewhere between a hamburger and meatloaf). It poured all day so it was kind of hard to move around, especially with less options for public transportation.

We next made the trek (by tram and taxi(!), a rare and guilty pleasure this trip) out to see Sengan-en, a stunning house-and-garden complex where princesses and the Shimadzu family clan lived. It is definitely my favorite moment of the trip so far. We once again emptied our coin purses for the carp in the ponds of the garden, appreciated slick, mossy paths and a quietly flowing river on the back of the property. To the front, framed perfectly by the timber of the traditional house, Sakurajima acts as borrowed scenery. Sakurajima is the occasionally ashy “Mount Fuji of Kagoshima”. The history of the volcano on Wikipedia is very interesting; I suggest you give it a good read. It also appears that many scenes of Segodon were shot at the house—I guess I’ll have to watch it soon!

To end the day we stopped by our hotel’s happy hour to enjoy the sunset and sip on some cold drinks. We ate a late lunch, so when we finally felt like we could eat something we headed out to the backside of our hotel to search through the alleys for a really authentic, small place. We eventually settled on a quiet place where we were welcomed with gusto by the mama and the general concern that “we thought you wouldn’t be able to speak Japanese and none of us speak English so what should we do!!” by the regulars enjoying a chat and a beer at the izakaya. If anything in my life has been at all similar to the old show 深夜食堂 (the drama Late Night Diner, only one season of which is currently available on Netflix), it was this dinner. We were given potato salad, fried eggplant, miso-covered fish, and so many other good dishes. We talked about Minnesota and enjoyed the interaction with some true locals we never would have met if we didn’t study Japanese.

Upon our return to the hotel we sweated it out in the onsen (and a steam room!) before a good sleep.

See you tomorrow… our last day!

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Day 8

After grabbing some bread from the hotel lobby, we struggled with our bags in the rain and finally made it onto a Hikari Shinkansen to Hakata, the main station for Fukuoka and the station closest to our hostel. Before arriving in Fukuoka we passed in and out of the mountains, gaining fleeting views of wispy clouds reaching up to meet the lower rain clouds and dancing between rolling mountains and traditional houses dripping from the mist. It was so stunning I wish I had a set of paints with me to capture the moment, but alas. Hopefully I’ll be able to buy some paints when I get to my island internship.

When we stepped out of the train the higher temperature and humidity was quite surprising. We dropped our bags at the hostel and then went back outside to walk all the way back to the station because we like to sweat so much. Since I was quite famished, we got a meal at Mos Burger and I finally got to try the rice bun + yakiniku burger! It was pretty good! We also went up to the rooftop of the Hakata Station building and enjoyed the few weird activities we could do there… there was a shrine (maybe to pray for safe transportation), a mini train for kids to ride, some festival-like games, and a great view of the city.

For the sightseeing portion, we started at Fukuoka tower and the beach behind it. It was nice to cool off in the breeze and dip our feet in the water. Later we took the bus to the Fukuoka City Science Museum. Even though it seemed to be directed at kids, it was a ton of fun!! Kyla kept saying how she didn’t really want to spent so much time at time museum, but once we started we couldn’t seem to stop! Kyla pointed out that the science museum, while being 子ども向け (made for kids), was at the perfect level of Japanese for us to understand. Our shared interests in science (chemistry for me and math for her) and Japanese were the driving forces of our prolonged stay. We even participated in a science show, and the presenters were nice enough to include us in the participatory section. It was super fun.

We finally checked in at the not-so-great hostel right before we headed to Nakasu in pursuit of a grilled dinner. We ended up at a yakitori place called Aho-Dori (translating as something like “idiot street” and ate a ton of new foods. We really enjoyed the izakaya and a moment by the river afterwards. I’m glad we made an effort to find a place we wanted to eat, and to enjoy our time regardless of our expectations.

Thanks for reading thus far! See you in Kagoshima!

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Day 7

We woke up early to get on the Shinkansen from Okayama (we rode the Sakura) to Hiroshima. Since we wanted to ride the soonest available train, we quick grabbed something from the コンビニ (convenience store) and stood in line for the unreserved cars. The line was a little long so we weren’t sure if we’d be able to sit down but we made it happen. We were expecting the ride to take an hour (which it would have on a Kodama train) but it only took half an hour, so we got off quickly and brought our bags to our accommodation (Nest Hotel).

We’ve realized that it’s best to go to the tourist-heavy, historical landmarks of a city first because they usually close quite early, so we set out right away for Hiroshima Castle. It was of high quality! The small number of museum items and model house-type displays on each floor gave physical context to the pictures and animations explaining the creation and destruction of the castle. It was also educational to see the pictures from before and after the atomic bomb, but I’m glad they showed the long process of rebuilding it too.

Naturally, we walked to the Peace Memorial Park next. Seeing the remains of the Atomic Bomb Dome (原爆ドーム) was both astonishing and shocking. Next year will be 75 years since American forces dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima (and Nagasaki shortly after). Since I studied a little of the history of Hiroshima in a few of my classes at St. Olaf, I got emotional thinking about the destruction and suffering of the people in those days. This was our most serious and meaningful moment on the trip. Especially as an American, especially now, as we approach the 75th anniversary of the bombing, I think this was and remains to be a crucially important place to visit.

But a cute interaction with some of middle schoolers visiting on a school trip brightened the moment. They looked at us shyly, wondering what we were doing, but were very happy when we offered to take a picture of their group. They gave us their point-and-shoot camera and giggled their thanks. We assumed they were completing a school task to take pictures in front of certain landmarks or things.

We stopped for lunch at a slightly cowboy-themed beef place (as in ハンバーガーステーキ) and then walked through one of those covered shopping streets, stopping for a bit to take overly kawaii purikura pictures. The outcome always makes me laugh and putting decorations on the pictures is fun so I’m always tempted to stop in when I see purikura booths…

We next took the bus to Shukkeien, a very pretty traditional garden. I never seem to tire of gardens! It featured a sizable pond with many large koi and a huge half-circle bridge across the middle; we sacrificed another 100 yen to feed them. It was so nice to walk around the lake, cross bridges, and take pictures! I even got to use a student discount card to buy something from the cafe. Pro tip: always bring your student ID to Japan. The discounts are plentiful.

We stopped back at the hotel to move our bags into our hotel, watched a little TV, and figured out if we could get massages or not... It ended up that only Kyla would get one, which was fine with me. I desired to sit in the room and simply relax for an hour. We ate dinner at a little local place while we were out (ramen + karaage), walked around a covered shopping area, and bought cute fruit tarts and cakes from a little local shop for a late night dessert.

By the end of the day we decided that this hotel was our favorite out of all of the hotels we choose for this trip, even though we still have two left. It is very cute, has great amenities, and is extremely photographic (pictures coming later). We ended our stay in Hiroshima in our very aesthetic hotel room with some matcha latte and the local sweets we purchased earlier. It was the perfect moment of relaxation after a busy week. Ah, life is good.

See you tomorrow in Kyushu!!