Hiroshima and My First Enkai
Mom and Dad made it over safely, and I just spent the weekend with them in Hiroshima. It took us longer than expected to get there, but we made it in time to go to the the Peace Memorial Museum before it closed. It's really hard to imagine what this city was like after the atomic bomb, but the museum has many ways of trying to convey that message. There are pictures of the city and it's residents, facts about nuclear weapons, personal accounts from relatives of those (mostly kids) who were killed, as well as personal belongings that survived the blast. I'm sure I wasn't the only one there who was shaking their head in disbelief and close to crying. It really makes you wonder what kind of intent the people had by developing these weapons. And the weapons of today are 10,000 times more powerful!! It's all pretty scary. One exhibit in the museum was two walls of letters written by the mayors of Hiroshima protesting every time there is a nuclear test. There were hundreds. Anyway, this was a very powerful museum that everyone should visit sometime in their life. The message for peace leaves a definite imprint.
Later, that night, some of Mom's friends who work for the TV station in Hiroshima took us out to dinner. Mom always made us Okonomiyaki ("Japanese Pizza") when we were growing up and it was always one of our favorite meals. Lucky for us, there was a whole Okonomiyaki village! Meaning there were at least two buildings with several floors full of little Okonomiyaki shops. I don't think the smile left Dad's face all night.
The TV crew also wanted to take us somewhere else to experience more Japanese food, so we ended up at a small sushi bar where I was finally able to try some good tuna. It literally melted in my mouth! While we were eating, one of the crew snuck out and brought back a cake to celebrate Mom's birthday. Because there were only two other customers in the restaurant, we all sang happy birthday and ate cake. It was great!
The next morning, we woke up and headed towards Miyajima- a beautiful island southwest of Hiroshima. We rode a street car through the city to a ferry that took us across to the island. The island is known for it's floating torii (gate) that is called one of the "three best views in Japan" (because everything is categorized like that here- for instance, my city has one of the top 100 places to view cherrry blossoms in the spring!).
When we got off of the ferry, we (and hundreds of other people) were suddenly surrounded by wild deer. Very hungry wild deer. They would try to rip anything out of your hands if they thought it might contain food. They even tore Mom's map away from her. She tried several times to get it back, but the deer must have really liked the paper. Just think what the squirrels in Zion (or any other national park) may be like in a few years.We also took a tram ride up to the top of one of the peaks to see the view of the ocean, surrounding islands, and the wild monkeys everywhere.
It was a good trip, and I will likely return to the area in a couple of weeks when the leaves are changing.
Now about my first enkai (work party). It all started out at 6:00 when we were all supposed to meet at the office to board a bus to the restaurant. It just seemed really funny to me to be riding a bus with all of my Japanese co-workers to go eat dinner. Maybe you had to be there. Once we got to the restaurant, we all sat down and were served drinks for the toast (kampai!). I never imagined I would get to see all my co-workers drunk, but this is what happened! And I guess this is what happens at most enkais. We had about 7 courses in our meal- mostly fish, and mostly delicious. Val and I had to give small speeches because we were being welcomed, and others had to give speeches because they were leaving. If I could have understood the language just a little more, it would have helped- luckily, we had translators for some of it. After dinner, most of us went to do Karaoke. Not only was this my first enkai experience, but also my first karaoke experience. I never understood what would be so fun about it until now. It was a blast- but I can't really explain why. I just know I will do it again sometime. It was fun watching my usually reserved co-workers let loose and sing better than I ever would have imagined. And who knew my boss would be such a good dancer?
posted by Stacy @ 1:08 AM
8 comments
8 Comments:
The US developed atomic weapons during World War II. You may be interested to know that the US was in a race to be the first country to develope these weapons. It was a race against Germany and Japan. Yes, that's right, Japan was attempting to develope atomic weapons during the war. If they had developed the bomb first, they would have used it against the US directly or against US troops. The US chose to use A-bombs against Japan in an attempt to make Japan surrender. The alternative would have been a full scale invasion of the Japanese islands, which US military leaders estimated would have cost 1 million US lives and over 2 million Japanese lives. The A-bombs took far fewer lives than that, and brought about a quicker end to the war. The problem in Japan today is the revisionist history trend that is attempting to make Japan out to be the victim of WWII instead of the aggressor. Japanese school children are not taught the truth about Japan's role in that tremendous war. It's a real shame.
I know about this "revisionist trend" and of course have witnessed it here, but where does this not happen? I am not trying to defend or blame any one country. I was only viewing this through a completely personal, humanistic disbelief that weapons like this were even made to exist, and continue to be "improved" upon today. I think the overall message of this museum was one of peace, not of who was the victim.
Unfortunately, these weapons are a part of our world that will never go away so long as any nation has enemies. The US could not have NOT pursued these weapons, since its enemies were also pursuing them. Ironically, America's nuclear arsenal has kept the peace for the past 60 years.
Dear Anonymous:
Thank you for your view on the nuclear weapons. I know why the U.S. dropped the A-bomb in Japan. And also I am very aware of the awful things Japanese army did to the people of China, Korea and to the prisoners of war in Philippines, etc., and I am very ashamed of it.
However, I just wanted to make a comment on A-bomb. I am not trying to defend either country. It was a war. Wars can be very brutal.
But I just wanted you to know that so many innocent lives were lost when the bombs were dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki and so many people are still suffering from the aftereffect of the bomb. My father died of cancer six years ago. My mother lived near Nagasaki and also died of cancer last year and my brother has cancer now. I am the only one in my family who hasn't been diagnosed with cancer yet.
We are just trying to convey the message of peace to the world to make sure that it will NEVER happen again to anyone else.
My father was a young soldier stationed just outside Hiroshima, when the A-bomb was dropped over that city. His troop had to go into the city right after the explosion to help the wounded and retrieve the bodies of the dead. He thought he was in hell when he got there. That experience scarred my father's life. He didn't want to talk about it for a long time, but when I was about 10 years old, he decided to tell my brother and me about his experience in Hiroshima, because he knew the next generation should learn about what happened. He blamed the war for what happened, but never blamed America.
He told us that the hundreds of burned people kept going to the river to get some water to drink and died there in the river. The river was just covered with the dead. A lot of burned victims asked him "Please give me some water. I am so hot and thirsty.” He tried to pick up one burned victim and the majority of his skin just came off like a big sheet of plastic.
I just hope you will have a chance to visit the peace museums in Hiroshima and Nagasaki someday. When you see the photo of the shadow of a person on the steps of a bank building, who was waiting for the bank to open on the steps of the building and died instantly when the bomb exploded, you might change your view on the nuclear weapons a little bit.
Dear Stacy's mom,
I know that my views on nuclear weapons must be offensive to you. It is not my intention to offend you or anyone else. I am sorry that your family has paid such a heavy price from the use of A-bombs in Japan. I cannot even begin to imagine the suffering that the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have endured over the years. I cannot begin to imagine the suffering that you and your family have endured.
I do not wish in any way to down play the unspeakable pain that many have experienced. I am not a champion of nuclear weapons. I do not wish to ever see them used again. The message of peace is a beautiful message, and it is certainly a very worthwhile message.
Unfortunately, the enemies of free people everywhere do not listen to such messages and they care nothing for them. Free nations must defend themselves. Free nations must have the "will" to use any weapon at their disposal. If not the weapon is meaningless, useless. Hitler launched an attack against Poland because he believed that western Democracies lacked the will to defend an ally. I certainly hope that nuclear weapons would be used as a last resort.
I understand your desire to convert me to your way of thinking. I do not expect you to convert to mine. I think that we shall have to agree to disagree for the time being.
Dear Anonymous:
Thank you for your very polite message.
Your view doesn't offend me. Everyone is entitled to have his/her own opinion and I respect yours. I didn’t try to convert you to my way of thinking. I just thought you might find it interesting to know the Japanese point of view on the A-bombs.
What you said about the enemies of free people not caring for the messages of peace is so true. It is sad, but it is true.
I just have to keep hoping that nuclear weapons won’t be used again.
This "Anonymous" sounds like he's been swallowing a bit too much Rove, Rumsfeld and Bush: "Unfortunately, the enemies of free people everywhere do not listen to such messages and they care nothing for them. Free nations must defend themselves. Free nations must have the "will" to use any weapon at their disposal." Why is the US fighting Iran to stop their nuclear weapons program? Or are only western countries allowed to develop such weapons? The US is fighting the proliferation of weapons-grade plutonium in N. Korea, as well. Not to mention that part of the reason the US is in Iraq right now is based upon an unfounded claim by US and English intelligence that Iraq was trying to buy plutonium from Niger. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but last time I checked, those were all free countries.
Yeah. So? What's your point? Are you saying that you support those three countries in their nuclear weapons programs? Would you sleep easier at night knowing that North Korea has nuclear weapons? Do you not think that trying to contain such weapons a worthwhile cause?
My comments to the author of this blog and her mother were in regard to World War II. Don't take them out of context.
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