Kobe - Hanging with the Scholars

Ok, time to wrap up these last few thoughts about Japan. Thanksgiving festivities, birthday parties and school just somehow got in the way...

So at any rate, I spent a couple of days with Rich & Erika in Kobe and on the night of the hand-off with Will and Maiyumi in Kyoto the three of us Scholars got together for a great home-cooked Japanese meal...

That's two Air Force pilots and one Navy ship driver getting together to make some food. Shouldn't be too hard, right?

Fortunately Erika and Maiyumi were there to direct us (actually all I did was take pictures!).

The dumplings on the right are called "jiaozi" in Chinese... the name in Japanese is something similar to it. The machine on the left is for making these little dough balls that they also have here in China.

For whatever reason they put a piece of octopus in the middle of the balls (the little purple pieces on the plate). It's the same here as well. Looks like somebody successfully created a market to push octopus parts out into.

The next step, flipping the balls just perfectly...

And finally put some excellent teriyaki sauce and some dried fish flakes and they're done! The jiaozi were excellent as well.

Thanks to the ladies for some great food!

Kobe is obviously most well-known for the special beef that is produced here. You know, the cows are feed strict diets, hung in harnesses so they can't walk, and are massaged every day to more evenly distribute the marbling. I think if I had to be a cow, this is the life I would want.

I only thought of buying Kobe beef in Japanese steakhouses, didn't even think about seeing it at the grocery store... only in Kobe I guess!

But there is a price to be paid for massaging cows.... up to $200 for 5 small steaks. Morgan and I went last year with Rich and Erika to a Kobe beef steakhouse... it is definitely worth the price, so good!

Random fact... Kobe Bryant is in fact named after this city. However he pronounces it incorrectly. Kobe Bryant is pronounced Ko-bee but the city is pronounced Ko-bay.

A view from their place in Kobe...

Walking up the hill to their place. No, the picture isn't flipped, like England the Japanese drive on the wrong side of the road...

Random pic, not sure where to put it but I thought it was funny. This is at Will's study room at his university. Somebody left the freezer door open over the weekend and well, it looks like it was humid in the room.

You Scholars in Japan live a good life!

Louis Vuitton - not just for Aunt Cheryl any more!

Anybody that knows my Aunt Cheryl (actually Morgan's Aunt Cheryl) knows that she LOVES Louis Vuitton. I think she put the "LV" in "Love."

On occasion I've pointed out some of the Louis Vuitton stores in China for Aunt Cheryl, like the one I came across in Xi'an.

Well, I've found out that LV handbags aren't just for ladies any more! You know, this is the typical scene in China as well as here in Japan of gals dressed up in their high heels, texting on their Prada phones, and of coarse carrying their LV bags...
Now check this out, guys in Japan are carrying LV bags now, too. If I had to guess, I would say that I saw at least 10 guys in different locations around Japan carrying/wearing LV bags. Here are a couple of them, and no, they're not carrying their wife's bag!
So trendy guys back in the States, get ahead of the fashion craze that is coming soon... LV bags for guys! It's what every guy secretly wants for Christmas this year, but is too shy to ask!

Nara, Todai-ji

Nara is a city very close to Kyoto/Kobe/Osaka in the Kansai region of Japan. It was Japan first imperial capital from 710 - 784 until the capital was moved to Kyoto. It was founded and modelled after China's capital, Xi'an, to be a long standing capital that didn't change every time the ruler changed. Nara now is a ancient city preserved with very little of the massive modern development (e.g. no big shopping malls), which adds to the city's charm.

The main attraction of Nara is Todai-ji, a Buddhist temple that is the world's largest all-wood structure. It was built to house a massive Buddha figure that the Emperor had built.

Here's a picture of Todai-ji. See those "ants" in front? Those are people...

Another picture of it. There are more pictures below in my "Japanese may have a lot of cameras, but can't take good pictures" section below... ;-)

The entrance with the incense pit before praying to the Buddha

And here's the Great Buddha. For some perspective, his fingers are six feet long!

Another interesting thing about his hands, do you notice how the left hand is brought in front, with the hand in cupping shape and the left arm forming a square, and the right arm is raised to the square? Very interesting position...

This shows how massive these logs are that were used in the construction

This log has a whole cut into it that is of the dimensions of this Buddha's nostril! If you can crawl through you'll get good luck. This little guy didn't really appreciate the luck he was getting.

A carving of one of Buddha's sixteen disciples. His hands/arms are in the same position as the Buddha's are...

The sign says that it is commonly believed that if you rub the figure and then rub a part of your body that the ailment of that body part will go away. My lower back was bothering me so I figured I'd try. You know what? My back stopped hurting and hasn't hurt for a week since!

An artist drawing Todai-ji

Not a bad drawing...

You can also drink holy water from communal cups, but I opted out of that one...

The gate designating that you're entering holy grounds. Interesting that both Shinto and Buddhist temples have similar gates performing similar functions.

The walkway leading up to the gate. Again, similar to the Shinto temples, deer are considered sacred and so they're walking all over the place. If you stop for too long, you will get surrounded because they think you're going to feed them.

"Welcome to Cool Japan!" I love that sign. Here you can buy all of your stereotypical Japanese souvenirs... Ninja outfits, kimonos, Samurai swords, everything...

Last deer picture...

And some other temples and pagoda that are all together...

And now for the...

"Japanese may have a lot of cameras, but can't take good pictures" section

This day made me laugh. I did this trip as a day trip by myself while I was staying with my friends in Kobe. So if I wanted a picture in front of any of these places, I needed to ask somebody.

They all spoke English, so it wasn't a language barrier, but rather a cultural barrier I guess. My preference is for the picture to be able to stand alone without the people in the picture, and then add the people into the picture. Their technique is to...

For starters, I thought this temple would be a nice picture to have, but... you can't even see the temple... where did it go?

This would be a lovely picture of me next to Todai-ji with the blue sky and reflecting pool...

Uh, wow. Looks like you know how to use the zoom... So much for the reflecting pool

Tried it again after going through the temple and ... I said NEXT TO, not in front of... Ok another try. Can't let the previous people who blew the shot see me asking other people to take the same shot so how about from this angle? That's perfect gap between the trees of the temple...

Ahh! I said the gap in the trees was for the temple, not for me!

Again, this impressive picture of Todai-ji. Just a picture with me in it (note the shadow line on the ground)...
and this is the result. Ok Tim, where were you?

Funny stuff and another fun day in Japan!

Hiroshima

You don't have to say anything more than "Hiroshima" to know what I was here for... the Atomic Bomb Museum. On August 6, 1945 the first atomic bomb was used, on a crystal clear morning at 8:15 am. It instantly destroyed over 90% of the city and instantly killed 70,000 people.

Three days later, on August 9th, the second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki.

On August 14th, Japan surrendered, ending World War II.

By the end of 1945, the death total in Hiroshima had increased to 140,000 with people dying because of radiation sickness and their severe burns.

It was thought that Hiroshima would be a radioactive wasteland, uninhabitable for at least 100 years. However a huge typhoon hit the city that fall and washed away much of the radioactive dust that had settled over the city. By spring the next year, grass was found sprouting, giving hope that the city could be rebuilt.

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial was built to teach us what led to the bomb being employed, what its effects were, and hope that it will never be repeated again.

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I took a day trip to visit the memorial. I knew much of the history, but I was overwhelmed by the feeling of being there. It was a beautiful day, I couldn't have asked for a nicer day... the trees were changing into their fall colors and the sky was perfectly blue.

I took the street car from the train station to the memorial. The flow is generally to visit the museum first, then walk around the park and grounds, but I ended up doing the museum backwards because I saw this sign at the street car station:

A-bomb dome is the building behind me. It was one of the few structures that was not completely leveled by the bomb.

The lady I'm standing next to is one of the "Hiroshima Peace Volunteers" who spend their time telling their stories about the war, and particularly about the atomic bomb. This lady's mother was one of the survivors from the bomb, and she shared with me passages from her journal that she wrote. Incredibly powerful and personal.
Part of the reason that A-bomb Dome survived was that it was almost directly under the blast of the bomb. The bomb detonated 600 meters above the city for maximum effect, and the aim point can be seen below where the bridge in this picture comes to a "T" in the left corner.
As I continued my walk, I came across this group who was singing, chanting, and praying. I watched them for about 10 minutes until they were done, then I went closer to see where they were. You see the hill behind the sign in the right corner of the picture?
This hill contains the ashes of 70,000 people who died after the initial blast.

I then went to the museum itself. The museum was very impressive, and I have to say that it was "fair and balanced." It explained both sides of the war, and it pointed out that Imperial Japan was an aggressor leading to and during the war.

Some of the reasons for dropping the bomb: to end the war quickly and keep the Soviets out of the area...

The flight path of the bombers...

A recent aerial photo of Hiroshima, showing the layout of the city...

A model of the atomic blast over the city a split second after the detonation showing the location of the blast...

A model of Hiroshima before...

and after the blast...

A photograph taken of the area. The center island in the picture is now mostly a park area for the museum named Peace Memorial Park.

Another "Hiroshima Peace Volunteer" in the museum explaining the only photo taken of survivors on the day of the blast

The picture was taken at approximately 11:00 am, about three hours after the blast, about a mile and a half from the center of the destruction.

The photographer said, "I fought with myself for 30 minutes before I could take the first picture. After taking the first, I grew strangely calm and wanted to get closer. I took about ten steps forward and tried to snap another, but the scenes I saw were so gruesome my view finder clouded with tears."

Photographs taken from various points away from the city. Most pictures were taken out of curiosity, some were Air Force reconnaissance pictures.

The museum also had lots of artifacts and stories. This tricycle and helmet particularly touched me as little Tally loves to ride her trike with her helmet these days...

The father said his son was 3 years and 11 months old (Adayla's age as I was there) and "loved to ride his tricycle. That morning, he was riding in front of his house when, in a sudden flash, he and his tricycle were badly burned. He died that night." His father felt he was too young to be buried in a lonely grave away from home, and thinking he could still play with the tricycle, he buried his son with the tricycle in the back yard. 40 years later, in 1985, the father dug up his sons remains and had them transferred to the family grave and he donated the helmet and tricycle to the museum.

A full scale model based on drawings and stories of the first night after the blast. Amazing and awful to think of surviving something so powerful that your skin melted.

A full-scale model of the bomb, nicknamed "Little Boy," that was dropped on Hiroshima.

This sign states that the largest nuclear weapon ever tested was 3,100 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

This flame will only be extinguished when there are no nuclear weapons on the Earth.

I found this an incredible sign in the museum. It states, "There is a movement today to read and re-evaluate the school textbooks of the Asian countries which Japan held as colonies or occupied during the war. Hiroshima was dealt a severe blow by the atomic bomb, but Japan, too, inflicted great damage... Internationalization must begin with speaking the truth about the role each country played in the war. We must find a way to make our mutual pain a positive gift for the future."

"The Cenotaph for A-bomb Victims in the center of Peace memorial Park was constructed in 1951. In the symbolic coffin at the center of the cenotaph lies the A-bomb Victim Registry who have been confirmed as victims of the A-bomb.

Carved on the front of the coffin are the Japanese characters that mean, 'Let All the Souls Here Rest in Peace; For We Shall Not Repeat the Evil.'"

A view of Peace Memorial Park from the museum. There were dozens of school groups there. I was totally surprised to find them all calling out to me, saying "hello," "what's your name," and "welcome to Hiroshima." I was happy to take the time to chat with them throughout the day.

Beautiful city, beautiful people, and a beautiful museum. An incredible story