I believe I mentioned that Hiroshima is laid out in a straighforward manner with broad boulevards and street signs in English too. So how I managed to turn down the wrong street to get to Peace Park, I'll never quite understand (though to be honest I'm terrible with maps and have zero sense of direction). Once again though, these wrong directions have a way of turning out well if you let them. If I hadn't chosen the wrong street, I would never have known about an extremely special exhibit in what was once a bank building.
I was attracted by a poster about origami cranes. They were exhibiting cranes made by children in 2009 - a big year. The price was right - free - so I entered the building. What met my eyes was not cranes, but exquisite fabric hangings using traditional indigo dye techniques in a whole new way. Every piece was truly a work of art. And the coolest thing about this exhibit is they encouraged pictures.
Having taken a photo of every single hanging, I ventured up to the second and third floors for the crane exhibit. I expected a few sensational cranes. What I found were mountains of cranes. Fountains of cranes. Microscopic cranes and a giant steel crane. Pictures made of cranes. In 2009, 12 million - you read that correctly, cranes were folded for the festival held in August every year. Seven million are preserved.
There was also a small display about Sadako, the young girl who survived the blast but died later of leukemia. She is the reason for the Thousand Crane tradition related to the Atom Bomb. As I wandered through the rooms, there were tears in my eyes. In fact they were misty all day as I visited the monuments and museums related to the bomb. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.
So what about the third day you ask? Well, my plan was to go to Matsue at last. I got dressed, all set to leave the hotel in spite of heavier rain than I would've liked, when all of a sudden it was a downpour with strong gusty winds. Well even I'm not fool enough to fight that kind of sign to stay indoors. So I had a much needed day of rest and relaxation. Caught up on the blog, took a long nap - you know the things you do on a seriously rainy day. I only left the hotel to run to the 7/11 for food. The rain is supposed to let up a bit tomorrow so I plan to go to Matsue and find the giant tortoise who likes to roam around at night.
P.S. Watching pirates and Johnny Depp speak Japanese is a hoot. Everyone should experience that!
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