海の日
This Monday was 海の日, or Marine Day, in Japan. It's a national holiday dedicated to celebrating the sea and the bounties it brings (HAVE I MENTIONED THAT I LOVE THE JAPANESE NATIONAL HOLIDAYS???).
Lots of people head to the beach, we had already been to the beach on the Saturday, though, so we decided to do something a little different, though still close by the sea.
When I first moved over here in March, I researched all the sights worth seeing around Koto city, which was the city I lived in for my first months. I discovered a place called 夢の島, literally "Island of Dreams", located within my city limits, and wanted to go. But I never got around to it until now.
The island is an artificial island, it houses a park, a huge tropical greenhouse, sports arenas and centres, and a museum. It seems the park opened in 1988.
I think Monday was the hottest day of the year so far. Either that or it was just the fact that the roads leading in to the park offered very little shade from the blistering sun, I was thankful when we found a place to duck indoors for a while. It turned out to be a very interesting museum, though on a very serious topic. Entrance was free too! I recommend a visit if you ever find yourself on the island.
Daigo Fukuryu Maru Exhibition Hall.
On display, the Daigo Fukuryu Maru, or S.S. Lucky Dragon 5, which was exposed to nuclear fallout following an American atomic test bombing on Bikini Atoll in 1954.
Most of the exhibit was in Japanese, but there was information in English for the main displays. The staff also seemed very helpful, and you were allowed to take pictures inside. The museum reminded me a lot of the Fram museum in Oslo, both the design of the building and the way the exhibit was presented. Though for obvious reasons you can't actually board the S.S. Lucky Dragon 5 ......
I thought the exhibit was very educational, and it didn't feel as uncomfortable as some of the photo exhibits I have been to about Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I honestly hadn't even heard about this incident before, so I took my time looking at everything.
The last display had a telegraph key that you could try, and next to it was this placard with the dying wish of chief radio operator Kuboyama Aikichi, who died a few months after the incident: 原水爆の被害者は私を最後にしてほしい - 久保山愛吉 (I pray I'll be the last victim of an atomic bomb - Kuboyama Aikichi).
The placard has the morse code for the sentence, and the display invites the visitors to send the message out into the ether. I thought it was very beautiful.
Looking this up afterwards while writing the post, the Godzilla figurines for sale in the gift shop also make sense. This is the incident that inspired the first Godzilla film, which was released in 1954. Wow.
We headed back out into the sun and strolled around the beautiful surroundings.
Our main point of interest on the island was the tropical greenhouse!
It's huge! Entrance was only ¥250!
I had lunch at the café here, before leaving the island for the final stop of the day. Odaiba. There was going to be a lantern festival at the beach in the evening, and I really wanted to go see it!
I was able to take these pictures before I had to cancel everything and rush back home. My phone pinged me a weather warning about seriously heavy rain at my house. I had left my futon out on my balcony to air out. Shit.
So I scrambled to get back home as quickly as possible. My heart sank like a stone when I walked out of my train station and saw huge puddles everywhere.
I was planning out stuff in my mind, 1. figure out how to get rid of huge, irregular pieces of trash (ask neighbour or city office), 2. go out and buy new futon, 3. never, ever leave house while airing out futons ever again.
I wait downstairs while Christian check on the futons. He comes back down going "Have I gone crazy, I don't think the futons are wet at all???". And... uhm yeah. For some reason the balcony and futons, which were hanging off of the balcony, do not have a single drop of rain on them. We don't question this, we take the futons in and triple check that everything is OK. It is. We go out to celebrate.
Would I have preferred to sip drinks while looking at the lanterns on the beach on Odaiba? Sure, but this made for a good alternative. Certainly a Marine Day to remember.
It's a 海の日 miracle!
- Tove ・ とうふ (@twiss) July 18, 2016
Lots of people head to the beach, we had already been to the beach on the Saturday, though, so we decided to do something a little different, though still close by the sea.
When I first moved over here in March, I researched all the sights worth seeing around Koto city, which was the city I lived in for my first months. I discovered a place called 夢の島, literally "Island of Dreams", located within my city limits, and wanted to go. But I never got around to it until now.
The island is an artificial island, it houses a park, a huge tropical greenhouse, sports arenas and centres, and a museum. It seems the park opened in 1988.
I think Monday was the hottest day of the year so far. Either that or it was just the fact that the roads leading in to the park offered very little shade from the blistering sun, I was thankful when we found a place to duck indoors for a while. It turned out to be a very interesting museum, though on a very serious topic. Entrance was free too! I recommend a visit if you ever find yourself on the island.
Daigo Fukuryu Maru Exhibition Hall.
On display, the Daigo Fukuryu Maru, or S.S. Lucky Dragon 5, which was exposed to nuclear fallout following an American atomic test bombing on Bikini Atoll in 1954.
Most of the exhibit was in Japanese, but there was information in English for the main displays. The staff also seemed very helpful, and you were allowed to take pictures inside. The museum reminded me a lot of the Fram museum in Oslo, both the design of the building and the way the exhibit was presented. Though for obvious reasons you can't actually board the S.S. Lucky Dragon 5 ......
I thought the exhibit was very educational, and it didn't feel as uncomfortable as some of the photo exhibits I have been to about Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I honestly hadn't even heard about this incident before, so I took my time looking at everything.
The last display had a telegraph key that you could try, and next to it was this placard with the dying wish of chief radio operator Kuboyama Aikichi, who died a few months after the incident: 原水爆の被害者は私を最後にしてほしい - 久保山愛吉 (I pray I'll be the last victim of an atomic bomb - Kuboyama Aikichi).
The placard has the morse code for the sentence, and the display invites the visitors to send the message out into the ether. I thought it was very beautiful.
Looking this up afterwards while writing the post, the Godzilla figurines for sale in the gift shop also make sense. This is the incident that inspired the first Godzilla film, which was released in 1954. Wow.
We headed back out into the sun and strolled around the beautiful surroundings.
Our main point of interest on the island was the tropical greenhouse!
It's huge! Entrance was only ¥250!
I had lunch at the café here, before leaving the island for the final stop of the day. Odaiba. There was going to be a lantern festival at the beach in the evening, and I really wanted to go see it!
I was able to take these pictures before I had to cancel everything and rush back home. My phone pinged me a weather warning about seriously heavy rain at my house. I had left my futon out on my balcony to air out. Shit.
So I scrambled to get back home as quickly as possible. My heart sank like a stone when I walked out of my train station and saw huge puddles everywhere.
I was planning out stuff in my mind, 1. figure out how to get rid of huge, irregular pieces of trash (ask neighbour or city office), 2. go out and buy new futon, 3. never, ever leave house while airing out futons ever again.
I wait downstairs while Christian check on the futons. He comes back down going "Have I gone crazy, I don't think the futons are wet at all???". And... uhm yeah. For some reason the balcony and futons, which were hanging off of the balcony, do not have a single drop of rain on them. We don't question this, we take the futons in and triple check that everything is OK. It is. We go out to celebrate.
Would I have preferred to sip drinks while looking at the lanterns on the beach on Odaiba? Sure, but this made for a good alternative. Certainly a Marine Day to remember.
It's a 海の日 miracle!
- Tove ・ とうふ (@twiss) July 18, 2016