Hiroshima, Part One: Beautiful Gardens

We headed to Hiroshima via shinkansen on April 5th.  After a few cold days in Kyoto and Nara we welcomed the southerly trajectory and the warmth it offered.  First order of business: explore the city.  We had picked a wonderful hotel to stay at, in the heart of downtown right off an old trolley line (still running, and packed all the time).  We took advantage of this and spent our first evening walking the city, taking in shops, sights, and my first taste of Okinawan cuisine.

The next morning was beautiful and held the promise of a warm day.  We decided to tackle quite a bit in the first day, as we only had two full days to spend in Hiroshima. The first part is covered here.  We went to a beautiful garden complex called the Shukkeien, which literally means the "scale model garden."  It is modeled after China's Xihu, or West Lake.  The garden evokes, in miniature, a multitude of terrains, aesthetics, and scenic views.  To the left is a view of one of the many tea houses, and a charming waterfall sitting among sculpted trees (one pictured below).  The attention and care that was put into the trees will never fail to elicit amazement from me.

Here is the tea house from the first picture, seen head-on.  It has a traditional thatched roof that we saw a lot of over our vacation.  This one I could get right under and take a picture of the thatch.  It's very thick and looks rather like a bunch of drinking straws bundled together.

The day we went to the garden was extraordinarily beautiful. We encountered dozens of wedding parties, and I do mean dozens.  I lost count of how many we saw.  They were all taking their wedding pictures in the lush setting of the garden.  This shot below tells one reason why: look at how classic Japan that scene is!  There's water, a wonderful little bridge, and a nice gazebo in the background of the couple that doesn't show in this picture.  One portion of the garden is a grove of cherry trees, and the day we went the trees were covered in blossoms, spraying white and pink petals everywhere.  Most of the couples took pictures there, too.  Even though we couldn't walk through some particularly nice parts of the garden because of them, it was fun to see the colorful wedding kimonos, the girls trying to walk, the giant reflection devices, the assistants telling the girls to hold the flowers just so....

On the other side of the garden (the not classical Japanese side) there were no couples so we were able to wander freely.  We passed over a zig-zag bridge and climbed up a hill where we looked out over one of the many water inlets that surround Hiroshima.  From this vantage point we could see countless sakura trees and a bamboo forest.

To the left, Matt climbs the hill and pauses for a philosophical moment.  In the background rises the bamboo forest, pictured more fully to the right.  The bamboo is very interesting to watch and to listen to.  In heavy winds it will push against itself and make instrumental clacking and rushing noises that are comforting and mystical.  It's the best kind of new-age music!

Around the corner from the bamboo garden is a three-part homeopathic garden.  It is truly amazing, and as Matt read off the plants, he marveled that most naturopaths would give a body part for some of the rare plants there.  The picture I chose to include also has some palm trees, because, hey why not palm trees?  Actually, behind these gardens, the feel of the place became tropical.  Large trees loomed overhead with big leafy branches.  The air somehow held more humidity and the sunlight fell just like you might imagine it to fall in a rain forest.  It brought into perspective just how varied the garden is, illustrating perfectly how adept the designers were at capturing all the different landscapes.

Emerging from the tropical paradise, we found ourselves back in Japan.  To the right, I skip across a pond decorated with large stepping stones and a man-made waterfall that looks like something from Yellowstone tumbling down over big stones.  Behind me are the flower gardens.  Luckily, since it had been a cold spring up until this point, the flowers had held off blooming and were just starting to reach their full glory.


Here is my favorite picture of white sakura, or cherry blossoms.  I managed to get a gorgeous macro shot (pure dumb luck) where the color gradients are visible and everything is in focus!



The flower magic didn't stop there, however.  Pictured to the left is another sakura, this time pink.  This picture I love for its composition, that gives a good feeling of what it's like to stand among the cherry blossoms.

To the right are two other interesting flowers present in the garden.  I don't know what either of them is called.  As for the white flowers, they have a delicate shape and tiny yellow touches I enjoy.  But, I mean, those other flowers: have you ever seen anything so naturally hot pink?