Today was another eventful day for the Disaster and Enlightenment East Asia J-term travelers. After waking up in our hostel-styled accommodation, we attended a very quaint breakfast of coffee and tea, baguette and jam, and some other simple foods. Fueled for the day ahead, we set out in foot towards the Hiroshima Peace and Memorial Museum.

Here we spent about an hour soaking in the offerings of the memorial, all at our own individual paces. I found this museum to provide a lot more context and background to the tragedy it was commemorating, as compared to the Nanjing massacre and Nagasaki atomic bombing museums we had visited in the few days prior. I felt that all three were equally powerful and effective, as well as emotionally and intellectually moving in their own ways.

After walking through the memorial's interior, we had a lecture with Professor Inoue, the professor of the students we shared an intercultural exchange and meal with last night. It was a pleasure to listen to Professor Inoue's wise words as he outlined the ways in which tragedies such as Hiroshima can be depicted and interpreted in different ways around the world. He talked about how media sources such as newspapers portray important information in biased and intentional ways -- all dependent upon the lens that country chooses to view the situation with.

After thanking Professor Inoue for his time and insight, we walked through the Peace Park outdoor section of the museum. This was a beautiful space. One area was ornamented with garlands of origami paper cranes -- a sign of peace. We walked through the park somewhat briskly as we worked to catch a train to Nagoya University, where we had another lecture given by Professor Munsi. He discussed what life was like for the Hidden Christians group during a time of religious and political controversy.

After this lecture, we grabbed a quick dinner in the train station, and took the Shinkansen train from Nagoya to Tokyo. Once there, we took another local train to an outskirt of Tokyo called Tachikawa. We just made it to our hotel in Tachikawa, and it is pretty late. We are all ready for bed after a full day of learning and traveling. Until tomorrow, thank you for reading!