広島・尾道・鞆の浦・福山紀行 16.07.2023
呉市の大和ミュージアムには戦艦大和の大きな模型と、明治から太平洋戦争までの戦史が展示されている。旧江田島海軍兵学校にはフェリーで行く。江田島は現在も海上自衛隊の幹部学校があり、若い自衛官が並んで駆け足していた。旧兵学校を自衛官OBの案内で見学。戦死した兵隊たちや特攻隊の青年の説明を読んであらためて平和と戦争を考えた。
江田島から高速船で広島宇品港へ。宇品港は元軍港で、戦時には中国や東南アジアに向け兵士が輸送船に乗せられた港だ。広島に行けば原爆ドームに行かねばならない。宇品港から市電で向かう。何年かぶりのドームだ。少し驚いたのは外国人の見学者が目立つことだ。真剣な顔でドームを見上げていて、単に観光ではないように見える。
翌日は尾道、坂の町で猫の町。商店街の風情はなつかしい。ここでも外国人観光客が目立つ。ロープウェイから見る瀬戸内海は絶景だ。しかし、帰り道の坂は急で、くたびれるし、怖い。途中で会う猫はそんな人間には無関心だ。尾道から高速船で鞆の浦へ。瀬戸内海の船旅だが、この日は雨で景色は灰色だ。鞆の浦は千数百年前からの歴史の町。朝鮮通信使も観たという福禅寺対潮楼からの景色はすばらしい。常夜灯はこの町のシンボル。古い町並みにある酒蔵で「保命酒」を買う。薬用酒でこの町の名産。鞆の浦から福山はバスで。福山の居酒屋で食べた「ねぶと」の天ぷらは地元の小魚、今が旬。瀬戸内海の食を満喫した。
最終日は、九州と山口の集中豪雨のため新幹線が広島以西はストップした。福山から岡山へは在来線で行き、始発の新幹線で何とか東京へとたどり着いた。
7/7-9 Hiroshima, Onomichi, Tomonoura, Fukuyama Travelogue 16.07.2023
The Yamato Museum in Kure City has a large scale model of the battleship Yamato on display along with war history from the Meiji era to the Pacific War. Take a ferry to the former Etajima Naval Academy. Etajima still has the Maritime Self-Defense Force officer's school, and young Self-Defense Force officers were running side by side. Visit the former military academy under the guidance of an alumnus. After reading the explanations of the soldiers who died in the battle and the young kamikaze corps, I thought about peace and war again.
From Etajima, take a high-speed boat to Hiroshima Ujina Port. Ujina was a former naval port, and during the war, soldiers were put on transport ships bound for China and Southeast Asia. If we go to Hiroshima, we have to go to the Atomic Bomb Dome. Take the streetcar from Ujina Port. It's been a long time since I've been in the dome. What surprised me a little was the conspicuous number of foreign visitors. Looking up at the dome with a serious face, it looks like it's not just a tourist attraction.
The next day is Onomichi, a town of slopes and a town of cats. The atmosphere of the shopping district is nostalgic. Foreign tourists also stand out here. The view of the Seto Inland Sea from the ropeway is spectacular. However, the slope on the way back is steep, exhausting, and scary. The cats that meet us on the way are indifferent to such people. Take a high-speed boat from Onomichi to Tomonoura. It was a voyage on the Seto Inland Sea, but it was raining that day and the scenery was gray. Tomonoura is a town with a history dating back over a thousand years. The scenery from Fukuzenji Taichoro, which the Korean envoys also saw, is wonderful. The night light is the symbol of this town. Buy Houmeishu at a sake brewery in the old townscape. This town's specialty is medicinal sake. Take a bus from Tomonoura to Fukuyama. The "Nebuto" tempura I ate at an izakaya in Fukuyama is a small local fish that is in season. Enjoy the food of the Seto Inland Sea.
On the last day, Shinkansen stopped running west of Hiroshima due to torrential rain in Kyushu and Yamaguchi. We took a local train from Fukuyama to Okayama. And We managed to arrive in Tokyo on the first Shinkansen.