Hiroshima needs little introduction. A busy port city before the war, the first city to succumb to an atomic bomb, and now a city with over a million residents. I spent only one day here, visiting museums and parks and eating Hiroshima’s famous dish, okonomiyaki.
Okonomiyaki is one of my favorite Japanese dishes. Okonomi, meaning “what you like” or “what you want”, and yaki meaning “grilled” or “cooked”. Basically it’s a savory pancake stuffed full of cabbage and whatever else you want and topped with a bbq-type sauce and sometimes Japanese mayonnaise.
Sadako Sasaki was two years old when she was exposed to the atomic bomb. She didn’t show any signs of illness until nine years later when she was diagnosed with Leukemia. While in the hospital she made a thousand origami cranes, hoping for recovery.
She never did.
After her death her young classmates raised funds to make a memorial for her and all the other fallen children from the war. Today, school children still bring thousands upon thousands of origami cranes.
