Tuesday's Official Meetings

There was a concrete school building very near the A-bomb Hypocenter on August 5, 1946. Honkawa Elementary School was devasted, not only by the blast, but by the fire that followed. Only 2 students survived. The shell of the school was used first as a first aid center and then as a burial ground -- mounds of bodies were cremated every day for weeks.
The ruins of a classroom were used as a school until the school could be rebuilt, covering the charred remaining walls. Eventually a new school was built, and the original damaged concrete walls uncovered and made into a museum. The beautiful flowers in the museum/school courtyard contrast the contents of museum.
After our museum visit, the rest of the day was official. I delivered the welcoming seat to the Deputy Mayor. All meetings like this are very formal in Japan. Looking at the city official watching for her like a Secret Service agent, you would have thought a President or the Pope was arriving. The Deputy Mayor arrived and I delivered the official introductory speech from our group. There were a lot of speeches and bowing. Finally, the Deputy Mayor formally gave me gifts -- a request to Topeka Mayor Bill Bunten to join the international organization Mayors for Peace and a beautiful book of drawings and poems by A-bomb survivors.
Lunch was indescribable. Hiroshima is famous for a dish called okonomiyaki, and we learned how to cook it. I have the certificate to prove it. It’s cooked on a hot grill with layers, starting with a crepe-like layer, dried bonito powder, a MOUND of cabbage, crispy tempura pieces, green onion, sprouts, port, noodles, egg, okonomi sauce, and seaweed. Several ingredients were grilled separately and the whole thing was turned with 2 spatulas several times. It was -- you guessed it -- delicious, Oishii!