A Thousand Cranes

Travel Reports by Chashitsu

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April 23, 2016 - A Thousand Cranes

I have long been touched by the story coming out of Hiroshima after the tragedy of 1945 about the young girl Sadako Sasaki who contracted leukaemia and set out to make one thousand origami cranes as she knew her time was limited. Folklore has it that if you succeed in making 1,000 cranes within a year your wishes may be granted. In 2001 I had the opportunity to design and build a garden in the Battersea Park Conference Venue for a Nomura bank event for staff and 3,000 guests. I chose to develop a tea garden of 1,000 cranes in this young girls memory as a gesture of peace, harmony and forgiveness. Until now I have avoided Hiroshima in my travels but as the recent earthquake in Kumamoto put paid to my visit there, I rescheduled a day trip to Hiroshima to see the gardens, castle and visit Miyajima island. Walking to Shukkei-en garden I passed a memorial to this young girl in the Nobori-cho high school she attended, which set me thinking of the Nomura garden fifteen years earlier. To cheer myself up I went to the Shukkei-en garden around the corner, where the bus pass came in handy again.

A thousand cranes flying out of the tea garden

The tea house and garden complete with cherry tree

Shukkei-en garden was originally built during the Tokugawa shogunate as a �gshrunken scenery�h stroll garden modelled on the West Lake in Hangzhou, China. The garden has been completely rebuilt after the 1945 bombing. It consists of a large lake with winding path, hiding and revealing different views. There are ten small pine clad islands and several bridges including the �gStraddling Rainbow bridge�h a Chinese style full moon bridge, which crosses the middle of the lake. There are a number of delightful tea houses, both large and small, a plum orchard, rice fields, herb and peony garden. A delightful experience.

Stream garden, Shukkei-en garden, Hiroshima

Bridge to Paradise, Shukkei-en garden, Hiroshima

Rainbow bridge, Shukkei-en garden, Hiroshima

Tea house and garden, Shukkei-en garden, Hiroshima

Island tea house, Shukkei-en garden, Hiroshima

Lake with islands Shukkei-en garden, Hiroshima

Hiroshima castle is but a few minutes walk from the garden and set in a park. It has a chequered history having changed hands between feudal lords of conflicting allegiances, finally residing with the Asano family for much of the Edo period. From a distance is appears to be impressive but of course is a post war reconstruction in concrete and plastic. It has five stories and is a moated flatland or plains castle.

I returned to the station and caught a local train to Miyajima Island terminal and the short ferry crossing to the island. The island is famous for it�fs �gfloating�h torii and extensive Itsukushima shrine built on the sands of Miyajima bay. The original shrine was built in the Nara period and rebuilt in Heian times by Taira no Kiyomori. It has extensive corridors linking some 20 buildings over the water at high tide. The torii some 200m from the shrine was intended as the main seaward access. The shrine is known for displays of ancient Heian court dances (Bugaku) introduced by Kiyomori and continued today. Deer roam the island and throughout the town as they do in Nara park. The more adventurous even poke their noses into the shops to the amusement of all. The island is dominated by the forested slopes of Mt Misen. Time did not permit exploration of the walking trails on Mt Misen.