As a new building in Hiroshima, Orizuru Tower’s popularity easily gains its popularity amongst the local. It is known for its view deck overlooking Hiroshima City including the Atomic Bomb Dome. We first saw the Orizuru Tower from local TV programme which featured the tower’s stunning interior design. When we were in Hiroshima, visiting Orizuru Tower was in our things to do. Before decided going to Orizuru Tower we wondered whether it was worth paying 1,700 yen to enter the tower for the sake of a view deck. After looking at so many pictures of the view from the tower and the interior design of the view deck from Japanese bloggers we decided to go.
The entrance staff guided us directly to the elevator to reach its highest floor: 14th floor. The elevator is a showcase of origami, the Japanese art of folding paper into decorative pattern. Hiroshima is known for its orizuru which means crane origami. Orizuru is made to mourn the victims of the atomic bomb and wish for a peaceful world. Making orizuru is a part of Japanese culture. The Orizuru tower name is originated from this orizuru history.
The 1,700 yen entrance fee was worth paying for, although we wish it could be cheaper. This entrance fee was more for relaxing and escaping from the blazing sun while enjoying the view. How could we feel sorry for spending some money when the view was as nice as these ones.
Apart from the view deck, there is Origami center where we can learn how to create origami. The staff gave us origami papers in different colours and patterns as soon as we showed the entrance ticket, then we were guided to a table where we could create orizuru. Our guide, or rather my guide because Ikumo knows well how to create orizuru, was a mini iPad. I thought it was easy to create the orizuru but the result showed my struggle. You can easily guess which one of these two orizurus was mine. “First time is always the toughest” people said. I’m not sure I can create a better orizuru for the next time.
Once the orizuru finished we went to a glass floored room where we dropped the orizuru from. I could see the orizuru flying from the height before reaching the bottom of the building, joining probably thousands other orizuru. For Ikumo the view from the tower was worth spending money for. Me on the other hand, creating orizuru and dropped it from height was an unforgettable experience that turned me into a school kid once again. I could still recall in the school days when I read a victim of the atomic bomb, a school boy, created 1,000 orizuru, wishing he could recover from the severe burn and live longer but deceased not long after the 1,000th orizuru was created.
The orizuru could be seen from outside the building.
We left the tower with something precious to remember.
Will we come back for another visit? Yes, we will definitely take our child to this tower when we back to Japan.
