A Visit to Mihara City, Hiroshima, Japan

Visiting Mihara City, Hiroshima, Japan was my first travel outside the Philippines. I was anticipating the challenges that await seafarers.

Mihara City is set at the foot of a mountain in Hiroshima, Japan. It is a railroad city wherein almost all the jobs enjoyed by the locales are concentrated at the shipping dockyards that repair and construct newbuildings or new ships. On March 26^th, 2001, the sailor, was able to get there in order to work in a new ship as personnel in catering department.

Koyo Dockyard

The occupation of almost all the locales in Mihara is in shipping. Koyo Dockyard, presently owned by Japanese and foreign corporations have been revived due to the quality of ships being built. Every week, newbuildings are being delivered to shipowners that gave their trust to the once-flailing but now a soaring name in the field of ship building.

The first ship that I embarked was a product tanker of more than 39, 000 gross tonnage dead weight (GT DWT). It carried oil products (pentane for plastic manufacturing, bunker fuel and also crude oil) for a six-month contract in Middle East; until it was turnover to the next buyer/charterer.

Visiting Mihara City

Filipino seamen along with Greek counterparts were housed at the seaman's center just overlooking the dockyard of Koyo.

During the month of March, the frigid air of around 3 degrees Celsius made we long to go back home. Yet, the lure of dollars kept convincing my brain that it's the start of a good life.

We stayed for four days at the center, making friends with the cook to give us extra servings in the center's eatery. The couple who were managing the center also cooked food for us and the laborers in the dockyard.

With ticket stubs, you can eat at the center as early as six in the morning foraging for available food in the counter. The old lady always gave us tea (you can even use it as mouthwash). I had to request for milk as additive because I was still getting used to it due to the fact that I am a coffee person. Jasmine rice (which was developed in the Philippines at the International Rice Research Center) always awaken my senses because of its aroma. Egg soup was an additional accompaniment aside from the intricately decorated dishes of chicken, pok, beek and vegetables. It really fascinated me indulging into a unique offering of regional cooking in the city.

Painful Past

Mihara City recovered fast after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II in the 1940s.

The next 20 years were really painful to them, the economic recovery and the battle against the effects (diseases and longtime ailments) of atomic bomb (A-bomb).

The city is realy moving on and quickly gaining its place on the A-list of foreign tourists.

You should really visit Mihara City. Words are not enough to describe the sceneries that you're surely appreciate.