Hiroshima

On the train to Hiroshima now. The garbage collectors are a team of 2 girls in pink uniform with berettes. Before entering the wagon, they bow & say something to announce their entrance. On the way back from the wagon, they turn specifically to bow to the wagon and then exit... The conductor of the train does the same. Even if nobody's looking!

The speed of the train is clocked at 300km/h. The railway line is really straight, with no noticeable turns. In fact it is so straight that it doesn't go thru the big cities of Osaka & Kobe, rather stop wherever is convenient, and then u need to transfer to get into the center of the cities.


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In Hiroshima, Peace Memorial Park:



- Herro sir
- Hi
- Where are u from?
Blah blah blah chitchat ensues.
- Do you believe there will ever be world peace?
- Hmm I don't know (OK I just met you dude, and this is pretty deep, don't u wanna do some more fluff talk before asking a question like that? Actually I think we'll all die from either nuclear fallout or global warming, but let's not get into it right now, deal?)

So this was the first time I was approached by a Japanese person. It was a grandpa with 2 highschool kids by his side, and they wanted to practice a rittre Engrish. How cute. Right? Or is there a catch here?
... As one of the boys overcame his approach anxiety and fought thru his horrendous English, egged on by his grandpa / mentor, he started reading to me from a sheet (he bit his lip to the point of bleeding in the process). Lo and behold, here comes God and questions about the Bible. It turns out the dudes were Jehowah's Witnesses (and of course one of their principles is only speak to strangers if it's about religion). No people! Not here as i'm trying to Witness something else here - like the horrors of nuclear war maybe. Pleeeease. I quietly accepted their pamphlet and ejected.

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On to the Peace Memorial Museum. It has all the details about the bomb, the history, and what happened to the people of Hiroshima on Aug 6, 1945.







Very tragic - imagine if this were to happen today.

One thing I found impressive is how quickly Hiroshima began its recovery and how the rest of Japan really pulled together to help those people. Really a heroic feat.
Now Hiroshima is a booming green city - you would never suspect what happened if it wasn't for the memorial. It's really a must see for those interested in history and the survival of the human race as a whole. This place sends chills thru your spine, and also fills you with pride for people who can overcome a tragedy like that.

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P.S. I don't know if I missed it, but there seemed to have been no discussion of the current events related to nuclear arms race: no explicit mention of Iran, Israel or North Korea. Nor was there a discussion of the cuban missile crisis of the early 60s (like, look how close we were to repeating the same mistake just 20 years later). It is a real shame not to include such highly relevant facts & events from a museum which is supposed to be a warning to current generations against nuclear war! This is not the place to be politically correct!!

I think i'm gonna skip the Miyajima island and head back to Kyoto. Time is running late and the weather sucks. I can feel the rainy season creeping in. But here's a picture of what I missed, NOT taken by me