Diary Entry #4

July 17th Hiroshima

A local train and a shinkansen later I found myself at Hiroshima, meeting the lovely Miss E. It was about 4 in the afternoon and still muggy, but that was never going to get in the way of a good time. Miss E and I took a taxi back to her delightful 1 bedroom flat to deposit the luggage and have a quick change and a cold drink. Miss E’s flat is the top floor of a two flat building. It is down a rambling dirt path, well off from the main road, which is festooned with elderly Japanese idly digging up vegetables or lounging in chairs, and her windows afford a magnificent view of the allotments across the path. It is like having your own private garden view – and the climate being as it is, the locals pretty much throw seeds willy-nilly into the air and a veritable jungle sprouts. Amongst the climbers and cabbages, dragonflies flit and feral cats prowl. It is very soothing, and as one must open the windows to avoid dying of heat exhaustion, it provides a delightful backdrop to your daily tasks. Once again I am astounded by the simplistic beauty of Japanese buildings (images of Miss Embers flat can be viewed on her blog) and the fact that all the wood is cedar (one may come to the conclusion at this stage that I have a special like of cedar, and they would be right).

A short rest and a quick ablute later (yes, I am fully aware that is not a word but this is, after all, my blog and I’ll use any words I see fit too) we strolled to the local 100 yen shop ($1.20 AUD) for an extra umbrella and then to the local groggery (again, it’s my blog) for some evening libations. To my astonishment, I discovered that spirits are incredibly cheap in this country, a bottle of Bombay Sapphire (or That-Which-Is-Given-By-Heaven) costs a mere $19 AUD compared to $44 AUD in Australia. The penny dropped. Now I understood why all cocktails in Japan cost between $8 and $12, regardless of content.

After a quick dinner of cold soba noodles we grabbed a small bag of explosives and a couple of cold drinks and wandered into town towards the A-dome and Peace Park. I’m sure you are all aware of the terrible price the citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki paid during the Second World War, and the park remains as a reminder of the folly of man. The A-dome (pictured) was one of two buildings remaining after the devastating bomb and has been turned into a museum (the other building I have been told was demolished). There is also a peace flame (not pictured as I did not take my tripod) that will remain lit until all nuclear weapons are disarmed. Sadly, I think the only thing that would result in that happening is if they found some other, more devastating, method for killing.

So, we sat in the park, next to the canal and drank our cold drinks, listened to people playing music on the bridge and lit our sparklers (pictured).

As we wandered back along the canal we amused ourselves by gawping at the many love hotels that line the river (pictured) and the humorous names they chose (such has Hotel Parsley, and Hotel Banana). For those who are unaware, Love hotels are famous because they are discreet, and rooms are generally themed and can be hired by the half hour.