This is just a quick update as I am smothered with a cold today – I think the Japanese with their surgical masks were horrified by my snuffling and sneezing, but it was my gesture of rebellion. We have a night off so I am tucked up in bed with my iPad and cheap red wine, which is plentiful here in Japan so happy days!
We are currently in Hiroshima and it is amazing on many levels. Around the area of the epicentre of the bomb of 6 August 1945 they have built a beautiful Peace Park dedicated to remembering the victims and educating the world on the dangers of nuclear weapons so the destruction visited on Hiroshima will never happen again.
And the destruction was unbelievable. They have a great museum which is very unsparing on the details of the impact of the bomb on the city and its human beings. There is a lovely new memorial building that you walk anti-clockwise into to go back in time to 8.15am on the day of the bomb. There was a little film which documented the experiences of the children of Hiroshima. Overall the whole place was amazingly moving and emotional – unexpectedly so. It doesn’t really get into the politics of it, just concentrates on the experience of the people. The Dome which is all that remains of the old city is being renovated so is covered in scaffolding but you get the sense of it – it is amazing to see:
This is the memorial to the souls of the dead – it’s in the shape of a traditional Japanese house and the dead now live here and are protected from the elements for ever:
This is the Children’s Memorial:
On the other hand we had a great night last night – finally realising my dream of doing karaoke in Japan! We had such a laugh – you have your own private booth and they have all sorts of songs. I think we were there for 2 hours and drank the shite out of the all-you-can-drink offer! Not to mention the singing – it was great craic and no-ones cares if you are crap. But they sell this drink with a picture of a liver on the front of it that seems to be magic in avoiding hangovers so we have cleaned out the 7 Eleven. I will have to try and smuggle some out of the country…