Hotel Pao Hiroshima

... Hiroshima, the train conductor came up and offered me a Hiroshima map. That would never happen on New Jersey Transit! Back in Hiroshima, the clerk at the Family Mart convenience store asked me where I was from and what I thought of Governor Schwarzenegger. (If you check the annual report for Family Mart, you will discover that they are on a campaign to differentiate themselves from their competitors by providng their customers with a friendly and warm ...

... at history, and wont pretend to be; but seemingly Britain and Russia gave the all clear for this to happen, and interestingly some individuals pushed Einstein to sign a letter which emphasised just how powerful and effective a weapon could be achieved with nuclear power.
Over 300,000 people died, literally kilometers of city vanished from the earth. A bright flash, extreme heat, strong winds and not stop fires and explosions, left most of those not instantly incinerated or ...

... it was new or old; everything seemed to be cleaned and ready to perform its task without any problem. Even the trees that were lining the streets were carefully trimmed and shaped. As we got closer to the downtown area, the building became bigger and newer. The trip to downtown to the Peace Memorial Park in which the monuments and remembrances of the A Bomb were located; cost only 150 Yen ($1.50 US) a piece and twenty five minutes of our time. The trolley was full but ...

... delicate handling of why the US decided to bomb Japan, and in its unabashed criticism and disgust for countries that are developing/have nuclear weapons. The museum also did not proclaim complete innocence in the war and admitted that they were involved in such wartime atrocities as well. It goes on to discuss to some degree US-Japan relations since then, the Hiroshima maidens and has comments from world leaders on how moved ...

... experience when you can't help but picture it after that fateful day in 1945. However, it's inspiring how prosperous the place is and how determined the city is to remember those who suffered from the bombing but still keep on moving forward.

But, onto brighter things! Today we went to Miyajima Island. Our most favorite, favorite place so far. It is home to the iconic Itsukushima Shrine and as soon as you get onto the ferry, you are captivated by its magic. The ...

... only secondary to the snow experience.

I wish we could have spent more time in Hiroshima personally, as the city is very attractive and surprisingly less depressing a visit than one would think with all the sites and reminders around the place to the atomic bomb. Peace Memorial Park is amazing, and the accompanying museum concerning the bombing of Hiroshima is fascinating, complete with all sorts of equally fascinating articles such as the original U.S ...

... effects. To tell you the truth, I was actually quite disappointed and ashamed that it was my side that caused this horrible occurrence, and I don't care what rationale they gave, I don't think I'll ever understand what could make that kind of distruction necessary. But, a broken and devastated Japan waved the white flag eight days later, signalling an end to the war. Now the site is a monument to peace. We went to the museum, very moving and interesting. We were one of the ...

Little boy and fatman, A story that changed the course of history. Hiroshima, If you were totally oblivious to history, you would never know that this peaceful booming town was witness to one of humanity's worst ideas to date: The Atom bomb. And as you walk in the peaceful garden and see all the names of the victims of that day, the memorial for kids with cancer and its center piece the A bomb dome, it hits you hard... like a punch to the gut.... A great ...

... I'm not sure what that means, but it's like a hotel room with tatami and futons) right near the Peace Memorial Park. We got pretty late, the ferry arrived at 10, we took an hour and a half train ride down to our hotel and took about 10 mins walking there, so the first thing we did was look for some quick food (convenience stores rock with their pre-made meals for decent prices). Afterwards, we crashed. The next morning we ...

... on a street. A lot of domestic and international tourists were strolling around the island. I was asked to take a photo of a couple from overseas in broken Japanese. However because I talked to them in English, they looked surprised to meet a English-speaking Japanese. Daishoin temple is another attraction in the island. You can find a lot of interesting statues like Anpanman, a Japanese anime hero, and spinning wheels of sutra.