Namiki Hotel Hiroshima

... to preserve some level of structural integrity. As I walked by I tried to picture what that day, that moment, must have been like. I was unable. It was just too unfathomable.

-----
REACHING OUT FOR PEACE:

[CLICK] While taking even more photos I noticed a young Japanese man looking at me several times. As he approached I said, "Konnichiwa."

He responded in English. He took me a bit by surprise when he said he was a Jehovah's Witness. He ...

... of city hall, one of the only buildings standing after the blast. Less than a kilometer from the hypocenter of the explosion, it is nothing more than a skeleton of steel and concrete.
Though the scene surrounding the building is almost unrecognizable from the desolate, burning void it was on 8:16, August 6, 1945, a tangible heaviness pervades the area and settles into your clothes, your bones, your heart. Walking around the ...

... oikein saa? Nyt laittoivat sitten viestiä, että koska olet jo Japanissa, niin lippuja ei voi enää sinulle myydä ja palautamme rahat!!!! Siis JuMANkeUTA!!! Aika uskomatonta toimintaa ja aiheuttaa TODELLISTA kuumotusta, koska hotelleja on jo varattu eteenpäin. Nyt jos en nopeasti saa lippuja muutettua, niin ollaan lähdössä muutaman päivän kuluttua Shanghain kautta Suomeen ja voin sanoa, ett ...

... followed the World Friendship Centre guidelines and took a tram (or "street-car" as they are known here) from the station, through the peace park, and got off at a stop a few blocks from the hotel. Walked the rest of the way and found the friendship centre with no worries. It is basically an old Japanese house which has been converted into lodging for about 4 different rooms. We have the entire bottom floor to ourselves ...

... now. After only a short period of time, I now have a Japanese address, pension fund and keitai (cell phone) number! Reality has started to kick-in--Japan is my new home. I suppose I could look at it this way: everyone looks like family, so it must be home! My training in Okayama was fun and rigorous . While I really enjoyed the company of my fellow colleagues, I nearly drowned in the loads of work Amity gave me for the week. Each day we had training from 10-7pm and then ...

... to communicate in certain ways even though none of us understood each others languages. You kind of just... picked up on what was going on.

Anyway, Nagoya was just the base for our day trips. We were to start the first of our day trips in Kanazawa, a small town in North West Honshu. However, it was not to be. We got on the wrong train, that not only was not covered by our rail pass (you had to pay) it was bound in the absolute wrong direction. Well, the right ...

... we nooit willen missen, maar de blijdschap kan niet op bij het zien van een perfect en schoon vliegveld, vlotlopend openbaar vervoer, relaxte parken, een veelvoud aan uitgangsbuurten en supermarkten die 24 uur per dag open zijn. Voor het eerst in weken doen we ons te goed aan pate, italiaanse (harde) worst en rauwe ham. En natuurlijk aan sushi, veel en vaak, vers af te halen in de supermarkt tegen spotprijzen. Dat laatste geldt ook voor de electronica in deze stad en zo ...

... to maintaining that status: The shrine itself is very attractively set, sitting in front of a mountain, and surrounded by other venerable places of worship. Its neighbours also include those who practice the ancient sacred art of mass-producing awful touristy souvenirs. I could have secured my very own miniature tori. I didn't. Of course, the name Hiroshima rarely conjures ancient or ...

... 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.

... has written letters to world leaders each time a nuclear test has been conducted and they are displayed in the main hall. There are so many. Mostly to the Soviet Union and US during cold war years, but many to France and China also, and the letters continue to the present day. The most recent on display: a letter to President Bush, May 26, 2004 regarding continued sub-critical nuclear tests in Nevada. There are also many photographs and large models of the city before ...