Rihga Royal Hiroshima

... to ask if I would take a questionnaire.<br><br>I said, "Yes, I would be happy to."<br><br>It was quite short and to the point. After some general questions about name, address, and country, the "real" questions came... "Do you think the atomic bomb was the right decision?"<br><br>I looked at them and thought about it... I really didn't have a solid answer. All I could think was, "I don't know." I wrote that down and tried to explain it to them. "Muzukashi" was the best I could do ...

On Tuesday evening we arrived into Hiroshima station and found our tram stop to bring us to the hotel. Was quite late at this stage so decided to go for a walk up to the A-Bomb dome site. This was one of the few buildings that survived the atomic bomb and was kept by the city as a reminder of the devastation that was caused. We then found the best Irish pub outside of Ireland with a bar man from Cork. Seems like we ...

... from the day of the bombing including a watch which has stopped dead on the time the bomb was dropped. There are also stone steps which have been removed and placed into the museum bearing people's shadows into them where they were sitting when the bomb was dropped.<br><br>We then took a train to visit the most photographed shrine in Japan; it's weight is ...

Experiencing Hiroshima has been....as I sit and think of a word to write there, so many come to mind, and yet none are the right ones. 'Amazing' implies that it is a positive experience. It is not. 'Awe inspiring' is close in that one is in awe to see the dispays, monuments, paper cranes, museum, and other sights, but again, the two words are not correct. 'Wonderful' is too flowery a word, and again has such positive connotations. On the other hand I ...

... the river is the Hiroshima "dome", which is the only building still standing after the bomb was dropped. It is a very effective photo opportunity to look through the dome, and through the flame, to see the dome in the background. It was a photo I had to queue up for, and even then I had to get a bit forceful when clueless idiots would simply walk around and stand in front of the camera. Im lucky they didnt understand ...

... from the Edo period. It feels like your in a movie set or have actually stepped back in time. Ammmaaah-zing.<br><br>There were also these floats that they only take out once a year for the town's annual parade. They are three-hundred years old and still absolutely beautiful. Apparently, if they were to completely recreate them today they would cost about four-million US dollars. Which is probably why they just held on to them.<br><br>As I speak, however, We are in ...

As a general rule of thumb, the Japanese are all too happy to go about their day as usual, unable to acknowledge your very exist. Those that aren't ignoring you, are usually staring - perhaps just a little too intently - for entire twenty minute subway rides. But those that you should be most wary of are those that are unusually delighted to have two 'Amerikans' visiting their little ol' country. This was, unfortunately, learned the hard way. Whilst attempting to find ...

... dan goed. En de kaas assorti kunnen we echt niet laten staan, ondanks dat hier net als bij de meeste andere maaltijden voor eenieders welzijn het aantal calorien dat dat met zich meebrengt keurig op de kaart wordt weergegeven. Japan is vooral ook het land van de automaten. Niet alleen doelen we dan op de spelautomaten in de vele speelhallen, met als favoriet het spelletje Pachinko (een soort Pinball zonder flippers), maar met name ook op de drankautomaten. Frisdrank, koude ...

... in the sport. Sumo is, of course, an ancient Japanese practice, and remains deeply traditional in its ceremonies and mind set. I found this fascinating to watch, especially the pre-fight parade of the top division (video). This has caused some controversy of late, with foreign wrestlers finding it difficult to enter the sport due to attempts to keep it "Japanese". In a sense I can understand ...

... for about 10 minutes. We talk a bit about what we saw and walk around to look at the monuments around the park. We decide to go find the game, relieved to have something to lighten our spirits. On our way out we bump into some Americans, including a woman in her 70's who shares her memories of being a young girl and hearing the news about the bomb. We are happy to meet them and listen to her story. We can't find the bar that we're looking for, but do spy Molly ...