So today I am in Hiroshima.
I have been here for a few days, I don't remember which day I got here but I think I've slept on this particular futon for about three nights. Maybe.
Hiroshima is probably the prettiest out of all the Japanese cities I've been to so far (Osaka, Nara, Kyoto briefly Okayama and here). Maybe it's the presence of a decent sized park in the middle of the place that I like. I'm not too sure. But anyway, it is very nice.
Right now Tom is at the arcade (or maybe on his way home from the arcade by now). We went out for dinner and then he went straight to the arcade, so I had to walk home by myself. It's kind of funny in Japanese cities when you feel as though you are walking down a seedy backstreet, but in reality it's just another road. So many of the streets except the real main ones are tiny. For a few minutes I felt like I was walking down some shady alley, but then I zoned back in to life and realised there were a whole bunch of people in eyesight, some of them also single females, so there was really not too much cause for concern.
Hiroshima is definitely the most historically interesting city I've been to so far. Tonight for example I walked home past the A-bomb dome, the only building left as it was straight after the atomic bomb hit the place. Right now it's covered in scaffolding because they're surveying its condition, but you can still clearly see it. Then I walked over the T-shaped bridge, which was the target the bomb was aimed at. I turned left in the middle of the T and walked past the Peace Memorial Park, past the Korean bomb victims memorial and the mound which contains the ashes of 10,000 bomb victims.
It's pretty strange to be walking around this normal modern city full of regular young people having a good time and enjoying life and then remembering how just at the end of WWII, not that long ago, the whole place was annihilated instantly by a single bomb.
We went to the Peace Memorial Museum the other day which was really interesting and incredibly sad. There are models of the city centre as it was before the bomb, and immediately after. The first one is a city full of green trees and houses and (though they aren't in the model city) lots and lots of people working outside for the war effort. The second model is a flattened burnt black nothing, with a couple of concrete skeletons here and there.
The A-bomb dome isn't the best example of what happened. I never really knew that when I was younger, and I guess I never thought about it too much, but the domed building is only still here because it was the closest surviving structure to the blast. The patches off ground around it containing nothing are probably a better example of what the place looked like, except you'd have to set it on fire and add some people suffering radiation burns to their entire bodies and slowly dying in agonising pain.
Anyone who visits Japan and travels around at all should definitely come see Hiroshima and visit the museum. I think just for a laugh they should get Harry Truman to stand at the exit and keep a tally of how many people punch him in the face.
I found these fantastic boots in a store here yesterday. They were a bit like converses in design, but they were knee high boots with stiletto heels. They were lined with red plaid and looked awesome with the top folded down.
Only problem is that this is Japan, and Japanese girls apparently have tiny feet. So far I haven't noticed cute shoes that come in a size LL, but I'm hoping I might find some before I go (on sale, preferably).
I also found some rainbow hair extensions that looked fun. I might go buy them tomorrow if I get bored. Or maybe the pink and black ones. But, on the other hand, I could always just dye my hair those colours. I'll see.
I could go nuts here shopping though. There are SO MANY cute things. So far all I've bought is one top, two little toys out of vending machines that look like guinea pigs and some fake eyelashes, but I'm yet to really go shopping.
I'm kind of saving it for Tokyo because I figure I'll be able to find pretty much everything I've seen somewhere there, and more.
The good news is that the dollar went up a bit today. I hope it keeps going up. Then down as soon as we go home. Do that please, dollar. Arigatou gozaimas.
