Day Nine - Osaka to Hiroshima - Planet Japan

So this morning it was goodbye to Osaka.  Personally, it was not for me.  It was OK, but just a city where consumerism had gone quite mad.  If you like

Peace Memorial Museum

shopping, and trust me there is enough shopping to shake a stick at, then you would love it.  If you like food and amusement arcades then you would be fine.  We had planned on going to see the castle but the weather put paid to that and in all fairness, I am a bit castle/templed out, so not really worried about missing out.  I would not say don’t go to Osaka, but I would say consider your options as one night would probably do you.

So it was on the subway, in rush hour (of course it was) to Shin-Osaka (the main train station).  I have to smile as Andy writes everything down in a little book; the number of the train, the

The eternal flame

platform, time etc.  I don’t normally bother, I just normally rock up and figure it out. Needless to say we were ridiculously early and went to a ‘coffee’ shop.  I say ‘coffee’ as I still have only found one half decent cup of coffee.  I did Google it and it dis say that Japan is not renowned for its love of coffee and up until recently viewed it as a ‘medicine’.  I really cannot think what they used it for and I can’t for the life of me work out what they actually do to the coffee bean to make it taste so shit! That aside, ‘shit’ coffee and some lovely pancakes later we were both fed and watered for the train journey.

Once again, no escalator to the platform and this really is a problem for travelling.  I had to drag my suitcase up the stairs.  Andy offered but I am so bloody stubborn (and let’s face it, I am normally on my own and would have to figure it out anyway) I managed.  The train come into the platform and emptied out. As the people were coming off the train the cleaner was waiting to get on to clean.  She stood, bowing continuously to every passenger getting off the train.  When the last person had got off she was on that train like a shot.  I bet you the train was not even dirty!  She worked like a Ninja (excuse the pun) and then much to our amazement did something that moved the chairs completely 180 degrees so that no seat was travelling backward.  How cool is that! So simple and so effective, wonderful

Children's Memorial

engineering and it makes total sense.  We were then invited on to the train.  Another criticism of train travel in Japan is there is now where to put your suitcases.  If they are small, you can put them overhead.  I can just about drag mine up a fight of stairs so that was not an option.  There is a bit of room behind the last row of seats, but they filled up quickly and I guess people book those seats so that they can have the space behind them.  So once again we had to sit with our suitcases in front of us.  On the other trains that has not been too bad as like the Japanese (generally speaking) we are not tall.  However, I really cannot imagine how any one over 5’ 10” would cope.  I think they would have to spend the whole train journey in the lotus position.  Another thing is the continual Playstation music.  The Japanese do like an electronic tune that seems to me, serve no purpose whatsoever.  Before you arrive at a statin you get the Playstation tune followed by ‘we shall be making a short stop at whatever station where we will be departing shorty after we arrive’ so basically move yourself and logic!  Got to love the Japanese.  Andy sounded it a treat - they have one foot in the past with this culture, rituals and history and one foot in the future with their love or gadgets, games and technology.  Utter madness and it is still Planet Japan where nothing makes any sense.  Welcome aboard.  Next stop Hiroshima.

I forgot to mention that last night we ‘watched’ numerous Japanese game

shows.  They all seem to have the same theme where various contestants have to compete with each other.  You then see the other team in a little circle at the top of the screen.  The first game consisted of a bloke running around with a cabbage and what we could make of it was he had to find someone (a woman as obviously men don’t cook here in the home either) to cook something with this cabbage.  He looked a bit like John Lennon but a Japanese version.  All very random.  The next game was two blokes (Ant and Dec) trying to put together a dance troupe.  Talk about a right old mix of people, even by my standards.  The final contestant was a man of around 80 who had look of Lionel Blair about him and he had, in each hands, a set of balls like those knocker things I had as a kid.  

They showed you all the dancers in the dance studio practising and this poor old boy looked as if he was going to have a heart attack.  The sweat was running down him.  But no, they made him continue until Louis Walsh lookielikie

replaced him with a younger model.  At the end, they had a dance off and I have to say the contestants did very well but the final scene was the old boy looking more like Lionel Blair and his ‘balls’.  That was it, I was off.  I laughed and laughed and could not stop.  By now it was around 12.30am and I had tears streaming down my face.  This started Andy off and we could not stop laughing.  It was so random and so funny and we did not have a clue what the hell was going on, only that we had watched a programme about a cabbage and Lionel Blair.  Welcome to Japan!

We arrived at Hiroshima and managed to use our Japanese Rail passes on the tourist loop bus which stopped just around the corner from the hotel.  We could not check in so dumped our bags and walked to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.  I decided that I would like to visit the museum first.  I made this mistake when I was in Christchurch; choosing to walk around the city first then going to see the 

earthquake exhibition. I wanted to get some context before hand.  The museum is going through a refurbishment at the moment and being strengthened for earthquakes.  However, the exhibition we saw was very moving and gave me a greater understanding of what actually happened all those years ago.

At 8:15am on 6 August 1945 the entire city was virtually levelled; thousands and thousands of lives were lost and those who managed to survive, and goodness knows how they did, suffered irreparable physical and psychological damage and sill suffer the effects today.  The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum comets and displays belongings left by the victims, photos and other materials that convey the horror of that event, supplemented by exhibitions that describe Hiroshima before and after the bombing and others that present the current status of the nuclear age.  It was very moving and also terrifying to think of Trump and his 'big red button' when you can see rolled out in front of you the affects of a nuclear bomb.  Each of the items displayed embodies the 

grief, anger, or pain of real people. Having now recovered from that A bomb calamity, Hiroshima's deepest wish is the elimination fo all nuclear weapons and the realisation of a genuinely peaceful international community.  The environment around the museum and the city in general is one of calm, lush greenery. There is a boulevard outside of our hotel called the Peace Boulevard and the emphasis is on world peace.  I really liked it here. 

There was a memorial for the children too and there were numerous school parties being told (in Japanese) what had happened.  We also went to to the Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims.  This was also moving and it kind of reminded me of the place in Jerusalem I would like to visit at some point (Yad Vashem).  The aim of this place is mourning the lives lost in the atomic bombing, they pledge to convey the truth of this tragedy throughout Japan and the world, pass it on to the future, learn the lessons of history, and build a peaceful world fee from nuclear weapons.  It really was a moving place.

We then went to look at the A-bomb dome, a place which I suspect many you would be familiar with.  We walked along the road where the Americans used to actually aim to drop the bomb.  It was a T junction where two rivers join and

along side it was the building that has now become familiar.  Whist it did not feel respectful to take pictures in the museum, I felt comfortable taking photos here. I have said it before, when I visited the Killing Fields in Cambodia and will say it again, man is his own worse enemy and why, oh why can't we just all get along.  

By now it was time for more 'shit' coffee.  I really do not know why I keep trying, but you know the saying: God loves a trier!  No surprises, the coffee was vile.  We then made our way back to the hotel and checked in.  Much more room in this hotel but still only one bed (I am sure I booked a twin but could not be bothered to go and do anything about it).  By now it was raining (this was forecast) and we had seen all that we had come here to see.  I think you could do Hiroshima in a day from Osaka.  Personally, I would not.  I like it here, it has a quietness about it and is not as full on as Osaka. 

We decided to go for some dinner early as we were hungry and come across an

American diner.  Now, this should be good shouldn't it?  I was going to order the spicy bean burger only to find out, when I asked as I no longer take anything for granted, that it was a meat burger with beans on the top - sigh!  So I had vegetarian nachos, checking before hand that they actually had cheese on them.  They did!  All very nice and it did actually make a change.  By now it was pouring down so we went back to the hotel and fuffed around (as you do).  

I am so pleased I had the opportunity to come here and to see for myself such a place.  Japan has never ceased to amaze me.  It is quirky, mad, full on then serene, peaceful and tranquil.  It truly is a wonderful country and I think I will leave a little bit of my heart here.

As always, with my love x

Here he is - Lionel Blair and his 'balls' from the TV show last night.  Sorry never got a photo of the cabbage.  Japanese television is totally crazy!