Hiroshima day 1

The rain in Kobe didn't keep the girls from sightseeing so there was no way it could keep us from going to Hiroshima. Jamie had booked a hotel for us and train tickets for herself, Naoyukki and me. The girls had the JR Rail pass so they had to take another train so Jamie, Naoyyuki and I rode together.

We had a few hitches along the way. One was that only four of the six people were registered at the hotel and there were only four single beds. Due to some limitation of the packaged deal we got it was the only cheap option. I guess Hiroshima is a popular destination. On a good note we were meeting two of Lana's friends there and one of Naoyukki's friends. Once we got there we met up with everyone and we all made our way to the hotel. While the registered guests checked in we posed for some pictures in the themed lobby.

The theme was barque or classical decor. It was a little cheese but nice. After getting registered we all hopped onto a streetcar.

Coincidentally, one of the names for a streetcar in Japan is Chin Chin Tetsu which is the sound that the bell makes when people get on. Chin chin is also slang for penis so we all rode on the penis train that day. It was a short trip from the hotel to the well known A-Bomb dome.

It was what was left of the Hiroshima Promotion hall after the bomb destroyed Hiroshima on that fateful day. The peace park was right beside the dome so we took a lot of pictures of the various monuments. This one was found near a restaurant we visited. I don't remember seeing a plaque indicating it's significance. Email or comment if you know.

This one was the Memorial Tower for the mobilized students. According to the plaque students were required to help out with the war effort. They did things like work in munitions factories and building demolition.

This one was the Children's Peace Monument. This was erected because a lot of children died in the bombing, as well as homage to the story of the little girl with leukemia who folded cranes in hopes of recovering.

This one was the A-Bomb mound. In the aftermath of the explosion many corpses were found and many could not be identified. There is a vault underneath the mound filled with ashes of unidentified individuals and those that have been identified but not claimed.

This one was taken by Jamie just outside the Peace museum. This cenotaph is for A-bomb victims regardless of nationality. This is a round about admission that there were forced labourers, ie: slaves, who were killed in the explosion.

This one was the monument in memory of the Korean victims of the A-bomb. These victims were part of a larger group of forced labourers.

We got hungry walking around so on advice of our guides we went to a famous Italian restaurant near the Museum. It was called Mario's and it was expensive. However it was very tasty. Plus, we had a good time with the company of good friends. This one was taken by the waiter at Mario's.

After we took pictures of the park we headed to the Peace Museum itself. Inside were displays showing artifacts from the bombing. It was a very somber experience that everybody should come see in person.

After the Museum we needed a break so the girls decided to go shopping. I think they got distracted as they headed to a print club place instead. Print club? Yes. Print Club is the name of those little picture stickers that all the Japanese girls have. They even got dressed up in costume to get a great pic.

After the print club was done we were all hungry so we made our way to a restaurant to have Okonomiyaki Hiroshima style.

The night wasn't over so we ended off with some karaoke. The room was expensive as we had to pay for each drink and the front desk staff wouldn't let us know when our hour was up. I think they made money that way because people forgot all the time. We had an alarm set so we got in our hour and left.