War, what is it good for?

this post was semi-written on the train from Hiroshima to Osaka, before being left to think about it/we have been too tired to write any emails or blog posts the past little while... its been way too busy!

The last 3 days which were his first were very busy with a visit to the fish market in Tokyo, a trip to a festival in Yokohoma (a suburb of Tokyo) and probably the highlight of our trip which was being in Hiroshima for the 70th anniversary of the first A-bomb attack.  Dimitri and I found the city of Hiroshima to be interesting, busy and energetic city.  The food was fantastic, people were friendly the capsule hotel we stayed at was... clean (about the only good thing about it for me) and the ceremonies in the morning and afternoon were fantastic.  

The morning ceremony involved speeches from The mayor of Hiroshima, the Prime minister and singing from children and adults during the 45 minute ceremony that started when the bomb dropped at 8:15 AM.  Doves were released during the ceremony that called for the abolishment of all nuclear weapons by countries around the world.  The PM of Japan asked all G7 countries to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the G7 meetings to see what happened to the cities because of the A-bomb.  Most of this I have read since the ceremony, as it was all in Japanese but hearing what the PM and mayor were saying was interesting as a foreigner visiting Japan.  

On August 5th, the day before the ceremony we visited miyajima island, which is about 20 minutes from the city and is a Unesco site for the shrine there.  It was a beautiful island, which is mostly walkable unless you want to do the crazy ass hike up the mountian to the top.  Thankfully my broken toe and Dimitri's lack of enthusiasm regarding hiking, prohibited us from doing the hike, as it would probably have killed me :p

We timed the trip to Miyajima perfectly, and were able to see the sunset as we were leaving to go back to Hiroshima for dinner.

Now, on to the capsule hotel.  This was an interesting experience, that was necessary because there were 10s of thousands of people in Hiroshima for the ceremonies, and the city was too full to find a proper hotel, or even a hostel.  I wasn't a fan of the capsule hotels. They were a more traditional way that men can find a bed on the cheap in a city, mostly used by business men in areas for one or two days.  They can check in, get a meal, shower, sleep and be out in the morning without much fuss.  All toiletries are providied and you get a set of PJ's to wear at night (which are filled with polyester - I didn't wear them!)  They are convienent for the business person travelling light, as you have to check out everyday and leave your luggage in storage, but for a longer term traveller they don't make life easy.  We couldn't come back and crash in the afternoon, which in this crazy ass heat, is a necessity!

It was an experience, one that I will only do if I have to because they are a bit more work than I would want.  It's easy to check into a hostel dump your stuff on the side, valuables in the lockers and head out.  We just found out that we planned most of our trip around a summer vacation for students in Japan, so everything is booked up!

Both Dimitri and I agree that Hiroshima was our favourite experience of the trip, and we were honored to be able to be a part of it.  On a few occasions since then Japanese people have asked us what our favourite part of the trip was and both of us immediately said "Hiroshima on August 6" the thanks and appreciation we get from these people is incredible, and shows the respect they have for others and their own country.  They were thanking us for going to Hiroshima to honor the dead.  It was one of the coolest things that has happened to me while travelling.  

I'm going to keep this blog going when I get home in a few days.  We still have more stories and experiences to talk about that I haven't gotten to! There will be pictures added once I'm back on a computer but to keep entertained, checking out my instagram account would show you a few pictures I've taken so far!

https://instagram.com/aniko25/

So, the last few days have been a bit crazy and exciting.  Today was gaijin goes to a baseball game! I saw the Yomiuri Giants (of Tokyo) against the Chimichuri Dragons (of...somewhere else in Japan :p) Up until the 4th inning, the game was close and it was mostly a pitchers duel but as the game went on it felt like the dragon's batters were figuring out the Giants pitching, and scored on a homerun in the 5th.. They hit it right into their section of the stadium, which was left field.  It seemed like the entire area was cheering for the Dragons (in blue) while the rest of the stadium was pretty much a sea of orange for the Giants!  It turned out that today, the Dragons would beat the Giants and the Tokyo fans would go home quiet. It was an interesting game, and very cool to see how baseball is in another country.  Most of the rules of the game are the same but apparently in Japan the stadiums are smaller than MLB regulation which I think is because they aren't power hitters like in MLB.  It was much more strategic hitting and fielding which made the game exciting to watch:)

Other than the baseball game, I have been doing a lot of sweating.  It's been unbelievable how hot it has been, and no matter how much water I drink, its NEVER enough.  Some days have involved going out in the morning, then coming back at lunch/early afternoon showering and going back out later in the day.  35 degrees with 60% humidity will do that to you.  Talking to locals, they say it has been like this for a month after the rainy season, and even while they live here it doesn't get much easier.  I have gone back to my old tricks of ducking into stores that have the AC blasting, just to cool down for a bit before going back out into the heat.  Yesterday I walked around the Imperial grounds, which while beautiful and interesting to see how they guarded the King and Queen was swealtering and I cut the walk short early.  The 2 hour walk involved 3 litres of water.  Walking around. Not some nasty run/bike ride up a mountain. Just walking.  I hope the next few cities are a bit better and cooler than Tokyo has been!

 Dimitri arrived today and we will be moving to a new hostel that is closer to the fish market, as a 3 AM wake up call is going to be nasty, but hopefully worth it to see the tuna auction and for some breakfast sushi :)
After that we will be heading around Tokyo for the day before heading to Yokohama for a fireworks display that Dimitri found and looks fantastic!

There will be more updates coming soon as we take the train to Hiroshima I will have lots of time to update with pictures, so keep an eye out!

Tunaaaa