hiroshima

Bullet trains are great. You really feel their power if you stand in the aisle when it builds up speed or slows down. For something that travels so fast, it's very smooth and unlike many European trains, they are very roomy. I enjoyed seeing the train conducters come into the carriage and greet all the passengers collectively and then respectfully bow. What service! Service is Japan is of the highest order though. If you dare to put your ideas of Japanese servitude to one side, you will find the experience very uplifting. You cannot help responding in kind by sincerely smiling back.

I felt guilty arriving in Hiroshima. I'm white and my race blew the hell out of the place. Thankfully I'm not American so I could at least console myself that the Irish never tuned their killing skills to such a level. We haven't got the dough in the first instance. I was initially fearful of being thought of as an American though(more than usual). Funny isn't it that the nation most obsessed with prohibiting others from having WMD's should be the only nation to have used them.

I made an error when I dropped my yens into the wrong device on the tram. The driver must have been watching the strange potato picker as he rushed to my aid. He had me sit close by and once knowing where I needed to alight, dropped me off at the right place.

On the way, there was one bilingual announcement which advised that the next stop was the location of the Peace Memorial Park. The voice was that of an American bloke! Why couldn't they use the voice of that sweet Japanese girl who announces the stops on the Toyko urban train network. Everytime she says the word 'for' I was overcome, beside myself in rapture and excited in particular kind of way! Another thing they need to sort out in Hiroshima is the choice of words they use for one of the Hiroshima toursit website address. It is 'gethiroshima.com'. It reminds me of my time at school when we would say 'get so-and-so and give him a good kicking'. Not entirely appropriate for somewhere with such a sad past.

Naturally, my choosen digs was another ryokan. The lady of the house was forever giggling for no particular reason. A very happy woman. Despite me telling her I was from Ireland three hundred times, she never got it and continued to insist I was from Scotland. Could be worse I suppose. It was a nice place although I was a little paranoid as to whether the Inn had a curfew. My laughing host singularly failed to answer my questions on this point.

That night, my objective was to see the A-Bomb dome as with floodlights, the building looks particularly poignant. It was one of the few structures to remain after the bomb dropped as it is concrete and the bomb denotated directly above. 600 metres above to be precise. So the force was downward rather than sideward. Everyone inside was vapourised. The temperature of the fireball was 20,000 celius and on the ground 4,000 celius.

It's hard to imagine the devastation and the horror of that day. 140,000 dead. Burning flesh, unspeakable terror. Everything the eye could see at that time was crushed and burnt. Horrible. The Yanks maintain they did it as the prospect of invading Japan would have been too costly in Americans lives and the Japanese were sure to fight to the death. No, no, no. It was simply to gain the strategic upperhand against there soon-to-be enemy; the USSR. A demonstration of intent. Moreover, the Russians were steadily advancing through China and would have had no hestiation in invading Japan. For this piece of real politic, people die. There is no escaping it, it was a war crime.

There are many memorials around Hiroshima and many stories. It is gut wrenching stuff. What is inspiring though is how a city so utterly destroyed has risen again and with confidence. It is a well organised, clean city. They are rightly proud of the achievement and continue to make strides in improving their city. One such initiative is the beautification programme. Like most places in Japan, there are no rubbish bins but you'll struggle to find so much as a sweet wrapper on the street. But in Hiroshima, they go one step further. The elimination of cigarette butts. From a crude measure by looking at the map, some 4 km square of the central district is a cigarette restriction area. What this means if you want to have a smoke (like I do) then you must inhale beside a public ashtray. Failure to do so results in a hefty fine.

I suppose they have a greater appreciation of their city then most given all that has happened. Hiroshima is an inspiration to human tenacity and the ability of humans to rise again against the odds.