Hiroshima

Konichiwa! We arrived in Japan fine, except for that China said goodbye to me with some sort of bad food. I've been nauseous with a bad stomach ache on and off for the past 2 days, and hardly eaten. Feeling much better now though.

Starting on the second day since I didn't leave the hostel on the first, we went to the Hiroshima peace park. This is now one of the protected structures that survived the atomic blast in 1945, known as the atomic bomb dome. The museum was pretty shocking as it had pictures and accounts from people who lived through it. But they didn't cast blame on America, they just advocated a nuclear free world. Also the mayor of Hiroshima writes a letter to the leader of every country that conducts tests of, or relating to atomic weapons. The latest one was written March 3, 2013 to Obama. I don't recall exactly what kind of test it was. There was also one sent to Kim Jong Un for North Korea's long range missile test. But the surprising (or maybe not so surprising) part was that out of the last 10 or so letters, 9 went to Obama.

Hiroshima otherwise is beautiful. There are about 1,000,000 people so it's not too busy. And the first thing I noticed was how clean everything is! It's a shock coming from china. Seems like all the roads and cars are spotless! Also it seems like everything is miniaturized and cute. Cars are smaller, buildings are smaller. Or maybe I'm just still a giant. The next thing I noticed was how friendly and helpful people are. Especially police and guards. They all said hello when we walk by, and if we are looking at a public map a guard would come over immediately and try to help.

Ahh the futuristic toilets. Some play flushing sounds, some have music, most have heated seats(that would be nice in Canada), most have bidets, and the thing that made the most sense was the spout on top. So you can wash your hands with the water that fills the tank. That saves so much water!!!

Today we went to miyajima, an island close to Hiroshima that is famous for this gateway, deer, rice scoops, maple trees, and it's mountain. It was a nice hike and a nice day.

You can get really close to the deer. They like food.

Here's a good one: in Australia, I had a Japanese roommate, Ikuko, that I lived with maybe 6 months. Today I saw her in miyajima! I didn't tell her I was coming to Japan, I didn't plan on seeing her, I didn't know where she even lived in Japan. And Japan has roughly 100 million people. and i randomly walked up to the same ice cream stand as she did in miyajima! She is the only Japanese person i know in Japan right now. Mind. Blown.

I think these updates are getting longer. Anyway, tomorrow we head to Kyoto to meet our cousin Allison. Sayonara!