Misogynist’s Melody

Hiroshima. Ah yes, where to begin? Well, let’s get the trivial, banal and mundane out of the way first. Then we can really concentrate on the horrifying and depressing. Feel free to skip that part.

Having been on the road seemingly forever, I thought I’d treat myself to a few nights at a “luxury” hotel.

No real complaints, aside from the pretentiousness, and the fact that they actually charged me to park there.

$40 for afternoon tea? Really?

Still, very relaxing, and probably necessary. And, since I was there, I availed myself to some less famous sights.

Museum of Modern Arts

Nobody does delicate like the Japanese.

Hiroshima Castle

Meh

Miyajima

This is more of a Big Deal Must See.

Torii Gate

The famous “floating” Torii Gate. Was it a disappointment? Of course it was, but only because I’d built it up in my mind as a rival to The Monolith in “2001: A Space Odyssey “. Not the gate’s fault.

Mt. Misen

Pants-shitting time

One hour walk down. A dream come true.

Daishoin Buddhist Temple

Canadian gnomes

Imagine actually having to put this up. Duh!

Okay. Time for The Bad Stuff. Buckle up.

One of the unfortunate side effects of extensive travel is that eventually you’re going to come face to face with graphic examples of man’s inhumanity to man on a very personal level. Beggars in India come to mind, as well as an enchanting afternoon touring Auschwitz. Whenever you ask yourself the question,”Well, how bad can it be?” I can pretty much guarantee the answer will be,”Worse than you ever could have imagined.”

Hiroshima is one of those places. To be honest, the thing that horrified me the most was that one minute an entire city was just going about their business on  a normal, sunny summer morning and the next minute thousands of them were literally vaporized. Not that the aftermath was any better. The suffering of the survivors was beyond belief and the creators of the Peace Park were clever enough (wise enough?) to graphically illustrate this by emphasizing, not the city as a whole, but individuals -a LOT of individuals. Disturbing really doesn’t come close to covering it. The museum was packed when I visited and you literally could have heard a pin drop as we filed by one nightmarish story after another. It’s so graphic and so stark that your brain - or mine at least - is constantly wrestling with itself trying to come to grips with it. Words really can’t adequately describe it. I want to say it was moving, but that implies there’s at least a shred of optimism or positivity. There isn’t.

I could spout platitudes for a while longer, but it wouldn’t get us any closer to the truth. How can human beings possibly do these kinds of things to other human beings?

See for yourself:

Atomic Bomb Dome

Government building. One survivor - a lady who, by complete chance, went down to the basement to retrieve a file. Everyone else vaporized.

Peace Park

Actually as optimistic as you can get, given the circumstances. At least somewhere you could catch your breath.

Museum

Ugh! Double ugh! You have no idea how many more photos I could have added, but I’m sure you get the idea. 

How long, O Lord, how long?