WARNING: This post WILL include images and texts that could disturb some people.
I woke after some twelve hours of sleeping, very well rested, at around 06:00. I started procrastinating after I found out that the breakfast would cost me 1000 円 until it was around 09:00. I then went ahead and threw my laundry in to the coin launderette, and then went to confirm the checkout time from the lobby – it was 12:00. I returned to my room to write a little before I went to throw my laundry to the dryer, after which I returned to continue what I had started earlier.
An hour later I got back and was amazed how an hour’s drying was still not enough to dry my stuff as well as the first time I used one of the coin dryers. Before leaving to fetch my clothes, I had decided to go out to see the A-Bomb Peace Park further to the west of the hotel. One returning of the keys later, I headed to the closest Seven Eleven to buy myself some breakfast.
It was a warm, sunny Monday morning, so I decided to eat my breakfast in the park bench by the river. I ate my meal, looking at the business men and joggers passing me and enjoyed the weather in general. After I was done, I gathered my stuff and started walking towards the park.
On the way there, walking down the street, I must’ve seen at least five Seven Elevens before I started seeing small park areas and the underground entrance that would lead me to the park.
Upon entering the underground area, I noticed that there were a lot of stores (including another Seven Eleven) with quite a lot of people hanging around. After following a long hallway for a few minutes, I found the exit. A little walk forwards got me to the A-Bomb Park.
Before even getting to the park, you could see the A-Bomb Dome, one of the buildings that survived the bomb back in 1945. It has been worked on thrice to this day to keep it standing. I walked around it, taking pictures, reading the plaques for more background and moved on to find an interesting man preaching to a crowd of foreign students.
This man was Mito Kosei, an in utero survivor of the Hiroshima (広島) bombing. He said that it was his duty to spread the truth about the bombing; he says he has come to the park every day for years to inform people on the missing / ignored information – the information that wasn’t given in the museum. His experience of having worked at the museum as a guide for four years had made him sick of the lack of any real information, so he made it his life goal to inform everyone. He would’ve published the stories given by his mother, but he just doesn’t have the money for that – so he decided to host it on his blog: http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/mitokosei/26522134.html
The materials that he had with him aren’t in a digital form yet, but I took a few pictures of the materials on display. I thanked the man for his work and moved on to look at the rest of the park.
I went to see the burial mound and several of the memorial monuments as well as just admiring the beautiful sights in the park. A thought popped in to my mind while I was admiring some of the monuments: “What kind of an arsehole would commit suicide here? It would be incredibly disrespectful to the dead.” I have no idea where it came from, but it could’ve been because I saw a picture of a plaque vandalised by a right wing nationalist. The weirdest thoughts, huh? After finishing this thought, I started going towards the park to the north of my current location.
By the time I reached the outskirts of the Hiroshima Castle site (広島城跡), I noticed that my next train was leaving in the next thirty minutes – so I started hurrying back towards the station, to the east. On my way there I took some pictures.
At the station I bought myself something to eat before I boarded the train heading for Kagoshima-Chuo (鹿児島中央). The train ride lasted for some three hours and the sights – like pretty much everywhere in Japan – were just amazing. It’s so unfortunate that the pictures I take of the sights end up being just worthless due to the train going so damn fast. Oh well.
The only good picture I got.
Having just arrived, I thought of getting a place to stay. I walked out for a moment and looked at the tourist information map and noticed a little area to the south called Ibusuki (指宿). I got a reservation in the town and took the next train heading towards there. When picking the train, I felt very uncertain; all of the trains were nothing like the regular JR ones, and they had “Kyushu Railway Company” slapped on to their sides. A quick Googling later, I found out that these trains still were a part of JR Kyushu.
The train ride had some awesome coastal sights to behold, pictures of which I so badly wanted to take. After an hour’s train ride and the darkness having fallen, I arrived at the coastal town with a bunch of tourists and their guide. As they got on to their buses, I started walking along the railway track, following my GPS towards the hotel.
While walking there, I noticed some good opportunities for taking pictures, so I did. On my way there I saw bats occasionally appearing out of the palm trees that were just everywhere. The evening kept getting darker and darker, but after twenty minutes of walking I found myself at the traditional Japanese accommodations.
I was greeted by the nice Japanese couple that owned the place, and after I had gotten my shoes off, they showed me off to my room. After I unpacked my stuff, they asked for the usual registration things: name, address and a copy of the passport. They also showed me around the house a little bit before I retired back to my quarters.
The rest of the evening I spent with the amazingly slow internet connection that they had and finally got to do some of the missed flash cards from the past… long time. Around after midnight I quit doing them and started to watch videos while lying on my futon – thankfully the internet connection had stopped being quite so slow.
This is where the seventeenth day ends.
Withdrew: 0,000 円
Spent: 6,513 円
Remaining cash: 11,264 円
Didn’t count the money due to not wanting to disturb the residents of the house.
Breakdown:
VM – 0,160 円
Breakfast – 0,649 円
Lunch – 0,704 円
Hotel – 5,000 円