Hiroshima, party town.

As I was explaining to my wife, I feel that some places you just 'connect' with, and some you don't. I connected well to London, not at all with France, and I connected very well to Scotland. I really like Tokyo, Kyoto was excellent, but Osaka was shit.

So it is that I sit in my ryokan (traditional Japanese housing, or inn) in Hiroshima, reflecting that while this place went through one of the most horrific trials man has inflicted on man, it doesn't make it any less boring 70 years later.

Don't get me wrong, it's better than Osaka, there's just not a whole lot to do. Still, I just returned from having dinner, one that would have cost $50 easily at home, all for $22 or the equivalent.

When I arrived yesterday, I was lucky enough to stumble across a great example of Japan's apparent casual acceptance of pedophilia. I watched with amusement as a group of young, barely pubescent girls sang and danced their way through one of their songs to the delight of their fans... who were primarily men aged twenty and up. The real die-yards, like the guy below, must have been in their late 40's, early 50's. Note the love hearts drawn up his arm. He knew all the words, knew the dance moves, and he was One of several guys with very powerful cameras.

And it seems to be okay here. I like to think that at home, the cops would just be waiting with handcuffs for this guy. 'This dude is a pair of used panties away from snapping, John. Best we bring him in now.'

My hotel is literally around the corner from the Peace Park, and the A-Bomb Dome, both memorials to the dropping of the bomb. Apparently the dome was directly underneath the detonation point, and as such was not instantly blown to smithereens. It just killed everyone inside and vaporised anything not concrete or steel. The information boards dotted around the site say that the Japanese government was of two minds about the site, with one side saying they should knock it down like everything else and start again, and the other side lobbying to leave it standing for posterity, and as a warning.

I think that warning is wearing a little thin these days, with shitty countries like North Korea strutting about with their dicks hanging out, saying 'look at our nukes. Nothing bad ever came of these beauties!'

I walked in one direction today to see what I could see. After about 5 kilometres, the answer was 'buildings', but I expect that change tomorrow when I catch a train, and then ferry, over to Miyajima Island.

As a childhood memory bonus, I walked into a hobby store, and in a glass cabinet was a toy that I haven't seen in 20 years. 'Fucking ZOIDS!' I exclaimed, for indeed, it was a ZOID. A little too expensive for me to bring back, but it was an exhilarating sight. I have no idea where Mum/Dad would have picked that up in 1985, but I'm glad they did.