Castles

One of the cool things about being in a country like Japan, having grown up in Australia, is that they have castles everywhere which are centuries old. My favourite castle has to be Himeji Castle. I have spent hours wandering around the grounds and inside the buildings. This pic, however, is Hiroshima Castle. It was actually obliterated in the atomic bombing, but they rebuilt it. It's only a small castle, but it is quite pretty when lit up at night

The Unforgettable Fire

One of the things that my mates and I have enjoyed doing for many years now in Hiroshima, is going to the Peace Park and having a quiet beer or two while watching the people come and go. Yesterday I was in town and again it was sweltering heat. So I decided to go and buy an Yebisu and go and relax under a tree in the Peace Park. I was listening to my mp3 player when I remembered that U2's "The Unforgettable Fire" was inspired by an art exhibition the band had seen of the Hiroshima bombing victims. So, as naff as it seems, I flicked to that song and sat quietly and listened while enjoying my beer and looking at the Atomic Bomb Dome across the river. Lyrically I'm not convinced the song is about the bombing but I seem to remember hearing that they tried to create something of the feeling they got through the images depicted in the art (from memory, the art hangs in the Peace Museum and depicts awful scenes of people burning, skin melting off bones, etc. All images from the memories of the victims.). In any case, the music certainly fit the scene. It was kind of surreal.