My kinda town

Just back from an amazing trip to Japan. A 3-week holiday crammed into 8 days. Travelling 1,300 miles from Tokyo to Kyoto to Hiroshima and back. The fish market auction in Tokyo was quite something. Up at 3.30am to get amongst the local wholesalers who auction huge tuna's to the sushi restaurants. Lunch, i.e. raw fish with a Kirin beer at 6.30am did not seem weird, and why should it?

Catching glimpses of the real-life geishas off to 'work' in Kyoto was something to be seen. Ornate and unbelievably serene white-faced young girls scurryling off down narrow hardly lit narrow streets was quite a something. Tourists snapped at them as if they were paparazzi, whereas I just stared.

In Hiroshima hundreds of young impeccibly behaved school kids bowing in front of the Children's Memorial was very sad. A similiar feeling to walking around the Jewish museum in Washington DC if any of you have ever done that.

Now I know the Jap's did much to anger the world 60 years ago but Hiroshima was a sad place, and it now tries to lead to world on peace. Interesting to note that neither the Japanese nor the Germans have ever been involved in a conflict since the end of WWII. The same can't be said of us Brits and the Americans, in fact an unamed person in my office summed up their approach to the rest of the world when they told me "Hmm, I have never heard of Hiroshima." What do they teach the kids here?

I have a feeling if you asked a Japanese person about Pearl Harbor, they would know of it, and look down at their feet with tremendous shame and sadness.

I will write more on my holiday in Japan if you are interested soon at www.chicagoaddick.blogspot.com.

Take care, Nobs