THURSDAY - HIROSHIMA 
HIROSHIMA CASTLE

Early on a Thursday morning and there wasn't much traffic on our little street. I noticed one thing walking around the immediate area around the ryokan. There were about four or five barbers within walking distance. Maybe it's the famous Kyoto barber district.
We had tickets on the 8:00 train to Hiroshima.
Grabbed a little breakfast at this place. I had a danish with whipped cream, a lemon cake and some milk. I also got some cheese sticks with a bit of a fish flavor for later.
Gotta go, my ride is here.
The ticket taker always bowed when entering and leaving the car.
The bathroom on the train was so large I had to take some photos.
When I got out I realized it was just the handicapped bathroom. There was another one that was much smaller.
Another small Japanese town goes whizzing by.
The Hiroshima baseball club that plays in the Japanese Central League is called the Hiroshima Toyo Carp. The team is owned primarily by the Matsuda family, descendants of the founder of Mazda. In fact the name of the ball park is (I kid you not) Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium.
The original station was pretty much destroyed by the atomic bomb, but you have to hand it to the station workers. They got a couple of the rail lines open just days later, providing refuge for survivors and transportation of supplies.
Oddly enough, this Royal Host family restaurant also survived the blast.
Well because of the you-know-what, most of everything in the central area of the city is fairly new, including the reconstruction of Hiroshima Castle.
There wasn't any sign indicating that this is the foundation for something that is no longer there. I'm just going to assume that it is.
This eucalyptus tree survived the blast.
As did this giant pussy willow. (Heh, heh. Giant pussy.) This tree looks like it has seen better days though. It's being held up by some wood posts.
On the grounds of the castle is a shinto shrine.
This would have been the entrance to an underground communication room of the Chugoku Regional Military Headquarters.
I never did wash my hands in one of these. I felt it should be used by those of the religion.
Nor did I tie a little wish or whatever to the rack.
I don't know what this statue is really called, but I call it "Here, Give Him to Me, You're Holding Him Wrong".
A horse is a horse, of course, of course.
This one did have a sign. This was once the Hiroshima Imperial Military Headquarters.
The did a nice job of rebuilding.
Photography was only allowed in a couple of areas inside the castle.
They were some of the more boring areas just showing living areas and such.
The kago was a traditional means of conveyance, especially for one person. You have probably seen them in movies. This one is called a kenmon-kago and was used for samurai.
The view from the top of the castle.
Looking down on some of the castle grounds.
Even the sports arena looks Japanesy.
The Ota River.
We were approaching the area where the blast occurred. Lots of things around there are named the peace this or peace that. This must be the Peace Train.

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