Japan 09 - day 9

As a write this entry I am almost wetting my pants with excitement at the type of Shinkansen we’re on! It’s shorter than the previous one, but apparently goes up to 300Kph! The seating is like first class on a plane and my ears are popping because we’re travelling so fast! I’m amused to because an announcement has just been made that there is a ‘silent’ coach which means no announements will be made!

Back to the day we’ve just had. We headed early to Kyoto station that is an architechtural wonder. High ceilings, with a garden on the roof, it is hugely impressive, like a modern St Pancras. Nearby was the monthly flea market around Toji Temple complex, so we made our way there to hunt for bargains. It was very hot, but we managed to make our way most of the way round. It was good to experience that mixture of market and temples, and we could almost imagine markets like this going on for centuries in the precincts of shrines.

The trip to Hiroshima was fast and we arrived before dark. The exciting news was our chance to experience one of my favourite forms of transport – trams! Luckily, we’d booked into a small hotel right opposite a tram stop, so we dumped our bags and headed out into town. Obviously, it’s a new city, at least in the centre, as most was completely wiped out on 6th August 1945. So we were confronted in a short walk with Hiroshima’s three main characteristics: bombs, baseball and boulevards.

The A-Bomb Dome at night was more moving than I thought, and I had to take a moment as I stood gazing at it. There was a stillness in the air and though a symbol of immense destruction, it was also eerily beautiful. I wondered what visiting the Peace Park during our stay would mean for me, and for Dominic. Opposite was the site of the old baseball ground and we hoped to pick up tickets during our stay in Hiroshima for a game in Osaka.

But before all that, we headed back along the wide boulevards to experience once again Japan’s thriving café culture. I don’t think I imagined the Japanese in coffee houses, drinking iced lattes and chatting with friends and colleagues. Maybe it was the pictures of tea ceremonies that clouded my view, but I was wrong. Cafés are everywhere with the usual range of beverages and afew more besides. Dom has become a fan of iced tea whilst I stick to the hot kind. Our favourite chain is Café Excelsior, far superior to Starbucks in a whole host of ways. People of all ages gather until late into the night to chat, smoke, and read. I love that iced water is on offer free of charge, and that patrons are expected to clear their tables as they leave. It is, in short, hugely civilised, but you would expect nothing less from the Japanese.