Despite the near constant rain while I was in Hiroshima, I really liked the atmosophere and layout of the city. To be sure, it had all of the anemities that Tokyo or Osaka have (perhaps in fewer amount, though), but it was small enough to be navigable on foot. This is something that really attracted me to the city once I got my groundings, and moved around.
After leaving from the atomic bomb memorial, I decided that since I was half way around the world from my home, I might as well see Hiroshima castle, which was only a little bit more of a walk away. Following the map I had picked up from the information booth, I traced the path that I would have to make. On the way, however, I got distracted by a busy pedestrian street with all sorts of stores. It was these little streets that I have been enamored with since the first time I was in Japan. It seems as though this is where the life of each of the neighborhoods expresses itself, and where people congregate.
One thing that still impresses me about Japan is that video game arcades still exist. This species of store seems to be all but extinct in America. However, these were the places where I spent so many fun nights in my youth. So even today, if I see one, I am drawn in my the ringing bells, flashing neon lights, and moving sprites on big screens. These arcades in Japan have all sorts of games that have fighting, racing, sports, even grab the prize machines, and also gambling machines. I was familiar enough with pachinko games, where the player hopes that ball berrings fall in the right space to win, but what surprised me besides the intense fog of cigarette smoke in this room was that people were gambling on video horse racing; they aren't even real horses that they are watching race! If that is the case, then why even wait for the result? Why not just play a game where random numbers pop up faster? I suppose I am missing something about the psychology of the experience. (For example, the fact that they have to watch an animated race keeps them from wasting all their money too quickly; perhaps, afterall, there is some entertainment value in watching animated horses race.)
After leaving the video game arcade, I then made my way to Hiroshima Castle. One engineering feature that I found interesing before getting to the park was that on many of the busier main streets, the crosswalks were taken out of the equation, and people make their way to the otherside of the street from underground passages. I suppose this helps with traffic, and significantly decreases the possibility of pedestrian accidents, as well as speeds up the pedestrian's ability to cross the street; she no longer has to wait for the walk signal, and automobiles no longer have to wait for people to cross the street to make a right or left turn. One drawback of this feature, however, is that for that portion of your walk, you are in a dark and dreary underground passage. It reminded me of a dungeon. Even on a day like this where there was so much rain, I still prefer to be outside and feel fresh air on my skin and in my lungs.
Anyway, back to Hiroshima Castle. In addition to being an important focal point for the region in the medieval era, these grounds also served as a headquarters for the military during World War II. Nothing of such buildings remained besides the foundations, and a plaque that told me what these bricks used to be.
At this point in the day, I was really feeling tired. I had been on my feet walking this way or that for around 8 hours. After seeing Hiroshima Castle and then walking to the train station, it would be 9 hours. So although the museum housed by the castle had many rich artifacts and retold the story of the city during the medieval period, I felt that perhaps I raced through it rather quickly. I know that I must have been tired and impatient because they offered visitors to try on samurai armor and take a picture... for free! (I remember that at Osaka Castle, they charged a fee.) This is mostly for children, but I wish I took advantage of this. But I was worn out, and I knew that before I got back to the hotel and was able to sleep, I would have to walk back to Hiroshima train station, take a 90 minute trip to Osaka, and then another 30 minutes on the train through Osaka to my bed.
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