...just one hour and a world apart ... (135/365, 15 May 2022)
So, how do you follow up a wonderful, empowering day among newly-made friends? It is difficult. Ideally, one would like to sit and reflect, perhaps sketch a few scenes, perhaps note a few new ideas to pursue. But, when in Hiroshima, and with a few hours to fill between a morning checkout and an early evening train...well, keep on moving.
I have remarked elsewhere, and often, how my first visit to Hiroshima, to visit a friend, in 1985, really made me shift my interest I politics from simple power plays to more significant uses and abuses of power--why do political leaders continue to use their 'power' for wars, for evil?
Of course, over the years, I have spent a lot of time at the Peace Park; my most recent visit to Hiroshima, four years ago (thanks Covid) was with mum and friends and included a stay on Miyajima. I had a thought about returning to Miyajima for the day but then I remembered that I haven't visited Kure, just an hour away (in the other direction), significant in Australia-Japan history for being the base for Australian soldiers immediately after World War 2. So Kure it was...I wondered along the way (not having done an enormous amount of research beforehand) whether or not there might be some 'Australian-ness' around...
Well, not that I saw. Rather I think was rather taken aback by the strong 'naval' vibe of the place. Now technically, Japan doesn't have a navy, but a Self-Defense Force (that will change in time, I suspect) with Ground, Air and Maritime divisions. Here was a base port for the ships, a resource centre, the 'testu no kujira' (Whale of Steel) submarine display and a huge museum dedicated to the warship Yamato. As a researcher in Japanese security (tending more towards the peaceful means end of the spectrum) it was quite an eye-opener. I felt uncomfortable with the celebration of naval force, but it was, in the end, important that I visited. Now I know...
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| Not all boats |
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| This part of the park is shaped to give you a sense of standing on the bridge (or similar) of the warship Yamato, essentially to scale... |
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| A little version of the big ship |
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| SDF recruitment |
I had to return to Hiroshima, not just to catch the train back to Tokyo, but in need, more than ever, to revisit the Peace Park which gave me my usual sustenance and reinforced my reasons for doing what I do. It coincided with the 50th Anniversary of the formal return of Okinawa to Japan after US Occupation... although, one might say, the US Forces with their bases, continue to occupy... but that is for the other blog.
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| Media contingent interviewing a visiting Ukrainian singer |
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| Opting for a few different angles on the 'familiar' |
And a few pics from the streetscape between the hotel and the station, and onward back to Tokyo.
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| We don't see alcohol vending machines in Tokyo very much anymore |
Back home, ready to get back into doing what I do... pics with the Canon EOS 90D, 18-55mm lens and the iPhone 12 mini. Interestingly, I carried the bigger 70-300mm lens with me, just in case... but I didn't use it.
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