Hiroshima - Hello

As we leave our comfy little Ryokan in Kyoto to once again board the bullet train, I think a bit on our next destination - Hiroshima.

In a little over an hour we will be Americans in Hiroshima. Americans in the city our military destroyed. I try not to think of it that way. I doubt that most Japanese think of us that way. After all, Hiroshima is a thriving modern city, welcoming tourism and the revenue it provides. Still I can't help but wonder if at least some of the older people will look at us with something like hatred. Would I, if the roles were reversed?

I wonder too, if traces of suffering will linger. Will it be a sad city or a hopeful one?

Soon I can stop wondering. We are there.

We leave the train station and enter a small park by the side of a river. Buildings reach for the sky on either side. The sky is gray. The air is cool. I take a picture of a faded orange elephant in the playground.

We cross a bridge, mostly because I think it's a pretty bridge and want to walk on it.

We notice our hotel is in sight, just a couple of blocks past the park. So far the city is gray but not sad, cool, but not unwelcoming. Of course, all that might change when we go to the memorials tomorrow.

But first, a surprise in the park.