Not enough time

Because I am a moron, I didn't plan near enough time for Hiroshima. I very much regret it!

But anyway, here is what I did manage to do in Hiroshima: wandered around the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, visited the Genbaku Dome, and took a short trip to Miyajima Island.

I did the park and dome last night, after checking into my hotel. too late to visit the museum, but not too late to walk around and absorb things. Tons of memorial statues in and around the park. Lots of origami cranes - I'm not sure if it's always like that or if it's just This Time of Year. It's still pretty close to the anniversary of the bombing, so I dunno...

I could say I was disturbed or deeply moved by the bomb dome. And I kind of was.

But...

Despite my fascination with history, I like to think of the past as the past. We learn from our mistakes and try not to make them again, but is there really any sense in dwelling on them? It was a terrible thing, and certainly the everlasting evidence of past devastation amidst an otherwise thriving city is a juxtaposition of epic proportions. (Is that a sentence or is that a sentence?) But I don't really think we need a reminder of it in our everyday lives.

Eh.

On a more positive note: the area around the dome seemed to be a bit of a romantic spot, ironically. I spied a number of couples sitting on the stone path along the adjacent river. One man seemed to be serenading passersby with a song about I-have-no-idea-it-was-in-Japanese, and another strummed his acoustic guitar beneath the bridge.

Also I figured out how to take night pictures that don't turn out blurry and/or noisy! There's an automated setting just for that! It requires makeshift tripods - a couple coins here and there, a bottle of water to lean against - but if you get the angle right the pictures turn out much better than any I'd taken prior.

I just wish I knew how to do it manually instead of using the automated setting. Or if you even CAN do it manually.

Today, however, was all jove. I went to Miyajima Island! It was... well, I guess it wasn't all jove, because like I said earlier, I didn't plan near enough time. I am disappoint! I walked around the island a bit, ate me some udon, and went to the temple that's built on water. Well, when the tide's high, anyway.

I thought about taking a boat ride to go up close to the tori gate farther out in the water, but moneyyyyy! Instead I took a picture. And while taking that picture, I accidentally pressed a button... wait what my camera has auto-bracketing? SHEEEEIT.

Auto-bracketing is a tool that helps immensely when making HDR photos. Low, normal, and high exposure. Three pictures. Then you do some fancy schmancy tricks in Photoshop or somethin' and put 'em all together for an HDR photo. I love HDR! I used it for the gate. At some point in the future I will attempt to create an HDR photo. I do not know if it will work well because the lighting wasn't too hot, anyway, but!!

Ahem. I would've loved to spend more time there, climbed the mountain (or at least gone up the ropeway), etc. Unfortunately, I simply couldn't. Idiot, idiot! Live and learn.

And now I'm back home. Or, what amounts to my home in Japan, anyway. Tomorrow will be a fabulous day of relaxation and probably working on art for a game!