do you have a fish wish?

here are selected pictures from my Japan trip last week. I was in both Fukuoka and Hiroshima over four days.

giesha at the train station for some reason. i think they were promoting or selling something, but i dont speak japanese, so i have no idea.

temple shrine in fukuoka.

temple gate in fukuoka

wishes of the new year hung at at temple in fukuoka

blessed water for drinking at a temple in fukuoka

inside of a restaurant in fukuoka. as i have no japanese skills and they had no pictures, it was quite difficult, but wound up being delicious.

remnants of a-bomb dome, one of the few structures that hiroshima has left standing as a reminder of the horrors of the nuclear attacks. today it is a symbol of peace. the city has returned surrounding this structure.


a-bomb dome from a bridge. they say that after the bombing this river was flooded with bodies of people trying to escape the intense heat and fires. i could get into the details of the horrors that i learned during my trip there, could get into the profound fog that i picked up while i wandered among monuments to the dead in their peace park, could elaborate on how dirty i felt to be an american in that city, but there is really no way to convey any of this.