This morning we walked to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. The park is where the atomic bomb was dropped on August 6, 1945. We visited the memorials then went through the museum.
Then we walked to nearby Hiroshima Castle. The original building was a traditional flatland fortress built in 1589. The area around the castle was a major military command center during the war.
At least partly because it is Saturday there were lots of activities going on in the park surrounding the castle.
Around 5pm we went out to scope out possible dinner and music places for tonight. Right before we got to the major intersection near our hotel a bus hit a 5 car Hiroshima electric railway tram causing it to derail. As we got to the intersection the two drivers were talking. While we watched, about 10 police cars converged on the intersection. They shut down the intersection and began directing traffic. The whole situation was very impressive!
We ended having a wonderful dinner at a restaurant near the jazz club we were scoping out. The waitress was wonderful and explained everything to us. We had sake, miso, sashimi, and beef
Earlier when we were scoping out jazz places, we found the Shitamoto Piano Bar on the sixth floor of a building, a block down the street from where we ate. But, it didn’t open until 7. So, when we went back after dinner we didn’t know what to expect. As we entered the small bar the man who was there tried to explain to us there was no show tonight. But it seemed like he was trying to tell us something else. So we sat down. We were the only ones there. We finally understand that we needed to pick three songs from his music list and he would play them for us. There would be a music charge of about $30. We had a couple of drinks, sat back and enjoyed our very own private jazz concert. It was absolutely magical!
