15/10/09Day 10 - HiroshimaToday was a short day. In the morning we headed out and found a 'Sky Walk' in the middle of a park were 3 giant undercover escalators and travelators, that took us to shopping centre. They went for ages. At midday we headed back to the hotel as Mum wasn't feeling well. She slept the whole afternoon.For dinner we went and had Okonomi which is a traditional Japanese dish kind of like an omelet with noodles, pork, egg, pancake and special ...

14/10/09Day 9 - Hiroshima - 'Hiroshima Castle, A-Bomb Site & Paper Crane Exhibition'Today we saw even more turtles before breakfast at a little pond around the corner from our hotel. They were sun-baking on rocks and two turtles were swimming and playing with each other.After breakfast we went to Hiroshima Castle which was 5 stories tall. In the gardens they were preparing for a festival so there were many tents, flowers, stalls and work men. There was als...

13/10/09Day 8 - Osaka & HiroshimaThis morning we booked our ferry to China for later in the week and then caught the Shinkansen (bullet train) from Osaka to Hiroshima. Dad said he reckoned I could fly almost as fast as the bullet train but Mum said that I'm not old enough to fly that fast yet.Hiroshima is much smaller than anywhere else we have visited and Dad said the size of our hotel room matches! It is hardly bigger than a shoe box and it is like playin...

12/10/09Day 7 - OsakaToday we headed to Osaka, and stayed in the nicest hotel yet. The room was a little strange as there was a window from the bathroom into the main room, it had venetian blinds. I thought it was funny. After checking in we walked the streets of Osaka and found a Comedy & Performing Arts Museum. They really looked after us and we wondered if they don't get many tourists there. We were lucky to meet a nice lady who spoke some English (she...

Sadako and the Paper Cranes From the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum - Special Exbition on Sadako and the Paper Cranes Sadako Sasaki was born to the Sasaki family on January 7, 1943. The family owned a barbershop, and she was the first daughter. Japan was at war at the time, and soon after her birth her father was drafted into the army. Her mother managed the barbershop. On August 6, 1945, an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Sadako was exposed at home wit...