The Visit pt 1

Last week my dad, his new fiance, my sister, and her boyfriend David came to Japan.   This was about the 6th time for both my dad and sister to come but it was a first for Shelia (the fiance) and David.  It was also my first time to meet Shelia (I met David last winter and drove to Colorado with him).  Though I am sure they felt like they were here forever, for me it was really busy and thus went really fast.

We started out the trip meeting up in Hiroshima.  They had flown into Tokyo and spent the night there before coming down.  Tokyo is about 7 hours from our house (by car) and Hiroshima is only 3.  They also had JR passes (pretty cheap and a good deal if you want to see a lot) so they were able to take the bullet trains to us.

Since we met at lunch time we decided to get food first, and as I had bet Motoaki, my dad wanted ramen.  This actually worked out well as David is a picky eater and ramen is noodles, broth, and meat.  A lot of you are probably thinking "instant ramen?" but I would say that instant ramen to real ramen is like Little Debbies to real cake.  Both are delicious, but they can't really compare.

The restaurant was crowded so we had to split up.  I gave Maggie and David Motoaki and I sat with my dad and Shelia.  It was a little weird meeting someone my dad is going to marry, but I think we were able to avoid any awkwardness.  Luckily we had things like Japanese culture and my baby to distract from any tension.

After lunch we checked into our hotel which is actually a big communtiy center.  It is very near the Peace Museum in Hiroshima and foreigners get a discount for staying there.  Though it serves as a hostel you can also rent it out for retreats and tour groups.  The center also has a concert hall, bath house, and meeting/conference rooms.  Anyway, when we were pulling up we were surprised to see tour buses for Monkey Majik parked beside the building.  Monkey Majik is a half Japanese, Half Canadian band that Motoaki and I like.  We used one of their songs for our dance at our wedding.  I like them because they sing in English and Japanese.  In the past I have included them on cds I have had made for Maggie and she likes them too.

Anyway, didn't think too much of it as we checked in and then headed to the peace museum.  This is the one dedicated to the atomic bomb.  I have been there numerous times so Motoaki and I sat in the small cafe they have while the others went in.  Afterwards we walked through the gardens to see all of the various memorials.  The most famous one is the statue of Sadako and her paper cranes.  It is stated in an old Japanese story that anyone who folds 1000 cranes will be granted a wish by the gods, so Sadako and her friends folded cranes in order to cure Sadako's leukemia.  Sadako had been 2 at the time of the bomb and she, like other children exposed to the radiation, fell sick when she was only 11.  Now children all around Japan fold cranes and send them to be put into glass cases to remember Sadako and others who died as a result of the bomb.

The other famous spot in the gardens is Genbaku Dome, one of the only structures to survive the blast.  It has been left as is, a gutted structure, as part of the memorial.

After that we headed back to the hotel and found out that Monkey Majik was playing in the hotel's concert hall that night.  Though I felt bad ditching my dad, Maggie, Motoaki, David, and I decided to go.  Though I didn't know a lot of their songs, it was fun to see them and a good experience for Maggie and David.  Japanese concerts are slightly tame compared to western ones, though you do get a lot of enthusiastic fans.  Part of the thing that is interesting about them is the trend of fans to do choreographed moves for different songs.  Like during one song EVERYONE pulled out a towel to wave around their head.  During another song everyone did specific hand movements.  It was a good concert for Maggie and Dave as there was a good mix of Englisha and Japanese.

The concert finished early (maybe around 7:30) so we went to a major shopping street in Hiroshima to find food.  Again, my sister's boyfriend is a little picky so we ended up findng a family restaurant (like Denny's or Perkins) that served pasta and pizza.  For being cheap, it was really good.  We stayed for a long time and caught up on a lot.  I really like my sister's boyfriend- we have similar humors and we are the same age so we get along well.  That's great as they are the family I will probably see the most.