It shouldn't ever have to end this way,

Our decision to head to Osaka for 4 days was driven partly by the lack of available accommodation anywhere else as a result of golden week in Japan & partly because we wanted to put our feet up. Osaka was more about the things we didn't do rather than the things we did. We had picked a hotel with a pool & gym so we could get ourselves moving,  however not only did we find there was a charge for each visit the pool & gym, the pool wasn't even open but it was the same price. We didn't bother.  We also didn't make it to the castle which looked & sounded very much like a place to visit. We had talked about a day trip to Naoshima, a whole island that has been turned into an art museum, but we didn't go. There are lots of great museums there, but we didn't go to any. So what did we do? Well not much. I had my hair done, we read, watched English films on TV, got my diary up to date, blogged, had picnics by the river  & finalised plans for the last few weeks of our trip. A successful 4  days I'd say. Of course we had the usual “we happened upon this bar” moments, where we got chatting to a group of locals who, we were surprised to discover, were huge Paul Weller/Jam fans. One even declared, rather obscurely, that he was a big fan of Stevie Marriott.
We also had a near death experience when we found ourselves in a restaurant that served raw chicken. I was in trauma. I normally cook my chicken to death for fear of getting food poisoning but here “well done” meant if was lightly seared on the outside but totally raw on the inside. Our waitress was so sweet though I felt compelled to eat it, plus we were starving. Afterwards she gave us a gelatine treat on a plate she had engraved with chocolate & caramel with the message “ thank you for coming Japan”. Thank you for letting me poison you it should have said. I took a photo with her in it, to help police with their enquiries if we were  found dead in our hotel. Thankfully We didn't die & We didn't have any side effects – physically anyway. I am still traumatised by the experience even now though.
So after our four days in Osaka it was time to shift gears & move on to our next destination Hiroshima. It felt odd wanting to go to a place where such an awful thing happened but We wanted to know more.
We arrived in Hiroshima to bright sunshine  & set off  to explore the castle & grounds,  before heading to the Peace Memorial Park. It was late in the afternoon when we arrived & the sun was starting to going down behind what  remains of the dome building, where,  at 8.15am on 6 August 1945, 600 meters above it the atomic bomb exploded. As tourists & locals studied the remains that have been preserved as a memorial in a respectful silence, it was impossible to try to comprehend such destruction.   The following day we visited the peace museum where we were overwhelmed by  the facts &  pictures of what happened that day & the awful aftermath , particularly the video accounts of survivors. Then we returned to the  peace park to visit  the gardens, memorials & monuments. The most moving moment for us came when we watched a group of Japanese school children stand in front of the children's monument & sing. Then, in pairs, they all read out what we guessed were prayers or dedications. It was beautiful & very emotional.

As we leave Hiroshima, we only have a few more days left on our Japan Rail pass & there are still so many places to see. However our choices have been made & I have a small confession to make. We said that Japan was to be our final country however, when we looked at how close we are to South Korea we decided it would be a missed  opportunity if we didn't  pop over for a few days. So that's what we shall do. Not quite yet though. Our next town Kagoshima with its active volcano awaits.