The Real Japan

Every August we go through the anniversary of the dropping of the two atomic bombs, in 1945. I have always been interested in understanding the world, but the first foreign country that I wondered about was Japan. When I was a young boy, living on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, there would be numerous Japanese tourists around the falls in the summer, always carrying what looked like expensive cameras.

The first of the following scenes is at a road intersection. The intersection is of two bridges, which come together to form a "T". Since this "T" was visible from high in the air, it was designated as the visual aiming point for the first atomic bomb to be used in wartime, when it was dropped on Hiroshima in August 1945.

In the center of the opening scene is what is known as the Atomic Bomb Dome. It was a building, virtually directly under the parachuted bomb which detonated at an altitude of several hundred meters, whose walls were left standing because the force of the blast was from nearly directly above, and has been preserved as a peace memorial. The Atomic Bomb Dome, with it's skeletal dome, is in many of the succeeding images. Nearby Hiroshima Castle was also destroyed, but was rebuilt after the war.

But, aside from that one ruined building, we see that Hiroshima today is the kind of dynamic city that we would expect of Japan.

Remember that, if there is a compass showing on the right of the image, it is a 360 degree view, if not then it is a still photo. You can get more viewing space by clicking the arrow to "Hide Imagery". But if you click that on the first image, it seems that it may stop the following images from loading. You can pull the screen up or down or around with the mouse:

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.3964396,132.4526097,3a,75y,131.24h,88.42t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sxcUOe6Yn0cjenpg_HKxA9Q!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DxcUOe6Yn0cjenpg_HKxA9Q%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D140.88016%26pitch%3D0!7i13312!8i6656

Hiroshima is destined to always be defined and remembered by this bombing. But, as with all such definitions, it is not a reflection of reality at all. I am sure that, to most residents, the atomic bomb is just something that they read about that happened over seventy years ago.

Here is a mostly-residential neighborhood in Hiroshima, some distance away from the site of the explosion:

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.3759544,132.515823,3a,75y,268h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sIPUmgCay9kIdmD92kWTO6Q!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DIPUmgCay9kIdmD92kWTO6Q%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D268.91934%26pitch%3D0!7i13312!8i6656

Next, let's have a look at Osaka. Here are some views from around the center of the city:

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.6931923,135.5048328,3a,75y,349h,79t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-fBXHTbG5M7g%2FVLUjLArPCmI%2FAAAAAAABkGw%2F7dhsyuIPtPYAqnstUB4RNm-8nyAlm_V6Q!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh6.googleusercontent.com%2F-fBXHTbG5M7g%2FVLUjLArPCmI%2FAAAAAAABkGw%2F7dhsyuIPtPYAqnstUB4RNm-8nyAlm_V6Q%2Fw203-h101-n-k-no%2F!7i7168!8i3584

Here is more of Osaka, but some distance north of downtown:

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.74224,135.499876,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m8!1e2!3m6!1s97111766!2e1!3e10!6s%2F%2Flh3.googleusercontent.com%2Fproxy%2FRmzoUWogmVXVxWyj8JC-W8LPx6HoYE4322XDxr0cms0EosDjKCqAJ-Tn9U_g4kDMRbkc-zmCGuaCpv3AtrPP4mex7HXeIg%3Dw203-h120!7i3644!8i2169

Here is some scenes around the Dotonbori district of Osaka:

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.6685872,135.5024028,3a,75y,211.76h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1solXK2V8MX_HxfJ6yfRZsew!2e0!3e2!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DolXK2V8MX_HxfJ6yfRZsew%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D206.98552%26pitch%3D0!7i13312!8i6656

This is the famed Ginza district, in Tokyo:

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.667983,139.76341,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m8!1e2!3m6!1s95424555!2e1!3e10!6s%2F%2Flh4.googleusercontent.com%2Fproxy%2Fw9OdUsom_oqBBVPD70Ge7HpF_x1St8OL-_kEGwtJ8V6EtWDjes9oAq5lTOQBc8Gq-9HTnUFKWdyw4XzGEgg2PPfpw-jShg%3Dw203-h135!7i2304!8i1536

Seeing Japan should remind the Baby Boom generation, born 1945-64, of the Japanese monster movies of the 1960s. There was nothing like the special effects of today, but they were on television all the time. Does anyone remember "The X From Outer Space"? Then there was Ultraman, the Japanese version of Superman, who battled with still more of the monsters that regularly appeared to terrorize Tokyo.

But Japan is a very old country, one of the oldest countries in the world. I got the feeling that the best that I could come up with, as to what the real Japan really looks like, is Hijo Castle in Kyoto. This was built by the Tokugawa Shoganate in the Seventeenth Century:

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.0141581,135.7474977,3a,75y,67.33h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-gMu71Lg65FA%2FVqlO7TXxCpI%2FAAAAAAAAFeU%2Fv3Kw-rAp6VoVkTW-Pxp5TGzAcEW6d_yZA!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh3.googleusercontent.com%2F-gMu71Lg65FA%2FVqlO7TXxCpI%2FAAAAAAAAFeU%2Fv3Kw-rAp6VoVkTW-Pxp5TGzAcEW6d_yZA%2Fw203-h101-n-k-no%2F!7i5376!8i2688