I went down to Hiroshima last weekend to see Masashi, my old high school homestay family’s brother, and his wife Maiko and son Hinata. Masashi lives in Mihara, a city about 60km east of Hiroshima, on the Seto Naikai (Seto Inland Sea) coast. As the local delicacy is tako (octopus), we went to lunch at a local tako restaurant, and had tako everything. Tako soup, tako sashimi, tako fried rice. It was tako-licious. Then for dinner, we had home made takoyaki (tako dumplings). After making a few batches, we even managed to shape them properly in small round balls. We were quite proud of our efforts.
Last time I saw them, Maiko was still pregnant, so I hadn’t met Hinata yet. He’s 11 months old, the same age as Audrey when I left Melbourne. I soon learned that Hinata likes dancing to YouTube videos – he’s nearly standing up by himself, so he hangs onto a chair and bops along to the music.
On Sunday, we went into Hiroshima city. I had been here about 10 or 12 years ago, but a visit to the Genbaku Dome and Peace Park seemed appropriate. It was a beautiful sunny day, and visiting a memorial to such an horrific event in such nice weather seemed a bit surreal. Even though I’d been here before, the museum left me speechless before too long. It’s a very sombre and sobering place, and I reckon a few world leaders at the moment need to go for a visit so that they can be put back in their place.
On the way back to the airport, Masashi took us to the town of Saijo, east of Hiroshima, where there are a few sake breweries, all built and maintained in traditional-ish architecture. Had a quick taste of one of the most expensive drops in one of them – it was a bit like a wine tasting routine, although unfortunately, the bottles were lined up on a self-service bench, without anyone to explain them. Being a weekend, only the shop/showroom was open, so I coudn’t see inside the actual brewery to see much.
