I’ll be completely honest, I’ve been so focused on the G1 series against Uemura and Tsuji that I completely forgot to write my diary! So I apologise in advance if this is not up to my usual standard, my mind has been occupied in different areas.

Today I wanted to talk about my visit to Hiroshima, and more importantly the Genbaku Dome war memorial. I know this may be a sad read for some readers so I would like to apologise before you read this if it may upset you.

I’ll start off by saying that I loved Hiroshima. It was such a beautiful little city and I really enjoyed the time I got to walk around and explore. The only thing is that I wish I had more time to see more of the city, as I was on quite a tight schedule.

Thank you to all the staff at the new Gold’s Gym in Hiroshima. They took care of all of us and let us try their new cryotherapy chamber. I’d seen cryotherapy online before but have never tried it. You step into a circular shape chamber and the temperature drops from room
temperature to -180 degrees in under 3 minutes with he intention of helping with joint pain and general muscle pain. It definitely helped but deary goodness, it was SO COLD. I was relieved when it was over for sure.

I don’t know if it was the same for other foreigners who visit Japan, but when I was in secondary school (high school) we were taught about 3 cities in Japan. Tokyo (of course), Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Tokyo because it is the capital, Nagasaki and Hiroshima because of the World War 2 bombings. I couldn’t remember any details about the bombings as it had been so long since I had studied them, but I knew Hiroshima was one of the locations that sadly got bombed, and whilst I was there I wanted to visit and learn some more about the history of
this city.

After going to the gym I walked to the Genbaku Dome memorial. It was a beautiful sunny day and there were lots of people out enjoying the weather, but when I arrived I was met with an overwhelming feeling of sadness. You see the structure that still stands and can’t
help but picture what happened in that exact location in 1945. I read the memorial plaque explaining exactly what happened and stopped half way through to look at my surroundings. Every building and structure I saw wasn’t there after August 6th 1945. You
can’t help but feel sad.

But then you realise that the people of Hiroshima have rebuilt an entire city. Throughout everything they and their families had been put through, they had recreated this beautiful city that I was visiting. I didn’t feel as sad anymore after realising that. I am so happy that I
got to visit and witness the Genbaku Dome. It’s something I’ll remember for years to come, and I can’t wait to go back to Hiroshima and explore some more.

Thank you for reading as always.
I won’t add a song for this diary, as I don’t think it needs one.