Japan, January–February 2006
Glover House, Glover Garden • Thomas Blake Glover (1838–1911) was quite a character, which is presumably why the area is now called ‘Glover Garden’. He was a Scot who came to Japan at the age of 21, where he operated his merchant business, Glover & Co.
At first the business dealt with tea; however he soon became successful in selling ships, guns and ammunition to rebellious clans in the locality. He helped rebels to overthrow the shogun.
The shipbuilding company he founded later became the Mitsubishi Corporation of Japan; he helped to found the brewery Kirin, which survives today.
The house is sprawling, and there is a description of how it grew on display inside the building.
Memorial Cenotaph, Hiroshima • The shape of the Memorial Cenotaph in the Peace Park in Hiroshima is instantly recognisable. There is a service commemorating the bombing of Hiroshima every August, on the anniversary of the bombing. There is a ‘coffin’ underneath the concrete arch which contains the names of those identified as having been killed by the blast.
Through the arch you can see the ‘atomic bomb dome’, which was originally the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall. It has been maintained in the state in which it was left following the bombing as a memorial. When I was there it was shrouded in scaffolding: the city has only recently arranged for the structure to be assessed annually.
Hiroshima cathedral inscription • This inscription was on the tower of the Hiroshima Memorial Cathedral for World Peace: it is in Japanese on the other side of the tower. The inscription reads:
HAEC ECCLESIA
ERECTA EST IN COMMEMORATIONEM ANIMARUM QUAE
UT VICTIMAE PRIMI EXPLOSIVI ATOMICI DIE VI
AUGUSTI ANNI MDCCCCXXXXV IN URBE HIROSHIMA
JECTI EX HAC VITA MIGRAVERUNT ET UT SIGNUM
PACIS INTER OMNES GENTES SIGNUM INDICANS VIAM
VERAM ET UNICAM QUAE DUCIT AD PACEM CUM DEO
ET CUM HOMINIBUS QUAE VIA NON EST IN MENDACIO
SED IN VERITATE NON IN COACTIONE SED IN JUS-
TITIA NON IN ODIO SED IN CARITATE UNDE OMNES
QUI INTRANT IN HANC ECCLESIAM ENIXE ROGANTUR
UT ORENT PRO REQUIE AETERNA MORTUORUM ET PRO
PACE INTER VIVOS IN MUNDO
DIE VI AUGUSTI ANNI MDCCCCLIV
For those who Can't Read Latin Good (And Want To Do Other Stuff, Too), here's a translation:
“This church has been built as a memorial to the souls of those who passed from this life as victims of the first atomic bomb, which was dropped on the city of Hiroshima on 6th August 1945; and to be a sign of peace among all nations, a sign to point to the true and only way that leads to peace with God and with man. That way lies not in falsehood but in truth; not in coercion but in justice; not in hatred but in love. And therefore all who enter this church are earnestly requested to pray for the eternal repose of those who have died, and for peace among those who are alive in this world. 6th August 1954.”
I suspect that the Latin inscription was carved by someone who didn't understand the language: this is evident from the fact that some Qs are carved as Os, and from the bizarre full stops everywhere!
Cleaning the glass • A diver carefully wipes the glass at the Osaka Aquarium. When I walked around, I realised that the glass was mirrored on the inside, so he (probably) couldn't see me taking this photo. That presumably also means that the fish aren't too disturbed by the antics of the aquarium visitors.
Stormtrooper • A stormtrooper's costume from the Star Wars series stands, with a blaster, in the window of a shop which sold various autographed posters. I don’t think the storm trooper was for sale: if he had been, judging by the price of a few of the posters in the shop, then that would have been one expensive lump of plastic. Star Wars is of course not a Universal Pictures film—it was distributed by 20th Century Fox—but I think this shop was independent of the management of the Universal Studios Japan theme park.
Cracked streets • At first when I was wandering around the ‘streets’ of the theme park Universal Studios Japan, I thought that it was curious how run down they appeared. Then it occurred to me that people don't really build streets with tarmac on top of stone paving in this way any more. This was all part of the specialised ‘ageing’ process employed by Hollywood set dressers which helps to increase the credibility of exterior sets.
