Southern Japan May 2009

Every time I go to Japan I learn more and more about the culture, lifestyle and language. It is with the help of my friends there that I am able to participate in many activities that most tourists will never find. These are the moments I live for when I am in Japan.

This trip was a journey south. In fact I took the bullet train as far south as you can go to a city called Fukuoka, in Kyushu. While it rained like hell for two days in Hiroshima, where I caught a nasty cold, the rest of the trip was warn and sunny. My primary target for this trip was Hiroshima City.

Hiroshima City is very nice, with public streetcars, lots of great restaurants and many things for a tourist to see. I visited a restaurant that specialized in crab dishes. Adding two bottles of very fine Sake made it a very memorable dinner. The next day, I visited another site I had also come specifically to see: the A-Bomb Dome. After spending several hours at the A-Bomb Dome and the Peace Museum near the dome, my one thought or prayer is 'By the grace of God never again.' These were the only photos where I had no desire to smile.

One of the more difficult things to do comes after the trip, which is editing the photos and posting them on the website. The original count was over seven hundred photos over the two weeks. But I have managed to edit to a little over a hundred pictures. I hope you enjoy them and they encourage you to go on a trip of your own.

Best Regards,
Russell Rice
JCS Chairman

Japan May 2009 Pictures