Nagoya Free Day
I’ve seen three Peace Parks in Japan now, though only two of them dedicated because of the Atomic Bombings. Nagoya apparently has its own Peace Park, though this park is a massive graveyard for the most part. I got a little turned around while walking to the Park, and made a wrong turn into a large largely vacant area that bordered the south side of the Park. It felt strange walking along the path, because there was no road, no modern houses, and no cars. What there was were gardens, a dirt trail, some very old houses, and wide areas of overgrown woods. It felt like I had stepped back into time about 200 years or so.
Once I did get to the Park itself, I nearly turned around, because I walked right into a funeral. I had no Park map, and assumed I had missed the Park again. I paused for a few moments, no one apparently objected to me standing off to the side, and watched. It felt wrong to take any pictures, so after a few moments I left and continued on.
Eventually, I did come to something that appeared more Park-like: a few trails winding through sakura, and another large trail going off to the west and circling a nearby pond. I walked both paths, and then headed further into the park, following a path that skirted the graveyard. It was a pleasant walk, the path was lined with trees, and there were joggers and couples going along the path.
Once I got to the north end of the park, I found a large observatory, which was on top of a water treatment plant. The building was pretty tall, about 30 stories or so, so I got a real good look out over the park, and was swept away by how expansive the graveyard was. I got glimpses as I had walked along the path, noting hills with gravestones covering them, and rows upon rows of graves. I also noticed a spherical monument near the observatory, and headed there next, which turned out to be a monument dedicated to people who had dedicated their bodies to science.
By this time it was starting to get late, so I started to head back to the hostel, taking a road running down the middle of the park. While on the way, I made a side-trip to find the Heiwado, which was marked on a map I had obtained. I got a little turned around again in the seas of gravestones, and walked by another ceremony on my way. This one appeared to be more celebratory, which I guessed had something to do with an anniversary of a death. I watched for a while, surprised at how many people were there, eating food, drinking, talking and seemingly having a good time. After watching for a while, I moved on.
A while later, I noticed a large white spire, which was not noted very clearly on the map. Puzzled, I stopped to look at it a while, and snap some pictures. Perhaps the neatest thing about this spire is the fact that built into the tip of the spire is a prism, which apparently shoots out rays of the colors of the rainbow on the autumnal and vernal equinoxes! I still don’t know what the purpose of the tower is, but I’d like to see it again on the equinox.
Eventually I found the Heiwado a bit past the spire. The name means “art of peace” I believe, and it was a beautifully decorated square monument, with various pictures of Budda, and others of mystical figures I don’t know the name of. I took lots of pictures, and then finally headed back to the hostel.
When I got back to the hostel, the other groups were just arriving. The meeting room was abuzz as all the counselors had gathered there, and were recounting their last few camps with friends they hadn’t seen in the better part of a week. After talking for a while, and finally getting everyone settled in their rooms, we decided to head out for dinner. I had suggested the Hard Rock Cafe sometime back, and Rachael and Darcy were eager to go there, Rachael apparently wanting to buy a shot glass as a souvenir for a family member, and I think Darcy wanted the same. When we did a little math on the time involved to get there, and the cost, and decided to go to the Outback in Sakae instead.
The Outback turned out to be a blast. We got a waitress who had impressive English skills, and a sense of humor to match. After the first rounds of drinks, she looked at the size of the glasses, and the size of us, and quickly decided to switch to the “American” sized glasses, which turned out to be about twice as big. I decided to have a little fun, and got a margarita. Everyone was so energetic from getting to see everyone again that we were typical Americans: loud and obnoxious. We knew it, and didn’t care, because we knew that camp was just the next day again.
We stayed at the Outback for probably about two hours, before we returned to the hostel. Unfortunately, by this time it had started to rain, heavily. No one had brought any sort of rain gear, so the guys took off running to get out of the rain while the girls dallied behind, which I thought was a funny reversal of the general norm. We rode the subway back to the hostel, and stayed up for a while talking, before we finally headed off to bed, getting ready for camp the next day.