7 Aug 94, (nichiyoobi [in kanji]) Oh yeah, I forgot to write - yesterday was the 50th (in the way the Japanese count years) anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. There was a big ceremony there, involving the Prime Minister and there was a big gaijin section - people had little earphones in which they got translations into English and maybe other languages. One of the people was a black woman whose father had been injected w/ Plutonium when he was in the American Army. I also saw some of the pictures that were taken when people first came after the explosion -- it kind of reminded me of Pompeii. Near the park is a building that they've kept since then - it was brick and concrete - the edges looked melted and the ceiling dome only had the frame bars left. Hakodate's main product is squid (a guy brought some around this morning. My host ma said the guy had just caught them and they were still alice and moving a little, but that they'd soon die -- I'm really starting to hate seafood.) Anyway - here's the squid dance song -- [I put it in kana & kanji first. then in romaji:] Hakodate meibutsu ika odori ikasashi sihokara ikasoomen moo hitotsu omakeni ika popo ika ika ika ika ika odori rough translation: Hakodate's famous product - squid dance squid sashimi salted squid and some other squid dish one more dish - ika popo squid squid squid squid squid dance it's really easy to do.