hello japan! (backlog flush #68 and travelog)

Have you found the shop in Akihabara that has the bins of loose Famicom cartridges yet?

I regret only bringing back two random cartridges.

--Nick B Mon Mar 17 09:47:28 2008

There is a beautiful garden in Hiroshima you should visit. Close to center of town if I remember right. If I'd know you were going there I would have dug up the info. The A-bomb dome is very moving, I saw it for the first time at night, rising up out of the darkness like a ghost tower. If you go to the museum, be warned that there will be hordes of school children running around bored, talking and laughing loudly, and the exhibits are pretty graphic and freaky. There is a little building off to the right that has films in english that play all day. They are very graphic and depressing though. The city is cool and beautiful, I was there when I was 15. I'm so glad you get to experience the cool parts of Japanese culture. Make sure to try as many tea houses as possible.

--Erin Maru Mon Mar 17 21:04:09 2008

I'm fascinated about the fact that you're in Hiroshima. I guess I just sort of lumped Hiroshima and Nagasaki with Chernobyl in my head and assumed that the left over radiation continued to make them unlivable. Is there anything said about such things?

--Rhys Tue Mar 18 21:45:13 2008

I didn't ask, though the museum seemed to bend over backwards to point out specific things like the touchable roof tiles were safe, so I think the assumption is that the background radiation level is reasonable.

--Kirk Wed Mar 19 05:10:48 2008

Following the initial Army study of the effects, the Radiation Effects Research Foundation, a binational organization, was created.
Their website starts with www followed by rerf and jp, with dots inbetween.

--LAN3 Sat Mar 29 14:57:27 2008

I read further into that site (last question of the faq), and they indicated that while there's still a cesium isotope with a 2-year h-l that has them concerned, the induced radiation from the blast is now *below* background.

--LAN3 Sat Mar 29 15:04:41 2008

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