I think I'm turning Japanese

If you can name the band that wrote that 80's hit you win absolutely nothing. Not even James' virtual non-existent pizza.

Yes I finally made it to the land that gave us Godzilla, Speed Racer and Kimba the White Lion. Yesterday was pretty uneventful which was a nice change. We had a relaxing day in Anchorage while waiting for the other crew to bring the airplane up from Detroit. We set a record turning the airplane around in 25 minutes from touchdown to lift-off. Not bad considering we uplifted over 3,000 gallons of fuel. It was daylight the whole way which was nice. In addition to that we have 3 pilots on this crew which means long breaks for everybody!

I went to the A-bomb museum today which was very interesting. The Japanese see the whole thing differently than we do. In fact, it was a little distressing the way they presented it. There wasn't a single word of the behavior of the Japanese government during the war years and before. How they fought to the death as the Americans clawed their way across the Pacific.

A-bomb dome

How they massacred over 300,000 in Nanjing China over a long weekend. How they tore through Manchuria with genocidal fervor. How they refused to surrender even though they had lost the war with their cities lying in ruins. How their military misadventures led them to launch a surprise attack on American forces at Pearl Harbor. All these things that influenced the decision to drop the bomb were ignored. According to the museum, the Americans dropped the bomb to , (1) prove to the American people that the 2 billion dollar investment in the bomb was justified, and, (2) send a message to Stalin that we could do the same to him. Additionally, the museum details the terrible destruction wrought upon children to the exclusion of all others. The museum gives the impression that few adults or servicemen were killed even though Hiroshima was a major military staging area. That is why the Americans targeted the city. This disturbs me because the museum leaves one with a strong whiff of self-delusion. It is like they haven't yet come to grips with the past. The museum gives the impression that Japan was a peace loving nation not seeking to expand its borders and striving to live in harmony with all men. This, I believe, is delusional. History is what it is. We have to deal with it or we face the prospect of repeating it.

Anyway, I am going to go and ride the bike. I hope they have a better one than the one in Anchorage.