Hiroshima has an excellent Cinematographic Library which shows classic cinema throughout the year at very reasonable prices. It may be churlish to complain, but most of the films are either in Japanese without English subtitles, or “foreign” language films with Japanese subtitles.
Between February 22 and March 10, however, the library is screening a series of 15 classic documentary films directed by Frederick Wiseman. All but one of them are in English.
We have been listing the various kaki-matsuri oyster festivals, held at ports all along Hiroshima’s Inland Sea coast between late January and early March, for years, but had never actually been to one in person. Determined to change that, this year we went to one of the biggest.
If you are into Japanese history and the samurai, you might like to go and check out the samurai armor and helmets in this special display at the Hiroshima Castle.
It’s a good opportunity to get a close up look at the intricate detail and workmanship that went into making these striking outfits, designed with not only protection in mind, but also as ceremonial dress, and possibly the outfit in which the wearer might meet his maker.
The Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art is currently showing a large exhibition on the relationship between French designer and architect Charlotte Perriand. Does it have anything to offer the non-French speaking, non-Japanese reading person who didn’t go to design school?
