In his online diary (in Japanese) Mayor Akiba addresses the promotion the "Hiroshima brand" across the world, making much of the Hiroshima's "livability" and its cultural, culinary and leisure attractions. He points to Lonely Planet's selection of Hiroshima in it's list of the world's top 200 city destinations along with Tokyo and Kyoto, and that it is the city's vitality that makes it attractive, that makes it more than a museum.
We are certainly not going to argue - we've been saying the same thing for the past 6 years. We do feel that Hiroshima is at a crucial point, in danger of losing its appeal as a highly livable city. Although an attractive city by Japanese standards, it is by no means a beautiful city, and it appears that there are many companies and bodies that are quite happy to see Hiroshima become as ugly as Osaka for the sake of short term profits.
The mayor comments that Lonley Planet has been impressed by Hiroshima's culture and entertainment facilities. If he is serious about promoting these aspects of the city he could perhaps start by finding a way to stop the proposed closure next spring of two of our biggest concert venues, the Yubin Chokin Hall and the Koseinenkin Hall.
@Cover tonight
2 days ago
1 comments:
it is also important that we appreciate and maintain the parks and open areas in Hiroshima which I think give it charm, if not for the riverside grassy areas and the big chuo park, Hiroshima wouldn't seem half as nice a city as it does. It is worrying to see so many housing developments and department store complexes that are miles of concrete and the forests are looking more and more sparse on the hillsides, there are so few parks and open spaces in relation to the newly expanding concrete jungle for people to play and 'refresh themselves'. This will be a disaster not only environmentally, but also psychologically for the people who live in Hiroshima.
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