i have heard hes dead at last
he was an elite businessman in Mazda car company after graduated from the university of hiroshima, one of the prestigious university in japan, but when he was refused by his love, he started living on the street in a rear car with tens of colourful cloth flags
i often witnessed him while i was staying in hiroshima around 1984 or 5
people call him hiroshima taro, meaning jack the hiroshima
in 2008 i asked a guy from hiroshima what has become of hiroshima taro, he said hes dead
living on the street must have been hard
but all the more live without love must have killed him
from get hiroshima
ReplyDelete"Hiroshima Taro" is the generic name for someone who lives in Hiroshima, it is also the name of Hiroshima's most famous resident, an eccentric middle-aged homeless man.
Rumor has it that Hiroshima Taro is a Hiroshima University graduate who used to work for Mazda corporation- Hiroshima's largest employer.
Others like to talk about the fact that he demands money from film crews and reporters who want to take his picture, making him a millionaire who chooses the streets over a life of luxury. Some talk of how he mumbles to himself and collects watches.
If you saw him, you would probably stare along with the rest of us at his decadent rags and layers of filth as he struts down the main shopping streets in step with businesspeople, shoppers and dating couples.
Hiroshima has a history of homelessness dating back to the hundreds of thousands left homeless after little boy was dropped on the city.
When the homeless were victims of war, people came from around Japan and the world to help them. There are well-documented reports of all the great work the volunteers did rebuilding housing, and collecting donations. Doctors and nurses who spent countless hours helping the sick, wounded and emotionally distressed.
In stark contrast, is what happened yesterday in Hiroshima city.
The Hiroshima Chugoku Shimbun yesterday (February 7, 2001) reported that "Hiroshima Taro" asked a passer-by to help him get to a hospital because he was feeling ill.
That good Samaritan called an ambulance and "Taro" was then refused from 9 hospitals before being admitted and treated for pneumonia.
I would be very interested to know what the names of those 9 hospitals are...
but even more interested to know which hospital finally said "yes" to "taro-san."