Hiroshima

After our usual morning routine, we boarded Bus 7, to visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. Our guide, Yuko, spoke clear English and taught us a few Japanese words in addition to background information about the park. We disembarked from the bus on the Aioi Bridge. This bridge (now reconstructed) once had a distinctive t-shape and served as the target for the Enola Gay crew on August 6, 1945 when they dropped the world’s first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. (The actual hypocenter, i.e., ground zero, was 300 m away.) We then walked a short distance to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial commonly referred to as the Atomic Bomb Dome. This stucure had served as the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall and is now preserved in a suspended state of ruin to remind the world of the horrors of nuclear war.

We strolled along a path through the park viewing the dome from several angles then took a bridge across the Ota River lined with flowering cherry trees. We passed the Flame of Peace, lit in 1964, and many other monuments, statues, and fountains on the park grounds. When we arrived at the museum, there was a huge line queued up to purchase tickets. Yuko purchased our tickets and we were able to break in line to enter but the museum which was very crowded and as we slowly proceeded through it, we had difficulty viewing displays. We were first presented with displays of Hiroshiman life before 1945. Then it became darker, literally and subject-wise. There were images of the explosion and the devastation of the town. Next came displays showing the impact on real people including shredded clothing and images of burnt victims. The long-term radiation effects on survivors’ health were discussed. Finally, the current state of the nuclear age and the wishes of the people of Hiroshima for the realization of a genuinely peaceful international community and the elimination of all nuclear weapons. The events leading up to the Hiroshima bombing were never mentioned. Because of the crowds and time limit of our tour, we had to rush through many parts of the museum.

Tea Time in Horizons