It was dark by the time we found ourselves at the Atom Dome Memorial, but despite the darkness, it stood as a stark reminder of what happened here so many years ago. There was apparently much discussion with regards to whether the dome should stay and be preserved. Not surprisingly, many of the locals wanted to remove all trace of the horrific event that killed 90,000-146,000 people on and during the time after 6th August, 1945. We have now abandoned our morning breakfast hunts and resorted to buying cereal and milk and eating it out of hotel mugs. Classy. Our first stop the next morning was the Hiroshima Peace Memorial. The park is actually very lovely to wander around and is dotted with memorials and survivor stories. One of the most profound was a memorial to a little girl called Sadako Sasaki who died of leukaemia ten years after the bomb fell. Whilst in hospital, Sadako read about the Japanese tradition that making one thousand paper cranes would grant you one wish. Sadly, despite being successful in her origami quest, she passed away, but her legend lives on as people still make paper cranes, and they are all stored here - hundreds of thousands of them. Even Obama made some during his visit (incidentally the first sitting President to visit Hiroshima, which is a little shocking). Undoubtedly one of the most moving and harrowing experiences we have had in a long time was visiting the memorial museum which patriotically tells (in great detail) the story of events that occurred that day and the gruesome effects experienced in the years following. The displays, artefacts and stories are grim and very graphic and had me welling up at times. In the forecourt of the museum is the Flame of Peace, symbolising the universal desire for a world free from nuclear weapons. A poignant sight considering the #DUMPTRUMP hashtags circulating social media right now. It is horrifying to think that the world now has a president in office that is actively encouraging these weapons of mass destruction. It is equally astonishing that this vile act occurred so recently in our time and that you can still find survivors living in the city. I also couldn't quite get my head around how the US managed to get off so lightly but that discussion would be a whole new blog post!
Despite the trauma of this place, we would encourage all to visit and experience this brave and courageous city. And then we went for an okonomiyaki, which made us feel a little better about the world. Comments are closed.
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AuthorsRob & Charlie's travelling adventures on their long journey back to London after living in Hong Kong. Four continents, twelve countries, lots of experiences. Archives
July 2017
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Robert Ware & Charlotte Nunn |