“Let All The Souls Here Rest In Peace, For We Shall Not Repeat The Evil.”
Tourists go to Hiroshima mainly for the fact that it is one of the two cities (other one being Nagasaki) that suffered an a nuclear bombing in the history of mankind. I have spoken on the science of the atomic bomb during my chemistry lessons, and thus I approach this leg with quite a bit of anticipation.
The main memorial area consists of the park, the Atomic-bomb Dome (pictured below) and the Peace Museum. My suggestion is for you to visit the Peace Museum before the others so that you might appreciate the significance of the other monuments in the area.
One thing to note is that it is not necessary for you to rent the english audio guide at the entrance because all the exhibits are actually accompanied by english explanations.
Honestly, the museum was far better than I had expected.
1) It did not hide the fact that Japan was also one of the aggressors of WWII.
2) It had a wealth of obscure information that are not readily available elsewhere- why Hiroshima was chosen as one of the sites to be bombed, letters from the Hiroshima mayor etc.
3) Many artifacts of the victims were on display, together with the touching stories behind them. It is easy to treat the hundreds of thousands who died as simply a statistic, sometimes we need the reminder that its not just a number.
Two of the exhibits are shown below, unlike other photographs, I see no point in making them compositionally appealing; but please do reflect on their associated stories (in quotes), and try to understand the impact of the bomb on not only those who died, but also those who were left behind.
Fused Lump of Small Glass Bottles
1800m from the hypocentre (the surface position directly beneath the center of a nuclear explosion.)
Donated by Minoru Fujitsuka
“The Fujitsuka home was totally crushed and burned. Tadashi (then 4) was exposed outside and receive burns over his entire body. He died the next day. Minoru (then 19) returned from the military in September. He was stunned by his brother’s death and the utter devastation of Hiroshima. Later, this small lump of glass was dug up from the ruins of an ink factory in front of his house. The bottles were fused into a lump by the fire. When he saw it, Minuro mumbled, “Must have been really hot.” “
Tricycle and Metal Helmet
1500m from the hypocentre
Donated by Nobuo Tetsutani
“Shinichi Tetsutani (then 3 years and 11 months) loved to ride this tricycle. That morning,he was riding in front of his house when, in a sudden flash, he and his tricycle were badly burned. He died that night. His father felt that he was too young to be buried in a lonely grave away from home, and thinking that he could still play with his tricycle, he buried Shinichi with the tricycle in the backyard.
In the summer of 1985, forty years later, his father dug up Shinichi’s remains and transfered them to the family grave.
This tricycle and helmet, after sleeping for forty years in the backyard with Shinichi, were donated to the Peace Memorial Museum.”
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes
Sadako Sakai was 2 years old when the atomic bomb fell over her city, while she did not die immediately, she was diagnosed with leukemia nearly ten years later. She was hospitalised in February 1955 and given only a year to live.
While in hospital, she found out from a friend that by folding a thousand paper cranes, she would have one wish granted. Spurrned on by this little glimmer of hope, Sadako began folding paper cranes using medicine labels from herself and other patients. Around mid-October her left leg became swollen and turned purple.
For her last meal, Sadako requested tea on rice and remarked “It’s good.” Those were her last words before she died on the 25th October 1955.
In recent times, children all over the world will send paper cranes to this memorial site in honour of Sadako’s determination and the acknowledgment of the cruelty of war. There have been different accounts on the number of paper cranes she managed to complete before she died, but I really think that is not important.
After all that I have written, you might be thinking that the Peace Memorial Park is a rather gloomy place to visit. It is actually a wonderful open space, a gathering place of recreation and respite for many residents.
Do visit it if you can.
It’s amazing!
I have read the story of sadako before, from your opinion, I think it is a wonderful visit to the Peace memorial Park!
The picture of the jellyfish is really pretty.
“It is easy to treat the hundreds of thousands who died as simply a statistic, sometimes we need the reminder that its not just a number.”
This is absolutely true. I wholeheartedly agree with this – I guess it’s only too often that in, say, History class, fellow students will be going through the number of casualties for a specific war and inevitably someone will go, “Wah, so little meh..” Little or no, all those numbers mean something… someone’s parent, sibling, loved one, someone’s something .
Hah, that aside, I’ve been digging through your blog and as an ex-student, I think it’s inspirational that you’ve gone on to actually pursue such adventures that many lack the intiative or will to chase.
Loving the many humourous anecdotes you include, too!
Hi there “Syn”, as an ex-student of mine or as an ex-student in general? =)
Searching the dusty corners of my mind for the pseudonym used.
It’s wonderful that you understand that the world is much larger than your textbooks; and that the written accounts of hiSTORY are unfortunately, often overlooked as the STORY of a fellow human being.
When you are able to link lessons to the real world, learning really does become more productive; not so much for the grades, but for the development of self as a whole, isn’t it? =)