Hiroshima - West Japan Tour Part I

Spring has sprung and we've been having pleasant weather in Tokyo. Temperatures are currently ranging in the mid 20's Celsius (70's Fahrenheit), so it's been very comfortable to be out and about.

During the first part of April, we ventured off to West Japan to tour some major attractions. In order, our destinations included Hiroshima, Miyajima, Himeji, Nara and Kyoto. Mom (Frijas) and Tita Jasmin planned on their visit to Tokyo in time for our big escapade. We've been desiring to travel to the mentioned areas for quite sometime, so we thought there was no better time than during ohanami (cherry blossom) season.

I planned our trip first flying out to the farthest distance of Hiroshima from Tokyo Haneda Ariport, then riding shinkansens (bullet trains) to the other destinations heading home toward Tokyo. Markus was psyched about riding all different forms of transportation throughout our long weekend trip. Our first leg was a flight to Hiroshima from Tokyo on Friday, April 4Th. We started our day very early and caught the first flight out of Tokyo at 6:50A.M. It was a short hour and a half to touchdown. From the airport, we rode an express bus to Hiroshima Station, then caught a street car to the Atomic Bomb Dome. In the past, I've seen photos from when our friends, Joanna and Giancarlo visited the site back in December of 2006, but to see it firsthand was definitely intense.

Amidst the beauty, lies a tragic past of historical importance

Some brief history:

During WWII, nearly 63 years ago on August 6, 1945, the first nuclear bomb in history was dropped at 3:15 P.M., causing instant massive destruction to the city limits of Hiroshima. The impact of the American B-29 bomber Enola Gay, instantly killed a reported 80,000 people. By the end of the year, injury and radiation brought total casualties to an estimated 140,000. The Atomic Bomb Dome, known as the Genbaku Dome, was the only infrastructure that survived the blast. The bomb detonated about 580 metres in the air above the Domb, causing a mushroom cloud and radiation that spread nearly over a span of 2000 metres from the hypocenter. Today, the Atomic Bomb Dome serves as a peace memorial and is preserved at the same state it was damaged nearly 63 years ago. We took several photos of the site with hopes to capture its intensity, however, it is truly a site worth seeing for yourself.



Markus sitting at the stone steps before the Motoyasu Bridge

Next, we proceeded toward the Peace Memorial Park where cenotaphs and monuments are displayed throughout the vicinity. There we visited the Peace Memorial Museum's East and Main Buildings.



I thought Rodney did an amazing job capturing many sentimental images, such as this boy (above) saying a prayer at the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims. An inscription on the monument reads ""Let all the souls here rest in peace, for we shall not repeat the evil." The memorial stone chest holds a registry of the victims who lost their lives. As of August 2001, there were 77 volumes that list a total of 221,893 names. Beyond the cenotaph is the Flame of Peace, which was first lit August 1, 1964 and has burned continuously. It symbolizes the anti-nuclear resolve and is said to burn "until the day when all such weapons shall have disappeared from the earth."


Admiring the paper origami cranes at the Children's Peace Monument.

This exhibit is dedicated to Sadako Sasaki and all the children who died from the atomic bomb. At the age of two, Sadako Sasaki was exposed to the radiation from the A-bomb and developed leukemia 10 years later and died.

An ancient Japanese legend promises that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by a crane, such as long life or recovery from illness or injury. With Sadako's free time at the hospital during her illness, she began to fold the cranes, but died before completing her goal. Thousands of childrens from schools all over Japan and throughout the world, completed her goal of 1,000 cranes. Today, millions of colourful cranes donated by children from all over the world are kept in large acrylic containers at the memorial site.

Our next stop were the Peace museums, which is divided into two large buildings. We first toured the Peace Memorial Museum's East Building where we learned mainly about the history and geography of Hiroshima. In the Main Building, we observed in sorrow as most exhibits conveyed more about the devastion wreaked by the atomic bomb. Several items and remains are collected or either donated by families affected by the tragedy, such as clothing, melted glass and metal cans.

Above: A true photo of ground zero soon after the Atomic Bomb dropped. To the left of the photo is the A-Bomb Dome standing beside the Motoyasu River.

Depicted models of Hiroshima City before (above) and after (below) the bomb detonated.

... a city vanished; instantly reduced to rubble

Children at an elementary school located over 1.5 km away from the hypocenter suffered severe burns from the blast. All died within days of the catastrophe. Many parents donated these tattered and scorched remains of clothing worn by their children.

3-year old, Shin's tricycle donated by his father, who died the night of the bomb after being severly burned.

Markus stands before the Peace Watch Tower. There are two digital displays of numbers in red. The top number, 22887 (as of August 4), represents how many days since the U.S. attack with the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The bottom number, 543 indicates how many days since the last nuclear testing in the world. Over the past five years, the clock has been reset 11 times following each of the nuclear tests conducted by the U.S. (some in cooperation with the UK) and Russia.

We spent over five hours touring the entire site. I find it difficult to put into words the emotions that I felt reading through the information, listening to the rental PDA and viewing the many morbid photos and exhibits. Clearly, the mood of most visitors was indeed melancholic; I'm sure as always. Needless to say, it was dismal and an observation I will not soon forget.