1/29/06: Hiroshima

Hiroshima. Although somewhat far from Kyoto (about 2-3 hour Shinkansen ride), it is a city completely worth going to. Completely. Because it was Yokoso! Japan week, a tourism promotional thing, I was able to catch a free guided tour of the Peace Park. I saw most of the major memorials around the park, all of which were touching and held this momentous atmosphere. Some of the biggest memorials included 1) the children's memorial, dedicated to Sakura, a girl who got cancer after the a-bomb and attempted to fold 1,000 paper cranes to be cured [photo: cranes] 2) Victim's cenotaph, which is opened every year to add names of new victims who have died from cancer [photo: the cenotaph, a symbolic sculpture of two hands held together with a flame that will continue to burn until all nuclear weapons are eliminated, and the A-dome all in line] 3) the rebirth memorial, a transplanted tree that had been completely hollowed out by the blast, but still sprouted the next spring and is an inspiration to cancer victims that have lost hope 4) A-Dome, a building left standing after the bomb drop and has been preserved (although controversially) to remember what happened [photo] 5) the peace bell representing the striking out of all nuclear weapons around the world [photo] . I noticed and really appreciated that instead of being like other memorials that are usually all about the victims, the peace park and museum was about the victims, of course, but also about the overall theme of world peace and the elimination of nuclear weapons everywhere. They really emphasized and effectively imbued their message into everything. The museum itself was overwhelming [photo: intro video to the museum]. The east wing started with the mechanics of the bomb: the building damage, the stages of an atomic blast and its after effects, the huge effort Hiroshima has put into pleading with other countries regarding their nuclear policies and practices, history about the war (which although they did not address the Japanese atrocities, did make a few references to them and why they were defeated, which is progress- the Japanese have yet to admit their doings in Korea and other invaded areas in their own textbooks), and the current laws and its flaws. The west wing was this incredibly disturbing and haunting look at the victims and their endurances. There were mementos of every kind, tattered clothing, a finger, lunch boxes, and just everyday things that had been left by the child laborers who were there that day (August 6, 1945 at 8:15 am). Every memento had a story to them, almost always describing a child surviving the blast and crawling home, only to die in the arms of their parents who had been searching frantically for them. The walls were filled with pictures of victims suffering from skin ulcers and missing body parts, and there were video booths of survivors recounting their stories. It was so sad and distrubing I felt sick and couldn't finish the rest of the museum. David, who had come with me for the tour, had to leave early. I think that most of the people there felt that way; it was so moving. After I left the museum, I just wandered around the park for a while. But the thing is, despite the A-bomb and all of its consequences, Hiroshima has really bounced back. I walked around the downtown area on the way to the JR station for a bit, and it was just packed with stores and arcades, and just everything Japan. It was really incredible to see the museum, and then see everything around it.