One of the trips I knew I was taking when I planned this was to Hiroshima. I knew it would be a tough day, but I felt like it was something everyone should see, even before I saw it. Last fall was Dachau, this one Hiroshima. Not sure I could find any tougher historical sites to see in back to back years.
I was asked how tough the language barrier was and frankly it was something that concerned me before I left. Here is an example of a typical train station board at the platform. Looks fine to me....
Especially when it rotates to English. I want to think that I could have worked with the colors plus the times and made it just fine, but I think I would have had some struggles. There are over 2600 Japanese characters by the way.
The closer I got to Hiroshima, I realized the Carp was playing a game today. Now that looked like a stadium. I probably should have planned on catching a game here also.
Yep, game day.
Hiroshima was a beautiful, modern city. Not sure what I was really expecting.
Another castle....
After walking about 2 mins from the train station, I arrived at the A Bomb dome. I have said it before, but I always find it surreal to be in a place that is so historical and this one may be as significant as any I have been to. I am glad the sun was out. It was a very lovely day and it helped with one that was going to be so thought provoking.
I am not sure I had ever seen what the building looked like before.
One of the surprises of the day was a guy that sets up next tot he A dome with a FAQ and history type binder. It took me about 30 mins to read the whole thing but it was a very good use of my time. It wasn't bias by any means, but did show the true nature of the day and the aftermath.
Why does he do this? His grandfather died of radiation poisoning after returning home a few days later.
What did most Japanese think of the War? He said most were not in favor of it.
Why here? It had been fairly spared and had a Y shaped bridge that could be seen from the air.
I also learned that a lot of 20,000-30,000 Koreans died that were working in force labor camps. 4 American POWs also.
He also showed evidence that Japan was about to surrender anyway when 2 things happened. The Allies allowed the Emperor to stay as the head of Japan and if Russia declared war on Japan, which they did a couple days after the first bomb was dropped.
I will remember his binder for the rest of my life.
The Children's Memorial
The monument that contains books with all the names of those that were known to be killed and the eternal flame in the distance. It will be extinguished once all nuclear weapons are removed from the Earth.
The Peace Memorial Hall that shows all the names of known victims.
On to the museum itself. After being around the site for a couple hours now, I really couldn't say if I was prepared or not, but onward.
Pictures of the blast from surrounding areas.
A model of where the bomb exploded and its effect.
One of the many things I didn't know before hand was Japan had 11-13 year old kids out clearing debris. In case there were bomb raids at night, they didn't want the city to burn. A lot of the artifacts are those of kids.
Yep, a lot of really tough stuff in here. So much that I am not even showing like mannequins of the instant effects and then the effects of the radiation long term.
The below is the steps of a bank. The shadow was a person that was sitting there waiting for it to open.
Glass that was blown into concrete.
So many stories in this museum and it didn't pull any punches. One image that I don't have is a lunchbox. A mom couldn't find her son, but ultimately found a burnt corpse in a fetal position clutching the lunchbox that she made for him that morning.
Another story talked about how a daughter found her mom, but her bones turned to dust when she went to pick her up. Tough doesn't even start to describe a lot of the artifacts and stories from the museum. After the first year 140,000 were dead.
One young girl contracted leukemia. She believed if she made a 1,000 folded cranes she would be saved. The folded cranes have become the symbol of peace and hope at the site.
The last image was one of hope though. Scientists believed nothing would grow on the site for 75 years (still 4 more years from now). That next fall plants started to grow.
Obama was the first sitting US president to tour the site and museum (Carter has after his administration). Here is his crane and message.
The below mound is one of the ash mounds of the people that was cremated. It took over a month to cremate the dead.
The Peace Bell. Yep, I rang it.
I do believe this is a pilgrimage that everybody should make, especially in today's day and age where war seems like the simple answer some days.
Ok, back to Kyoto. There are a ton of driving ranges around Japan. I think this is in Osaka.
Another bullet train picture in case you guys missed how excited I was to ride them.
Kyoto Station. Not as busy as Tokyo, but still fairly crowded.
I didn't see many lost in translation items, but I was going to try the assorted flies.
After a day like today, it was definitely time for a beer.
I couldn't do the Sweet Potato ice cream though.
A very emotionally draining day, but definitely one that I will cherish also.
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