Hiroshima, Japan
The A-Bomb dome, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
August the 6th is the anniversary of the dropping of the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima during World War II. Each year a memorial service is held in the park which now covers the site of what had been the densely populated central business and residential district of Hiroshima. It was all destroyed and the open ground that remained was turned into the park.
I had always been fascinated by the bombing of Hiroshima and the aftermath, so the city was the first that I ever visited on my initial trip to Japan. I've been back many times since then, and visited again this past April. The thing that surprised me this time is amount of tourists around the park, in the past there were independent foreign tourists but small numbers of them. Now there's the armies of tour groups you see in Europe.
Tour groups around the Cenotaph, one going there and 2 groups infront of the Cenotaph.
The park is quite large so it is possible to dodge the crowds, from what I saw the tour group route seems to be the A-Bomb dome, the Cenotaph and then the museum. There are other interesting parts of the park that offer a more contemplative atmosphere.
The T-shaped bridge which was the original target, from the air the 'T' can be clearly seen so made for an easy to spot target. The current bridge is a more recent version, the previous bridge was a wooden one. The A-Bomb dome and to the right of the dome was the actual hypo centre where the bomb exploded, so the bombardier's aim was quite accurate.
The Children's Peace Monument, the campaign to create this memorial was led by school children. By the late 1950s the story of Sadako Sasaki, a 12 year old girl who had developed leukaemia 10 years after surviving the bomb, had become widespread. Sadako knew of the Japanese legend that whoever folds a 1000 paper cranes would get their wish granted, hers wasn't as she died, but her story was spread by her classmates and school students throughout Japan helped to raise money for this memorial. It was opened on Children's Day (May 5th) 1958. Schools and individuals send folded cranes to be displayed around the memorial, on the left the Japanese script says 'peace'. Inside the memorial is a bell and people line up to ring it and pray as it's similar to a temple bell.
The paper cranes are folded with the wings closed, then each crane is placed on top of the other one. The cranes are strung in groups of 50 to 100 cranes per streamer and then all tied together. The messages list the names of the schools who have sent the cranes. This time I didn't see any international ones, in the past I have seen cranes sent from the United States or Australia.
The park has hedges of azaleas, visiting in April means that most of the azaleas will be in bloom.
The Eternal Flame, the shape is that of 2 hand with the palms facing upwards, the flame is between the 'wrists' and it is said that when the last nuclear weapon is destroyed the flame will be extinguished. Looking past the Eternal Flame is the Cenotaph and then the Museum. (The Museum is currently undergoing so major refurbishment so it's closed until April 2019)
The Cenotaph, which holds the names of all the victims of the bomb.It was the first memorial to be placed in the open field that was to become the park, in 1952. Each August the Memorial Service for the bomb victims is held here. The Ceremony begins at 8am with a minutes silence for the victims at 8.15am, the time the bomb exploded. The arch shape is to offer shelter to the souls of the victims.
The Atomic Bomb Memorial Mound.
There were so many deaths after the bomb exploded that leaving all those bodies in the open during the heat of the summer would have created a major health hazard. The bodies were placed here and cremated, the mound holds the ashes of 70,000 unidentified victims of the bomb.
The Korean victims memorial
Koreans were brought to Japan in the 1930s as Japan colonised the Korean peninsula. They were forced labourers and so the extract number of victims isn't known.
A street car outside Hiroshima train station.
Hiroshima has streetcars (or if you're Australian, trams!), the easiest way to get to Peace Park is to catch the tram from the train station. There's now a very large sign outside the station, explaining in English, Chinese and Korean the whole process and which tram to catch. It's the Number 6 (the one pictured) or number 2 tram, the stop you need is Genbaku Domu mae and it takes about 15 minutes. You pay the fare when leaving the tram, correct coinage helps!
It is possible to walk and you'll certainly get to experience more of the city that way, it just takes longer, 30 to 40 minutes.
August the 6th is the anniversary of the dropping of the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima during World War II. Each year a memorial service is held in the park which now covers the site of what had been the densely populated central business and residential district of Hiroshima. It was all destroyed and the open ground that remained was turned into the park.
I had always been fascinated by the bombing of Hiroshima and the aftermath, so the city was the first that I ever visited on my initial trip to Japan. I've been back many times since then, and visited again this past April. The thing that surprised me this time is amount of tourists around the park, in the past there were independent foreign tourists but small numbers of them. Now there's the armies of tour groups you see in Europe.
The park is quite large so it is possible to dodge the crowds, from what I saw the tour group route seems to be the A-Bomb dome, the Cenotaph and then the museum. There are other interesting parts of the park that offer a more contemplative atmosphere.
The T-shaped bridge which was the original target, from the air the 'T' can be clearly seen so made for an easy to spot target. The current bridge is a more recent version, the previous bridge was a wooden one. The A-Bomb dome and to the right of the dome was the actual hypo centre where the bomb exploded, so the bombardier's aim was quite accurate.
The Children's Peace Monument, the campaign to create this memorial was led by school children. By the late 1950s the story of Sadako Sasaki, a 12 year old girl who had developed leukaemia 10 years after surviving the bomb, had become widespread. Sadako knew of the Japanese legend that whoever folds a 1000 paper cranes would get their wish granted, hers wasn't as she died, but her story was spread by her classmates and school students throughout Japan helped to raise money for this memorial. It was opened on Children's Day (May 5th) 1958. Schools and individuals send folded cranes to be displayed around the memorial, on the left the Japanese script says 'peace'. Inside the memorial is a bell and people line up to ring it and pray as it's similar to a temple bell.
The paper cranes are folded with the wings closed, then each crane is placed on top of the other one. The cranes are strung in groups of 50 to 100 cranes per streamer and then all tied together. The messages list the names of the schools who have sent the cranes. This time I didn't see any international ones, in the past I have seen cranes sent from the United States or Australia.
The park has hedges of azaleas, visiting in April means that most of the azaleas will be in bloom.
The Eternal Flame, the shape is that of 2 hand with the palms facing upwards, the flame is between the 'wrists' and it is said that when the last nuclear weapon is destroyed the flame will be extinguished. Looking past the Eternal Flame is the Cenotaph and then the Museum. (The Museum is currently undergoing so major refurbishment so it's closed until April 2019)
The Cenotaph, which holds the names of all the victims of the bomb.It was the first memorial to be placed in the open field that was to become the park, in 1952. Each August the Memorial Service for the bomb victims is held here. The Ceremony begins at 8am with a minutes silence for the victims at 8.15am, the time the bomb exploded. The arch shape is to offer shelter to the souls of the victims.
There were so many deaths after the bomb exploded that leaving all those bodies in the open during the heat of the summer would have created a major health hazard. The bodies were placed here and cremated, the mound holds the ashes of 70,000 unidentified victims of the bomb.
Koreans were brought to Japan in the 1930s as Japan colonised the Korean peninsula. They were forced labourers and so the extract number of victims isn't known.
Hiroshima has streetcars (or if you're Australian, trams!), the easiest way to get to Peace Park is to catch the tram from the train station. There's now a very large sign outside the station, explaining in English, Chinese and Korean the whole process and which tram to catch. It's the Number 6 (the one pictured) or number 2 tram, the stop you need is Genbaku Domu mae and it takes about 15 minutes. You pay the fare when leaving the tram, correct coinage helps!
It is possible to walk and you'll certainly get to experience more of the city that way, it just takes longer, 30 to 40 minutes.
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