Hiroshima's Strength

If you visited Hiroshima without knowing its history, you likely wouldn't have any idea that it had been virtually annihilated during WWII.  The city is bustling, with buildings and parks and activity all around. 

But they will never forget.

In the heart of the city is the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, which includes the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.  The museum explores the lead-up to the dropping of the first atomic bomb as well as its devastating effects.  It  does so in a very journalistic style, focusing heavily on facts, photos, artefacts and collections of belongings left by the victims.  The museum was incredibly powerful and utterly devastating and somehow managed to convey the horror of the event without a heavy focus on apportioning blame.  This helped to reinforce its underlying message - a call for the destruction of nuclear weapons and a focus on sustained peace.

A replica of the Atomic Bomb

The Memorial Park surrounding the Museum has a number of memorials and monuments, including the Memorial Cenotaph displaying the names of all of the victims, the Children’s Peace Monument and the Atomic Dome, which was the only structure that partially survived the bomb.  There is also a Peace Flame, which was lit in 1964 and will remain lit until all nuclear bombs on the plant are destroyed.

The Memorial Park is a constant reminder of the devastation that was thrust upon the city.  But the beautiful cherry blossoms and regrowth that has bloomed around and beyond the Park suggests that life can emerge again after such horror.