I went on a kind of pilgrimage today to see the site of an event that occurred just 52 days after I was born, and the destination was Hiroshima whose population is now 1.175 million, up from 400,000 at the time of that famous event on 6 August 1945. Nearly everything in the city post-dates 1945 when the first atomic bomb in the world roasted the city centre. So, around 9.00 this morning I boarded alone the Shinkansen from Okayama for the short (50 minute) journey over the 140km between the two cities. However, I was met at the other end by two postgraduate students from Hiroshima, Kawai Toyaaki and Miyawaki Kentari.
Both are pictured here outside the Honkawa National School, which was closer to ground zero than just about any other building in the city. More about that school later.
The most obvious symbol of the bombing was the Commercial Exhibition Hall, whose twisted steel dome is THE symbol of Hiroshima's disaster (second picture). This, and the school building, are two remnants still standing of the pre-war city. We saw plenty of maps and models showing the utter devastation wrought on the city. Within a 3 km
radius, just about everything except reinforced
concrete was vaporised.
The third picture shows a modern bridge on the site of the one almost directly under the explosion. The bridge was half-way between the exhibition centre and the school.
Nearby is the site of the fourth picture which is the children's memorial. Many died, but a 2 yo girl survived until she contracted Leukemia at the age of 10 and died. The sadness of this event led to a campaign to construct such a memorial funded by subscriptions from Japan and other countries.
The fifth picture shows the ceremonial avenue connecting the current museum (behind where the picture was taken) and the convention hall. The museum comprehensively records the events on that fateful August day. It covers the choice of cities to attack,
the nature of the atomic weapon and its origins, the bombing mission itself, pictures and memories of the explosion, the dynamics of the fire-ball and its spread, and - most harrowing of all - the horrific things it did to people, and why most injuries sustained could not be treated. The museum also traced the attempts to restore some life to the city and eventually re-build it.
I walked around the exhibits listening to English commentaries on the artifacts and exhibits, with well over 50 separate commentaries.
We found the famous Chinese Parasol Tree which was severely damaged by the explosion less than 1km from ground zero. However, its hollowed out and blackened trunk survived and regenerated before the tree was relocated to just outside the museum - a symbol of hope and regeneration.
Finally, we headed off to the Honkawa school and looked around the blackened walls of the gaunt surviving part of the structure located in the current school grounds. It was eerie see the inside of a building that took the full force of the explosion. The final picture shows a little of what the building looks like today.
After a whole morning on our feet, we finally decided on some lunch at a nearby cafe. Our day was not however over as the next post shows!
AS
The most obvious symbol of the bombing was the Commercial Exhibition Hall, whose twisted steel dome is THE symbol of Hiroshima's disaster (second picture). This, and the school building, are two remnants still standing of the pre-war city. We saw plenty of maps and models showing the utter devastation wrought on the city. Within a 3 km
radius, just about everything except reinforced
The third picture shows a modern bridge on the site of the one almost directly under the explosion. The bridge was half-way between the exhibition centre and the school.
Nearby is the site of the fourth picture which is the children's memorial. Many died, but a 2 yo girl survived until she contracted Leukemia at the age of 10 and died. The sadness of this event led to a campaign to construct such a memorial funded by subscriptions from Japan and other countries.
The fifth picture shows the ceremonial avenue connecting the current museum (behind where the picture was taken) and the convention hall. The museum comprehensively records the events on that fateful August day. It covers the choice of cities to attack,
I walked around the exhibits listening to English commentaries on the artifacts and exhibits, with well over 50 separate commentaries.
Finally, we headed off to the Honkawa school and looked around the blackened walls of the gaunt surviving part of the structure located in the current school grounds. It was eerie see the inside of a building that took the full force of the explosion. The final picture shows a little of what the building looks like today.
After a whole morning on our feet, we finally decided on some lunch at a nearby cafe. Our day was not however over as the next post shows!
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