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  Hiroshima, Chugoku, Japan
Sunday, October 5, 2008

Experiencing Hiroshima has been....as I sit and think of a word to write there, so many come to mind, and yet none are the right ones. 'Amazing' implies that it is a positive experience. It is not. 'Awe inspiring' is close in that one is in awe to see the dispays, monuments, paper cranes, museum, and other sights, but again, the two words are not correct. 'Wonderful' is too flowery a word, and again has such positive connotations. On the other hand I would not say that experiencing Hiroshima has been a negative experience. We learn from past atrocities, that is why we take time to remember, to teach our kids about them and to try to do things differently, to do things better next time. Sometimes sadness and pain cause us to change our behavior. Sometimes sadness and pain cause us to inflict greater sadness and pain on others in order to feel better ourselves. We have all heard about the school yard bully. How do we encourage the bullies in the governments of the day to change their behavior, to seek peaceful solutions, to be less greedy. Greed. I want, I want, more, more, more. The solutions seem simple. They never are.

Hiroshima has been a positive experience. Today I walked around the A-Bomb Dome again. We were there 2 days ago when we went to the museum. Jim and the kids wanted to go to the Hiroshima Castle, so we parted ways for awhile. A woman approached me and offered her services as a free guide. She is studying at University and wants to learn english. She had a three ring binder full of photos and diagrams to show me the sights immedieately around the dome.

The A-Bomb Dome is a building which still stands after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. It is very close to the epi-center, and therefore was able to remain standing. This sounds a bit wierd, but it would not have been subject to the strong winds created by the blast, nor the winds rushing back into the vacuum. It has been preserved and is now a world heritage sight.

My guide showed me a grave yard that was almost exactly below the bomb when it exploded. The sides of all of the tomb stones were smooth granite, while the tops were rough. There was dark staining on the stones from the black rain that fell shortly after the explosion. The black rain contained large amounts of radiation, suit, and ash. The black rain also fell on survivors as they attempted to flee. Her gift to me at the end of the tour was a paper crane. The crane became a symbol of Hiroshima, but the story started with a girl the age of 11, Sadako, who survived the blast at the age of two, and who ran with her parents through the black rain. Eight years later Sadako developed leukemia. Sadako believed that by folding 1000 paper cranes her disease would be cured. She died a short time later, but the legacy of the paper crane continues. Peace park houses millions of paper cranes, many of which are under shelters. They are sent here from all over the world. This is what makes Hiroshima a positive experience, the message of peace that exists all over the city.


Tomorrow we head to Kyoto to spend some time with neighbors from Saskatoon, Izumi, Nobu, and Alice. We have 5 days with them and then go to Beijing.

Sandy

Post your own travel photos for friends and family Pictures

Hiroshima after the bomb	Looking toward the A-bomb Dome	Mass burial	Monument outside Museum
Monument outside the museum	Monument to Sadako with paper cranes	Photo of Mother Teresa in the museum	Sadako, the 1000 paper cranes girl
The A-Bomb Dome	The Aioi Bridge, the Enola Gay's target

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