Japanese Vacation

My first day of vacation and I just stayed local and went on an all-nighter with Brian from Hawaii, Tish from Atlanta, Bryce from New Zealand, and Leigh from England. The next day I went south to Hiroshia. In case you don't recall the name, Hiroshima was the worlds first nuclear bomb target during WWII in 1945. In the center of the town is Peace Park, which is a beautiful park where two rivers join together. It's lined with trees and too many memorials to name. There are several museums on the park grounds, mainly the Peace Memorial Museum. It's a great place to just chill and read or relax or just walk around and take everything in. At night, the park is equally beautiful with lit up memorials, statues, fountains, and the two rivers. It's such an interesting historical area, with structures such as:

01before

The A-bomb Dome: this is the most common symbol of the destruction of the A-bomb. The A bomb exploded directly above this building and it was the only building not completely destroyed.

02after

Children's Peace Memorial: this is a memorial dedicated to the children lost due to the bombing, but especially toward one child in particular, Sadako. Sadako was truly one of the bombs most innocent victims, an unborn child, who developed Leukemia at the age of 10 because of the bombs radiation effect. In the background of this pic you can see many colors housed in storage-like glass structures, well, these colors are actually origami cranes, the symbol of longevity and happiness in Japan. Sadako was convinced that if she could fold 1000 paper cranes she would recover, but she died having completed 644 cranes. The children at her school finished the rest for her and her story inspired millions to do the same and is still an inspiration to this day. Every day the memorial is covered with paper cranes delivered by students from across Japan. Many times, the children will lay down their cranes about the base of the memorial and sing songs about Sadako before having their gift placed into the storage. It was great being able to experience seeing this!

03a

Memorial Cenotaph: this is a memorial that contains all the names of the known victims of the bomb and, in the right spot, frames the A bomb dome and the Flame of Peace, which will burn until the last nuclear weapon on earth is destroyed.

Hiroshima is a beautiful, yet humbling city to visit. In fact, a visit to Japan without a stop in Hiroshima is not only ill-advised, but would show a deep lack of respect and understanding of Japanese history...in my estimation! ;)

04adome

05children

06night

07statue

08meno

09tri

10cl

11coins

12mc

13shadow

14hands

15storm