A Somber Day in Hiroshima

March 11, 2024

In the middle of Hiroshima two rivers converge to form one.  A vehichuler bridge crosses this river just above where the rivers merge. In the middle of the bridge another smaller bridge goes perpendicular to it allowing pedestrians to cross to the strip of land between the two rivers.  On the morning of August 6, 1945 this "T" bridge was the target for the crew of an American B-29 caring an atomic bomb. The bomb missed its target by about 600 feet, detonating about 2000 feet above a large domed building.  The bomb had the explosive power of an estimated 21,000 tons of TNT. The flash of the bomb exploding was estimated as 10 times as bright as the sun and the temperature  was around 3000 degrees celsius.  The people working the domed building were killed instantly as were thousands in the immediate area. Eventually almost  140,000 people died as a result of this bomb. Miraculously several of the walls and the superstructure of the domed building survived, and remain standing today.  Scientists believe that the walls remained standing because the force of the bomb came straight down.  Near the domed building is a statue commemorating this spot as ground zero. The statue is called the Goddess of Peace. This statue represents three religions.  The face of the statue looks like the face of Buddah, the belt around her robe represents Shintoism, and her angel wings represent Christianity. 

The large area below the "T"  is now known as the Peace Park.  Coming across the bridge the first thing we encountered was the Peace Tower.  Not far from the Peace Tower was the Bell of Peace.  This bell is similar to the bells seen in Buddhist Temples. The oblong shaped bell is about three feet long and next to it is a long rod, probably six feet long and at least 6 inches in diameter.  It hangs from two ropes parallel to the ground. A rope hangs from the rod that one uses to swing the rod into the bell. People are encouraged to ring the bell as they offer a prayer for world peace. Tim did this.

Continuing along the path we came to the Childrens Memorial to Peace. There is a tradition among children in Japan that suggests that if you construct 1000 small origami folded cranes you will have good luck.  A two year old little girl survived the bombing and started making these tiny cranes. When she was 10 she was diagnosed with leukemia and soon died not having completed her 1000 cranes. This story spread quickly all over Japan and soon money was raised for this memorial.  At the top of the memorial is a statue of a girl with her arms raised over her head. An origami shaped crane sits upon her hands. To this day elementary students all over Japan create chains of 1000 cranes and send them to be displayed in cabinets around the memorial.  Our guide had some individual origami cranes that she offered to us to place in one of the cabinets.  Lynda did this.

Further along the path we came to the Eternal Flame of Peace. It will only be extinguished  when there are no longer any nuclear weapons in the world.  The final memorial was a small gracefully shaped arch with a sarcophagus underneath it. This sarcophagus contains the names of everyone who's death was the direct result of the August 6, 1945 bombing. A ceremony is held ever August 6th and, if need be, names are added to the sarcophagus.  In 2023 over 3000 people were identified and their names were added.

At the end of the path is the Peace Memorial Museum. The first exhibit in the Museum is a circular map of the ground zero area of Hirosima. If you have been to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and seen the map there that describes the Battle of Gettysburg you will understand what we are refering to. This map shows Hiroshima as it might have looked like in 1945.  Through the magic of modern technology  you suddenly see the bomb drop and hit the map at ground zero.  Smoke and light flare out from the center to the edges of the map. After the smoke clears one sees Hiroshima as it would have looked after the bombing. It is a very disturbing depiction of the bombing and is a fitting prelude to the rest of the exhibit. What follows are gruesome displays of shredded clothing of people killed in the bombing, pictures of the dead bodies laying about, and pictures of the people who survived.  There were many people going through this exhibit but you could have heard a pin drop. The silence was deafening.  The Peace Museum reminded us in many ways of the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.

The crew on board our ship is very friendly.  At dinner the waiters always ask if you enjoyed your day.  Monday night it was very difficult to say we enjoyed our day when asked.  The day was a sobering reminder of the horrors of war.