This museum was the single most intense experience of my life. The things I saw and read within will remain with me forever. Simply reviewing and uploading the videos has made me shaky and upset. I could barely bring myself to write the video descriptions.
Visiting the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and Museum opened by eyes. I’ve never been a proponent of war, but I am unequivocally opposed to nuclear weapons and I am certain that any person, regardless of background, would agree after seeing the museum’s many informational and emotional exhibits.
For my friends and family at home, I have a plethora of pamplets and books with priceless information about August 7, 1945. I will gladly share it all with you.
For anyone who has stumbled upon this, I strongly recommend the following:
– John Hersey’s book, Hiroshima, interviews with survivors in 1946. (Available at Amazon or free from the NYPL.)
– Drawings by Survivors, a special museum exhibit. See the site here.
Watch all 8 videos in succession here, Hiroshima – YouTube playlist.
The A-Bomb Dome in Hiroshima, Japan. The city of Hiroshima keeps the Dome in its exact state from 1945. The hypocenter for the attack was a few minutes’ walk from the Dome, one of the few buildings left standing in the city.
A view from the center of the park.
This section of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park was constructed at the request of school children. A young girl named Sasaki Sadako was diagnosed with leukemia nearly 10 years after being exposed to the radiation from the atomic bomb as a toddler. While in the hospital, Sadako started to fold paper cranes. She believed that if she folded 1,000 she would get better. Sadako died on October 25, 1995.
“Memorial Monument for Hiroshima, City of Peace (Memorial Cenotaph for the A-Bomb Victims) Erected 6 August 1952
Let all the souls here rest in peace for we shall not repeat the evil.
This monument embodies the hope that Hiroshima, devastated on 6 August 1945 by the world’s first atomic bombing, will stand forever as a city of peace. The stone chamber in the center contains the Register of Deceased A-bomb Victims. The inscription on the front panel offers a prayer for the peaceful repose of the victims and a pledge on behalf of all humanity never to repeat the evil of war. It expresses the spirit of Hiroshima – enduring grief, transcending hatred, pursuing harmony and prosperity for all, and yearning for genuine, lasting world peace.” – text engraved at the stone at the foot of the cenotaph.
A recreation of destruction in the hallway on one of the upper floors of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima, Japan.
Visit the museum’s virtual site here:http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/virtual/index_e.html
Clothing remains of children killed by the atomic bomb in Hiroshima and a full-scale recreation scene inside the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.
“Tricycle and metal helmet, Donated by Nobuo Tetsutani, 1,500 m from the hypocenter, Higashi-hakushima-cho
Shinichi Tetsutani (then 3 years and 11 months) loved to ride his tricycle. That morning, he was riding in front of his house when, in a sudden flash, he and his tricycle were badly burned. He died that night. His fater felt he was too young to be buried in a lonely grave away from home, and thinking he could still play with the tricycle, he buried Shinichi with the tricycle in the backyard.
In the summer of 1985, forty years later, his father dug up Shinichi’s remains and transferred them to the family grave.
This tricycle and helmet, after sleeping for 40 years in the backyard with Shinichi, were donated to the Peace Memorial Museum.” – sign.
For more information, visit the comprehensive memorial and museum site at http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/top_e.html.
For photos, see Mike’s blog post, “I’ve Met the Atomic Bomb”.
garrulous gaijin 