23rd March, 2016
After an amazing day exploring the Miyajima island, I made my way to the Peace Museum in Hiroshima after a nice warm morning coffee at the hostel. First, I went to the Atomic Bomb Dome. This is where the hypocenter of the atomic bomb that detonated about 600 meters above the ground lied on August 6, 1945 and is not a UNESCO World Heritage Site to remind the world about horros of atomic bomb. At the hypocenter was a dark, gloomy looking dome that had scars from the bomb still intact. As I walked around the dome, there were people giving out information on the bombing. I picked up one of the information books and sat down by the river reading through the pages. After reading for about 30 minutes through the book, I could not help but feel a deep sadness that pierced through my soul. All I thought at that moment was – How can humanity be capable of such a thing? One of the volunteer guides there was kind enough to take me to the epicenter of Little Boy. He recommended me to take a walk through the Peace Memorial Park and so I did.
At the park, there was memorial with a bell surrounded by thousands upon thousands of paper cranes to commemorate the victims of this horrific incident. In the park lied a tower to colsole the souls of the 7000 mobilized students of the war and their families. These children gave up their studies for labor services and were killed by the atomic bomb. The tower depicted Goddess of Peace accompanied by eight doves. Close to the tower lied the Cenotaph for the Atomic Bomb Victims which is a flame that has been burning in the name of the victims and their families, and to remind to the world that the scars and the sorrow still persists. To my shame, I did not enter the museum because of how I felt at that moment.
I decided to go to Hiroshima Castle instead. As opposed to other grand castles that I have seen, this one at Hiroshima was small and humble. In the castle complex I saw many buildings of which only the foundations were remaining. I went up the castle and looked around the city from the top and made a coin pendant for mark this day that I felt the utmost sorrow of my life. There were two trees in the castle complex that survived the bomb. It looked alive, but dead inside.
After the castle, I went to the Shukkein Garden, a Japanese style landscape garden with a pond full of colorful fishes and a circular path around it. This garden, once owned by a local feudal lord family in the Edo era, was nice to visit after an intense, emotional day. I felt at peace there and recollected myself until I made my way for Fukuoka.