Hiroshima

Wednesday, 24 August, 2005
Day 5 – Hiroshima

Cam -
This was un-imaginable. We arrived by Shinkansen from Okayama at expense of one day of conference. I would forego a great many more things to have otherwise facilitated my understanding of this fearful event. Lost again at multi-level train station – found way with help of lonely planet, walking slower, and asking people who couldn’t speak English (but understood what we meant). Got to Peace Park where a destroyed government building shell minimally represented the ravage of the A-bomb. This is a place where perhaps even the cold-hearted could have a lump in their throat. I wish the camera could have captured the feeling.

It was deeply personal too. For want of a better description, I was almost relieved when Mark went to the loo in a way – For a few seconds I had a moment to personally and (holding-back) tearfully reflect. It wasn’t that I re-gained full composure, and nor did Mark (I think). For me, a moment of expression of anonymous grieving was necessary I guess, despite not knowing any of the living victims or living, related persons. I have dreamt of the suffering of these people as a result of A-bombs from an early age. For first ten minutes, lots of goose-bumps and thumping heart here.

We spent hours here – the mound where thousands of charmed body remains were placed, memorials to the 6000 children who lost their lives, lots of other memorials that we captured visually with camera. The facts and statistics are just awful.

We had a night in and got McDonalds for dinner – a food first for me in a long while, but really enjoyed it!! Found bilingual button on the remote (woo hoo!) and could watch some news, and also movies that were originally in English.

Mark -
After another Shinkansen trip, we arrived in Hiroshima.
Got lost just getting out of the station; Japan sometimes had that effect on us.

Found the Information Desk, post office and tramline station. Decided on buying the day pass for trams and off we went.

A trip with the locals ended but a hundred or so meters from ground zero. The scant remains a government building, all but a few walls and parts of a metal dome seem to make the stories all real.
We wandered around the park passing several amazing monuments. We found a bell tower that was surrounded by origami cranes. Rang the bell and thought of the thousands of children killed on that infamous day.

An hour walking through the museum (with very helpful English translator headphones), and passing some heart wrenching artifacts, we arrived at a piece of history captured on some stone steps. An imprint of someone, probably a woman, left at the moment of the blast.

After collecting our thoughts, heading off for a bit of a sit down and a quick lunch stop, we headed back to the tram down to Hiroshima Bay to gaze at the Floating Gate. Viewed from afar and then back on the train for 25mins back to JR Hiroshima, back to Okayama.

Maccas for dinner. Easy and quick for early to bed. Big day, physically and emotionally.