Hiroshima

Hiroshima is located in western Honshu. It is a major industrial centre and thriving city. However, think of Hiroshima and immediately the 'Hiroshima Bomb' comes to mind. Reminders of that terrible day, 6 August 1945 at 8.15am, when the city became the world's first atomic target are evident.

Our first visit today was to the sacred Island of Miyajima just a 10 minute ferry ride away. As you sail in you can see a red painted camphor wood gate, known as the Tori gate, on the beach that looks as if it is floating when the tide is in. The main sight there is the Itsukushima Shrine with many stages and corridors to wander through. Many shops and food stalls lined the pathway out.

We were taken into the Grand Prince Hotel in Hiroshima for a Western style lunch. Quite good.

In the afternoon we went to the A-Bomb Dome. This mangled shell of the Industrial Promotion Hall built in 1914 has been preserved as a historical reminder of Hiroshima's suffering. Walking through the Peace Memorial Park takes you to the Children's Peace Monument which is a statue of a young girl called Sadako and then up to the cenotaph. The flame beneath the archway of the cenotaph will only be extinguished when all known nuclear weapons have been destroyed.

Sadako, along with many other children, contracted leukaemia from the after effects of the bomb. She believed that if she could fold 1000 paper cranes, the symbol of longevity and happiness in Japan, then she would recover. Sadly she died before she could complete them.

The Peace Memorial Museum presents a balanced picture of why the atrocity took place and the terrible after effects. Exhibits of items of clothing and personal effects, especially of the children and the graphic photographs of some of the victims are horrific and hugely moving.

On a lighter note we learnt how to count up to 99 in Japanese and shown how to make a paper crane.

A long but interesting day.