Hiroshima
When I came to Japan I knew there were a few places that I simply must visit. Hiroshima was one of those places. I knew that it would be a difficult place to visit, but I also knew that it was one of those places that I should go to. In some ways I almost felt as though I had to pay my respects.
While we were there we visited all the memorials and statues relating to the A-bomb and we visited the museum as well. What surprised me most was that the museums and memorials didn’t focus on pointing fingers or placing blame. Instead they focused all that energy, which I have to believe is there, into making the point and the statement that, regardless of blame, nuclear weaponry and warfare is a destructive choice and that the world we live in would be a better place if that threat didn’t exist. I couldn’t agree with them more.
Obviously, Hiroshima wasn’t the most uplifting place in the world. The Peace Museum, especially, was filled with artifacts and explanations that were disturbing and gut-wrenching. However, there is hope and light that came out of that destruction. The spirit of the people of Hiroshima is strong and I am amazed at their resilience. Within a few days after the bomb was dropped the people of Hiroshima began to rebuild. In less than a week, for example, they had a few street cars running. That takes strength and determination to move forward so quickly, and it is clear they haven’t stopped since.
Hiroshima, despite being obliterated in 1945, has been rebuilt into a modern, bustling Japanese city. In fact, it is considered the financial center of the region and western Japan. A pretty amazing recovery, if you ask me.
So, if you happen to be planning a visit around Japan, don’t hesitate to visit Hiroshima. I think that it is a place that every person should visit at least once to see first-hand what an impact nuclear warfare has on this earth. If we all had a more personal experience with such things, and visiting the museum for a day is a far less personal experience than the people of Hiroshima were forced to endure, perhaps things would change for the better. At least, I hope things would change.
It’s amazing how Hiroshima turned itself from almost being wiped off the map to being a good-sized, well-run city in what seems like no time at all. Meanwhile here in the US, nothing seems to be getting done with the remnants of Hurricane Katrina. It’s pretty pathetic.
This is going to sound strange, but for a lot of the reasons you mentioned, I found Hiroshima a strangely uplifting place to visit. The place was nuked, and yet it is still there. There are plants and people and animals. It is a testament to survival. It is also a testament to the people who did heroic things there and rebuilt.
Like you said, one of the amazing things is that throughout the park, there is a recognition that we are all in this together and nuclear weapons don’t contribute to our long-term survival chances.
There is a lot of discussion about whether or not the atomic bomb saved the U.S. and Japanese a costly invasion that would have been more hurtful to each side. While this may be true, the good thing about Hiroshima is that it recognizes that the horror of the atomic bomb is independent of those kinds of considerations.
I was at Pearl Harbor and Hiroshima in the space of one year. I saw the beginning and the end of World War II in the pacific for the U.S. the one thing I learned is a lot of people paid for the ambitions of a few.
I need to add something here, which is that Hiroshima is not just a place where the bomb dropped. Jill and I had the opportunity to go through the city, and eat and shop, and move around. The people were very engaging and glad to have us there. It is where I had one of my more awkward but successful bouts with the Japanese language thanks to a battered dictionary and a patient teen-aged Tower Records clerk.
So, I agree, people visiting Japan should see Hiroshima, both for its past and it present.