We left Kyoto early in the morning and arrived in Hiroshima about 9:00am after a 1 1/2 hour ride on the Shinkansen (bullet train). We only had about 3 hours to go around, but that was enough to see most of the sights. It was pouring rain, so that slowed us down considerably, as did the BUS LOADS of tourists from various countries (none of them America.) It was a little annoying, honestly. I hadn't been to Japan for 20 years, and I have been shocked by the difference in the amount of foreign tourists here, especially in the big tourist areas like Kyoto and Hiroshima.
But, here we arrived in front of the Genbaku Dome, the iconic building left standing after the atomic bombing in August 1945. It is preserved as a reminder to the world of the devastation of nuclear weapons and war.
This building was a municipal building in Hiroshima before the bombing. Many people worked here and came here for various government business. It was full of people on the morning of the bombing, all of whom were killed instantly when the bomb went off, almost directly overhead. You can still see the dome shape of the building, which is now part of it's nickname, Atomic Bomb Dome, or Genbaku Dome.
Genbaku Dome is part of Peace Park, where other memorials stand. One of them is the Children's Memorial, which is dedicated to the children who were killed in the bombing or as a result of the effects of radiation afterwards. It was inspired by a little girl named Sadako, who was two in 1945 when the bomb went off. She and her family were far enough away from ground zero to survive the blast, but when Sadako was 12, she developed leukemia as a result of radation exposure. She decided to fold 1000 paper cranes as a testimony to her wish to live, infusing each one of them with her love and desire to survive her illness. Unfortunately, she died before she was able to complete her project, but the cranes have become a symbol of peace to people and especially children around the world. Millions of paper cranes are sent to Hiroshima every year from countries around the world.
Ellie rings the origami bell at the Children's Peace Memorial.
Ellie and Hannah ring the Peace Bell in Peace Park.