Our last day in Japan we got back on the Shinkansen from Osaka to Hiroshima. I was very anxious for this as I did not know what to expect, how to feel, and stressed about the kids making WAY too much noise in a place of reflection and silence
This is the Hiroshima Prefectural Products Exhibition Hall A.K.A "The A-Bomb Dome" ~ The building was built in 1915 and this is what remains after the the atomic bombing on August 6, 1945. This is the only structure left standing near the bomb's hypocenter. The skeletal remains of this building are now protected by the UNESCO World Heritage. When reconstruction of Hiroshima began, these ruins became part of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
Several monuments and memorials
More views of the A-bomb Dome
So remember when I said I was stressing about about the kids making too much noise??? CJ was the worst child ever. He did not make a noise until he got to a place that it is wise to be moderately quite. He threw the worst tantrum ever, jumped up and down, screamed, kicked..... I finally said to him that I would leave him here if he did not be quiet :-) He was great the rest of the day!
Memorial tower to the mobilized students
Children's Peace Memorial
Memorial Cenotaph to the Korean victims and Peace Pond located behind
Memorial Museum
Pictures of the "Mushroom Cloud" and the places that these pictures were taken from. The black dots on the map below signify the location
The atomic bomb hypocenter
This section of the museum was a bit hard to take in. Seeing these bits of clothes belonging mostly to children and secondary school aged children was extremely sad. I know the bomb was a necessary evil, thousands of lives were saved, but the fact that so many innocent children were killed did not sit well with me.
This really did me in.... Seeing this tricycle was terrible
More school uniforms
That was the last picture I took inside the museum. Between Ashlynn breaking out into a mass coughing fit and Mike asking very loud questions about the bomb and what he was seeing made me get through as quickly as possible while still reading the exhibits.
Mike was too funny though ~ We walked into the museum and there was an exhibit with mannequins suffering from radiation damage, flesh falling off their face.... It was awful actually but Mike has no clue what he was looking at. We explained to him as delicately as possible in a way that a 4yr old would understand that a bomb was dropped on this city during the war.
This is Mike through the museum...
"You mean we took planes and opened them up and dropped bombs on these places"
"Oh did the bomb blow this up too?"
"DID THE BOMB DO THIS TO THE CLOTHES?"
I mean... They are innocent questions and he is only 4 but he was asking them as loud as he possibly could and was very intrigued at what we were looking at
Fountain of Prayer
Hiroshima Peace Bell
Peace Tower Clock
After the Peace Memorial Park we headed to Hiroshima Castle
This is a rebuild as the original came down in the blast
We didn't go inside this castle but the inside has been turned into a museum of Hiroshima before the atomic bombing
More artsy pictures... The colors!!!
He's Happy now :-)
Hiroshima Castle Park and City views
Back on the Shinkansen to Osaka
I was really glad that we decided to visit Hiroshima. At the beginning of 2015, Will and I visited Pearl Harbor and the start of WWII for the Americans. We are closing out 2015 with visit to Hiroshima and where WWII came to an end after the 2nd bomb was dropped in Nagasaki.
It was a humbling experience and I am fortunate that my kids were there to see it. Although they are young, they were still there and walked on a piece of our history.
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