Reunion in Hiroshima

---

From one Atomic bomb devastated city to another! We caught the train to Hiroshima and, as in Nagaski, we arrived around midday so left the bags at the Dormy Hotel and headed off to the Peace Park less than five minutes walk away.

Although we visited Hiroshima two years ago, and had spent time exploring the Peace Park area, it's somewhere you almost feel drawn to. The Hiroshima Peace Park, a large park in the centre of the city, consists of the A-Bomb Dome, Childrens Peace Monument, Rest House, Peace Memorial Museum, International Conference Centre, National Peace Memorial Hall, Memorial Cenotaph, Peace Flame, Peace Bells, A-Bomb Memorial Mound, Cenotaph for Korean Victims, the Gates of Peace and much more. It is estimated that the detonation of the bomb over Hiroshima led to the death of as many as 140 thousand people by the end of 1945. The A-Bomb Dome which remains partially standing, is the skeletal ruins of the former Industrial Promotion Hall, the building closest to the hypocenter of the bomb dropped on 6 August 1945. The symbol for which Hiroshima is well known, it was left how it was after the bombing in memory of the casualties. It is an officially designated site of memory for the nation’s and humanity’s collectively shared heritage of catastrophe, on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The last time we were in the Peace Park we didn't visit the Memorial Museum so we were anxious to explore it this time. It consists of permanent exhibitons, recorded testimony of A-Bomb survivors, artifacts exhibited to convey the events and conditions in Hiroshima on 6 August 1945, exhibits depicting the current status of the nuclear age and Hiroshima's peace activities plus lots of historical information documenting events both during WW11 and earlier. We learnt a lot about Japanese history which didn't shy away from documenting atrocities conducting by the Japansse against their enemies and much more. We found it very impressive notwithstanding the horror of it all. The place of course was crowded with many Westerners as well as Japanese. This is in contrast to Nagaski where we didn't see many Westerners at all. And for me the Peace Park at Hiroshima has a somewhat stronger impact, possibly because it records the first bomb dropped and Hiroshima Day is commemorated around the world each year. But it also has to be said that Hiroshima is a thriving metropolis and well worth a visit for all the other delights it has to offer!

Back at the hotel, showered and changed into our glad rags we were ready to head off once more to meet Sappy - one of our Japanese homestays - and her mother Masako under the A-Bomb Dome. Having spent a couple of days with them - plus Sappy's brother - two years ago it really was great to see them again. All four of us headed off to have dinner at a restaurant they knew well - food was great, company even better and to top it all off Sappy and Masako gave Kev and I some presents. My presents included a beautiful blue scarf which will be a wonderful reminder of our friendship so I shall wear it with pride.

We met Sappy, Masako and two of Sappy's friends - Soari and Honami -the next day and all six of us caught a bus for the one hour journey to the castle town of Iwakuni with its famous Kintai Bridge originally built in 1673. Unfortunately it rained most of the day but that really didn't spoil our enjoyment - we were well served with umbrellas and Kev had his waterproof poncho. After lunch in a small restaurant, eating food which was typical of the area, we caught the cablecar up to Iwakuni Castle overlooking the town atop Mount Shiro. By the time we'd finished our wanderings and caught the bus back to Hiroshima it was after 5pm and since all good things come to an end we reluctantly said our goodbyes and went our seperate ways with promises to meet again in the not too distant future.

Now, after having eaten at a noodle bar just down the road from the hotel we are looking forward to catching the train to Tokyo tomorrow and meeting up with Ross again. The excitement mounts!!

---