On the day we caught the shinkansen to Hiroshima, perhaps fittingly, it was raining. We walked past the A-bomb dome, the eternal flame, and visited the Hall of Rememberance and the Peace Memorial museum. I found the whole experience incredibly sorrowful and thought-provoking, but essential to experience at least once. Even though there were so many visitors to the museum, the mood was solemn and respectful. Especially moving were the personal testimonies of those caught up in the tragedy, recorded decades later for the world to share; as well as the personal mementos donated by the families who had lost children - tattered scraps of uniforms, a watch, even a bento box preserved by the radiation, the rice gone completely black. The legacy of grief and loss continues some 60 years on. It's incomprehensible that
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