Quick stop in Hiroshima
Jumping back on the Skinkansen heading to Kyoto from Fukuoka you have to pass through Hiroshima so it made sense to stop off and visit the Peace Museum and Atom Bomb Dome. We got to the station around 9 and knew we only had a few hours, so decided to focus on the Museum etc., and pass over the city itself.
Heading for the dome on the excellent tram system we had no idea what to expect and as soon as you get off the tram you are confronted with the iconic image of the shattered dome building. The last place on earth you wanted to be standing at 8:15 on the 6th August 1945. To get to the museum you have to walk through the park and past the children's memorial as well as the memorial at which the annual day of rememberance is held. The museum is so cheap it's practically free to encourage everyone to see it.
The exhibition is unbelievably moving and made us feel a whole range of emotions as we moved through it. There was anger at the stupidity of creating such murderous weapons, more anger and shame for those idiotic enough to have actually used them and revulsion at the the thought of them ever being used again. The museum is incredibly well balanced in its presentation of the events leading up to and beyond the dropping of the bomb and our understanding of those events was massively increased. We both felt that any visitor could not help but be moved and appalled by the suffering inflicted on the inhabitants of Hiroshima that day. In fact looking around as we left you could see on people's faces how deeply moved they were, with lots of people red eyed and close to tears. Us included.
Its hard to call the experience a highlight given the subject matter, but if you do nothing else on a visit to Japan please come here!!
