The picture above shows, what was until 6th August 1945, the Industrial Promotion Hall for the Hiroshima province (or prefecture as it is known locally). Since then it has become known coloquially and subsequently, officially, as the A-Bomb Dome. The first nuclear weapon every employed as a weapon of war exploded 600 metres above this building, and remarkably in my opinion, the structure shown above remained standing - if destroyed - as the rest of the structures and lifeforms in about a 2km radius crumbled or melted in about 500,000C heat.
The Peace Memorial Park in Hirsohima, where we spent the afternoon is a monument, not only to remember those killed due to the atomic bomb strikes on Japan in WWII, but as an argument against war and for peace. It hosts a flame that has been burning since the attack that will not be extinguished until all the world's nuclear weapons have been destroyed.
The city of Hiroshima and the park in particular are amazing - the city is thriving and the people are as accomodating and helpful as their counterparts elsewhere in the country. The park is in no way depressing, and is not used as a tool for seeking sympathy - the museum makes no excuses for Japan's agression in the war and denies nothing of the atrocities they committed at that time and others. Anyone who ever gets a chance to do so should visit the park, and if you, like me, ever got to see the US commemoration of the war in the Pacific with their memorial at Pearl Harbour, then you like me will likely be struck by the contrast between the message and memories portrayed by the victors and vanquished.
All that aside, we spent the remainder of the afternoon on Miyajima island, close to Hiroshima, where a(nother) Buddhist temple sits neatly at the foot of Misen - a picturesque mountain poking its way out of the bay to provide a home for a(nother) herd of sleepy deer. Very nice indeed.
After a day of bombs, shrines and deer we went to Hiroshima's Molly Malones (does every city have one?) for a taste of home before taking the Shinkansen back for our last night in Kyoto.
Back to Tokyo tomorrow, from where you will hear from us next.
