In Memoriam

Memorial Monument for Hiroshima, City of Peace

Erected 6 August 1952

This monument was erected in the hope that Hiroshima, devastated by the world's first atomic bomb on 6 August 1945, would be rebuilt as a city of peace.

The epitaph reads, "Let all the souls here rest in peace; for we shall not repeat the evil." It summons people everywhere to pray for the repose of the souls of the deceased A-bomb victims and to join in the pledge never to repeat the evil of war. It thus expresses the "Heart of Hiroshima" which, enduring past grief and overcoming hatred, yearns for the realization of true world peace with the coexistence and prosperity of all humankind.

This monument is also called the "A-bomb Cenotaph," for the stone chest in the center contains the register of deceased A-bomb victims.

Hope: Hiroshima Today

After looking at that last picture, it's encouraging to see the life in this one. Hiroshima is a thriving and beautiful city, one of the prettiest we've been to. (In fact, after finding out that there's a JCI office in Hiroshima, I pouted a bit that we were assigned to Uglyville.) 

After the Bomb

This is a picture of Hiroshima after the bomb (click to enlarge). The bombing was, I believe, on August 6, 1945. I think this picture was taken in October. [WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT] It's amazing that anyone survived this, but many did - though not so close to the hypocenter, around where this photo was taken. Some were incinerated, leaving black silhouettes on the ground. Some had skin melted and hanging off their bodies. Many had third-degree burns all over. Some survived the initial bombing but died in the fires that followed, trapped in collasped buildings. The most awful were the ones who survived both the bomb and the fires only to succumb to acute radiation sickness in the months that followed - blood vessels bursting under the skin, sores in the mouth... The museum told the story of two siblings with radiation poisoning. The younger, a boy, died after several agonizing weeks, during which his mother said he vomited what looked like parts of his internal organs. The older, a girl, survived, but endured considerable suffering of her own, including a throat swollen nearly shut with a massive blister filled with blood and pus. She began to get better when that burst and is alive today, though she's struggled with cancer on more than one occasion.

Dome and Willow

Here is another view of the dome, through a willow tree on the river. 

A-Bomb Dome

A view of the dome. 

Twisted Metal

For some reason, this staircase encapsulated the horrific intensity of this bomb for me more than anything else - despite the partial collapse of this building and the photos of the absolute devastation surrounding it. This metal spiral staircase is, of course, in the A-Bomb Dome as well. If you look closely, you can see how it was warped, bent, and twisted from the heat and pressure of the explosion. Amazing that a metal staircase could be melted in just an instant. 

Midst of Destruction

Another view of the A-Bomb Dome, this through the first floor. You can still see the rubble around it from the parts of the building that collapsed. In addition to intense heat, the bomb projected an incredible atmospheric force that also knocked buildings down (that's what you see in the movies when a bomb goes off and our hero goes flying through the air). The initial force was immediately followed by an extremely intense "backdraft" (no idea if that's even close to the right word) that blew back toward the center of the explosion. That's because the outward force of the explosion left a really low pressure area in its center, which the higher pressure all around rushed in to fill. Got it? :) 

In Honor of Kim Jong-Il

In honor of the fine North Korean dictator's recent test of a nuclear bomb, I thought I'd post a couple photos from our weekend trip to Hiroshima. Nice timing, Kim-san. Actually visiting this place makes the whole nuclear thing just a little bit more real - and a lot more scary. This is a photo looking up at the A-Bomb Dome, preserved as a witness against nuclear arms. It had a copper dome on top, which melted instantly - and no wonder, with surface temperatures reaching 5000 degrees Celsius. Everyone in this building was killed.