At 8:15 am on August 6th, 1945, the atomic bomb "Little Boy" was dropped over the city of Hiroshima. Three days later another bomb was dropped over Nagasaki. Six days later, Japan surrendered to the Allies.
The unspeakable horrors that were inflicted on civilians for generations cannot be described in words.
Visiting the Hiroshima Peace Museum was on our must-do list when we were planning this trip. As a family, we had watched a documentary about Hiroshima together and a couple of weeks ago saw the famous film "Grave of the Fireflies" by Isao Takahata.
Last time I visited (2007), there was an exhibit where you could actually walk through a simulation of what it was like after the bombing. It felt insanely real. They have since decommissioned it, saying that the images, artefacts and personal anecdotes from survivors are enough to tell the story; there is no need to relive the nightmare and recreate it.
There is one particular story that stands out from all of this horror and that is of little Sadoko. She was 2 when the bomb dropped but developed leukemia later and died at age 12. When she was sick she pledged to fold 1000 paper cranes. She never completed her goal but the crane is now a symbol of peace.
There is no way to end this post but to ask ourselves: what is the price of peace for you?
 |
| After visiting the peace museum, we bought the book "Sadoko and the Thousand Paper Cranes" with instructions on how to fold a paper crane. Weary and quite simply emotionally drained, we got a snack at a 7-11, sat upstairs and folded our cranes. |
 |
| Remains of the Genbaku dome (atomic bomb dome). |
 |
| You can see the peace flame burning in the distance. It is said that when the world gets rid of all nuclear weapons, this flame shall be extinguished. |
 |
| A very sobering video of what happened in Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945. |
 |
| Millions of paper cranes from children all over the world. |
 |
| Ringing the Sadoko Children's Peace Monument. |
No comments:
Post a Comment