It's unfortunate that the event which had made Hiroshima so famous was such a horrible atrocity. The U.S. dropped the world's first atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. The city was effectively destroyed. It is estimated that 200 000 people were killed in the initial blast and subsequent fires. Radiation sickness and cancers plagued the survivors. To this day, there is still a higher rate of cancer in Hiroshima than any other Japanese city.Purely by coincidence, Sue and I arrived in Hiroshima on the eve of the 54th anniversary of the bomb. Thousands of tourists, Japanese and foreigners alike, filled the city to pay their respects to those who perished on that horrible day. There was a ceremony held at the city's Peace Memorial Park on the morning of the 6th. The park is located approximately at the hypocenter of the bomb. An entire neighbourhood, which was completely obilterated, was converted to a park containing a variety of memorials and a museum.
The picture below is actually a torch. It didn't show up well in the picture, but there's a flame burning in the center. This is similar to an eternal flame, but not identicle. The flame will be extinguished on the day that the world's last nuclear weapon is destroyed.
In the background, you can see the edge of the Peace Memorial Museum. The museum is dedicated to the history of nuclear warfare. It's a very depressing place, but interesting at the same time. I believe that there should be an international agreement that whoever is in power in a nuclear capable country should be forced to spend a day in this museum. It goes without saying that the Japanese government is strongly opposed to the use of nuclear weapons. The museum contains a copy of letters written by the past mayors of Hiroshima. One letter has been written to the leader of the country for every known nuclear weapons test since 1945, pleading that the testing be stopped. If you want a reason why, take a look at this bike. It was found approximately 2km from the bomb hypocenter.
A couple decades ago, a young hiroshima girl discovered she had leukemia. It came on her very quickly. She decided that she would spend all of her time in the hospital making paper cranes - the Japanese symbol for health and peace. She decided that if she could make 1000 of these paper cranes, then she would survive. She died before reaching 650. Classmates from her school finished making the 1000 cranes and left them in the Peace Memorial Park. A statue was erected in her memory. Now, every year, thousands of students across the country make millions of the paper cranes and leave them at the base of the statue on August 6th to honour her bravery.
