One day Trip to
Hiroshima, Japan
Hiroshima is a city the world will always relate with the
destruction caused by the Atomic Bomb blast in Second World War. Now modern and
friendly, the city was completely destroyed and devastated on August 6, 1945.
In summers, just before 69th anniversary of A-bombing, my son and I
visited Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Museum on a pleasant sunny summer day.
Hiroshima is one-hour journey by bullet train (called
Shinkansen in Japanese) from our hometown –Kobe. My seven-year old son was
thrilled and enjoyed his time in the bullet train. Since it was a one-day trip
and we had limited hours in Hiroshima, we rushed to board the streetcar bound
to the Museum. It is located near the famous T-bridge called Aioi Bridge, which
was the epicenter of the atomic bomb. Our eyes couldn’t stop being moist whilst
we saw the famous dome’s scaffolding, which survived the drastic atomic bomb blast.
Reading about it in history books and actually seeing it in reality is
completely different emotional experience. Holding my son’s hand and walking on
ground zero towards the Peace Park was an unforgettable moment. It was both
fascinating and terrifying. Outside the museum few retired social workers were happily
cleaning the streets. Japanese are fanatic about cleanliness and are proud to
keep their city clean. A bunch of elementary school students, who were on a
field trip waved at us and we cheerfully reciprocated. They also posed for a
picture for us! The city had a radiant and carefree atmosphere and it was
difficult to believe that it has been re-built from scratch and had endured
A-bomb blast.
The museum made history come to life. Inside the museum, the
real leftover artifacts explicitly explained the aftermath of an atomic bomb
explosion. We could feel the immense pain and sufferings of the survivors; we
felt their sharp burns from the heat and fire; we could hear their crying, helpless
voices asking for help. I could picture myself folding those paper cranes with tragic
little girl-Sadako, who was affected by the radiation and she thought folding
thousand cranes would cure her. Several pictures of the mushroom cloud and the
real sized bomb – Little Boy was
thought provoking for my candid son. He still couldn’t understand the reason
behind this violent explosion and was wondering why human being has to hurt each
other. Why we cannot co-exist peacefully?
The in-house souvenir shop offered many books in Japanese
and English on the tales of the survivors. My son bought a book named – The
Lunch Box, a story about the unconsumed lunch of a boy that turned into a black
solid box after the blast. My son immediately recalled the real Lunch box artifact
he just saw inside. The Japanese staff
and the volunteers were very friendly, helpful and kind. We were asked to write
a peace message for humanity at the exit.
People in Hiroshima didn’t show any grudge or hatred. Instead
they gave us hope and are actively promoting peace in the world. Japan is
nuclear-free since September 2013. Their
eyes reflected only one emotion – pure forgiveness. It is said that if you
don’t know history then you don’t know who you are. The visit made me learn few
precious lessons-love, peace and forgiveness and had touched my soul deeply.
