Afternoon in Hiroshima

We spent this afternoon in Hiroshima, visiting the Peace Memorial Park and the Peace Memorial Museum.  We fielded lots of questions (most of which we didn't have answers to) on our way to Hiroshima, and I was thrilled to see that most, if not all, of their questions were answered.  They will blog tomorrow about their impressions, so check back on senakids.blogspot.com soon for that.


We were approached before we walked into the Museum by two women asking if we were tourists. One woman then explained that her great-grandfather had been killed in the attack, and that her grandmother had only survived because she had a stomach ache and hadn't gone into town that morning.  As a survivor, she (and all Hiroshima survivors - called hibakusha) are given free health care for the rest of their lives by the Japanese government. We peppered her with questions until she started telling us that as Jehovah's Witnesses, they are guaranteed eternal peace - seemed like a good time to say thank you and explain that we had to rush into the Museum to beat the crowds!

From the Peace Memorial Park - one of the only reminders of pre-bomb Hiroshima is the A-Bomb Dome:

In all honesty, I was a bit tentative about bringing the kids there - not that I didn't want them to learn about the history, but I was worried that it might overwhelm them a bit, and that uncomfortableness would translate into silliness. I shouldn't have been worried.  They were horrified, fascinated, interested, and somber.  We got them each a headset and let them wander through at their own pace - helpful for all of us, so that each could focus on the areas most interesting to us.


The museum is incredibly well done, especially from the perspective of an American. While I visited Hiroshima years ago with my family, I didn't remember the museum well, and I wasn't sure if we would feel defensive/admonished/guilty while there. In fact, the museum felt very welcoming. It was clear from the start that they have built this museum not just to remember those killed and injured in the attack, but more so to promote peace and the hope that atomic bombs won't be dropped again.

It was hard not to be sobered by the pictures and the models of before and after in Hiroshima:

Hiroshima was picked as the place to drop the bomb (out of 4 options the US considered) because it was the biggest city that hadn't yet been bombed, so they were able to measure the damage more accurately.  It had been a highly populated city, and the regrowth into a city dedicated to peace is really both startling and inspiring.

We saw many, many groups of students visiting the museum.

When we left the museum, we talked while walking to a local park to let the kids kick a soccer ball around.  The conversation was terrific - lots of questions about foreign policy, different reasons for war, why our relationship with other countries is oftentimes complicated, and some pretty impressive questions and insight from the kids on war and peace.  Their teachers would have been proud - we sure were.