Japan Trip Day 10: Hakai (Pictures)
Does this seem excessive yet? 10 days worth of photos. Well, I suppose that isn't exactly true, there are really only like 9 days worth of photos, since 1 and 2 were lumped together. And If I cut out the days with very few pictures, it becomes even less. But I'm going with 10 days so my vacation sounds like it was longer. So come along with me, and take a look at a slice of Hiroshima.
Two views from my hotel room in Hiroshima. If there had been an ocean or something there, this would have been a great view.
Hiroshima Castle. Or at least the walls inside the moat. I can't say that this building is historical, on account of it being less than 80 years old. I hear stories that some Americans may have destroyed the original back in 1945. This was not a planned stop, I just happened to pass it on my way to the real focus of this trip. Apparently within those walls, there are three trees that managed to survive the blast. One was nearly 1 kilometer from the center of the blast. I have been told that Hiroshima Castle now serves as a museum of Hiroshima.
I roamed around this dome quite a bit. This building shows just what the bomb was able to do. Later I will show my picture of their picture of this building after the bomb. People that know me really well (that will likely include just about nobody) will know I am a rather emotional man. This building, and some of the monuments around it left me choking back tears. Even now, looking back at this picture, I can’t help but feel an incredible sadness looking at this picture. So many lives, erased in the blink of an eye… so many more that suffered for years from the radiation poisoning.
This bell is kind of a sad story, and pretty gut-wrenching when you think about it. This is the Children's Peace Monument, also known as Sadako's Monument. It started out after a young girl named Sadako died due to cancer brought on by the fallout. Her classmates gathered funds to erect this monument. It now stands as a monument to ALL the children killed by the bomb. It hurts to think how many innocent lives were lost due to that bomb. Reading the story left me in tears. I honestly had to walk away from all of this to compose myself.
This is hard to see, but I didn't want to get too close and be unable to show the whole thing. This is an eternal flame. I believe this is to promote peace. Honestly, when I saw it I was kinda still really down after seeing Sadako's shrine and what it stood for.
With my emotions firmly bottled back up, I return to take more pictures of the dome. Around back, you can see some of the rubble from the explosion still litters the grounds around the dome.
This did not come out well. It's hard to read even zoomed in. But it tells how the dome stands to convey the tragedy of the first atomic bomb blast, and as a symbol of the vow to seek the abolition of nuclear weapons and everlasting world peace. I think it is also saying that this site was added to the World Heritage List on December 7th, 1996. That is 55 years to the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. I hardly think that was a coincidence. Also fun to note, in the Japanese portion that is translated below, there is one bit that isn't translated. It involves the 8 in the line about the dedication. Some may wonder what that 8 stands for since it isn't in the translation. That is to indicate that 1996 is Heisei 8. Japan has their own method of indicating what year it is. As of writing this, Japan is in the middle of Reiwa 5
Full disclosure, this single building is the entire reason I made the trip to Hiroshima. I felt that I needed to see this building. I could have stayed an extra day in Saga Prefecture, and not felt this heartache… but I am glad to have seen it in person.
This is the photo I mentioned earlier. That is a photo of the damage caused by the bomb. The sheer destructive power of those bombs is terrifying. And to think we have had almost 80 years to make them even more deadly. You can clearly see the dome on the right hand side of the picture, and the sheer amount of rubble surrounding it.
The dome through some trees.
The dome being all dome-y, It is worth noting that this dome isn’t 100% the building that survived the bomb. It has had reinforcement added to ensure that it stands for future generations.
Look! A water fountain that isn’t the dome!
The dome seen from the river. Well, technically it is from a bridge over the water, but yeah.
Back to the eternal flame. This one stands out a little better. Orange against green seems to work.
Another monument. I honestly don’t remember exactly what this one was for. Both shots are of the same monument. The second one is just up close on the angel at the base. Considering where this was located, I’m fairly sure this was probably a monument to peace.
I wanted a lot of angles of the dome. I do not ever want to forget standing there. Everyone needs to remember the destructive power of nuclear weapons. May this never happen again.
Let’s end this with something a little less heavy, shall we? Beer was very much needed after all that I just saw. But these people are rat bastards. They refused to sell me the glass. I mean sure, I probably could have swiped it and said screw you, but it isn’t in my nature to steal… at least not on purpose. You know… come to think of it, I don’t think I got a single souvenir from Hiroshima… damn.
