Hiroshima Peace Museum

On 8:15 AM, August Sixth, 1945, an atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Over 350 school children were killed while building a fire break and 140,000 people were dead due to radiation, burns or instant incineration by the end of the year. The Atomic Bomb Dome was the only building at ground zero that survived the blast and is now just a corpse of its former self.
Yesterday we had the experience of visiting Hiroshima Peace Park and learning about the aftermath of the horrific history that the city has witnessed. We walked around memorials and gardens commemorating the precious lives lost. Nicholas added an oragami crane to Sadako’s collection. Japanese legend says that one who folds 1,000 paper cranes will be granted one wish. Sadako, a young girl suffering from leukemia, an effect from her exposure to radiation, folded 644 figurines and praying for a cure, before her death. Cranes in Japan symbolize peace and hope which is why the are so important to Hiroshima. We learned of the first hand accounts of survivors and the heart breaking tales from family members who lost their sons who had either perished at school or died of injuries soon after. A pocket watch frozen at the time 8:15 was on display alongside burned clothes and glass bottles fused together by the heat of the blast. Peace is very important to the people of this scared city and we left with one message resonating in our ears. The horrors of Hiroshima must not be forgotten.