A night bus saw us into Hiroshima several days ago...which was pretty much numero uno on my agenda of things to see/do in Japan. naturally the kick ass museum for which everyone said "ohmygawd Priya you simply must see it or life shant be worth living" was closed for the new years period. bollocks. i cried a river of bitter tears, ate some chocolate and got over it then wandered over to the A-dome for which words cant describe. thankfully someone tried and im going to plagiarise for it is the highest form of flattery
A-DomeExcerpt from info tablet at A-Dome Site:
"..At 8:15am August 6th, 1945, an American B29 Bomber dropped an atomic bomb, the first atomic bomb in human history. The bomb exploded approximately 600 meters above and 160 meters to the southeast of the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall. The building was crushed and gutted by fire. Everyone in the building died immediately. It is known now that the bomb subsequently killed more than 200,000 people.
However, because the blast came from almost directly above, some of the walls of the building remained standing, leaving enough of the building and iron structure at the top to be recognisable as a dome.
After the war, the badly damaged skeletal remains of the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotional Hall came to be known as the A-Bomb Dome.
For many years, opinions about the Dome were divided. Some felt it should be preserved as a memorial to the bombing, while others, calling it a dangerously dilapidated structure that evoked painful memories, advocated its destruction.
Gradually, as the city was rebuilt and other A-Bombed buildings vanished, the desire to preserve the Dome gathered strength. in 1966, the Hiroshima City Council passed a resolution declaring that the A-Bomb Dome would be preserved in perpetuity. This led to a campaign to raise the funds required to physically preserve the dome. Donations poured in from those who wished for peace in Japan and overseas. The first preservation project was implemented in 1967. Several preservation projects have been carried out to ensure the dome will always look as it did immediately after the bombing.
In December 1996, the A-Bomb Dome was formally registered on the World Heritage List as a historic witness to the tragedy of human history's first use of a nuclear weapon and as a universal peace monument appealing for the abolition of nuclear weapons and the realisation of lasting world peace. "
the lasting world peace bit may be a touch ambitious but aim high my mother always says.
a tree exposed to the radiation from the A-bomb about one and a half kilometres away from the hypocenter. the half of the trunk on the hypocenter side was burnt to a hollow from the explosion and heat rays. the tree is (miraculously) still growing, curling around the hollow.. some say its protecting the burn.
aww lookie.. St Paddys School from Kaiapoi, mighty NZ..made an entire shrine of cranes which is now lovingly housed at hiroshima
Hope everyones new year went swimmingly. I know mine did.
2 comments:
I've put much thought into this and I seriously think all we need for world peace is for everyone to be stoned 24/7.
aaand the Nobel Peace Prize goes to Mr Dewer.
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