Hiroshima Peace Park
I will warn you that this blog entry is a bit graphic and emotional as it describes the Peace Museum of Hiroshima. So if you are sensitive to those kinds of things, please read with care.
As an international relations major and history nerd, I was really looking forward to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. I had already steeled myself for the emotional weight of the descriptions and facts surrounding the human life lost and the misery of the living. However, I don't think anything can prepare anyone for the stories and symbols that surround the park.
First, I got to the park before the museum opened, but I did not want to start wandering the park until after I watched the introductions. While I was circling the main square, an older man approached and asked me if I spoke English and what time the museum opened. I told him and we started chatting a bit. He was a German-Australian and we talked a lot about the park, history, and WWII (his parents and grandparents were part of the generation that fought against the Japanese in Australia, so he was personally impacted by those years). We finally entered the museum and the first exhibit was a fairly good account of the prior events of WWII (it was a little biased towards that Japanese, but not too much). After that it talked about the facts surrounding the bomb, how many people died, how far the radiation spread etc.
It seemed like that was the end of the museum, and I was surprised at the lack of emotion (I had read that it was a very moving museum). However, after the gift shop, there was still more. There was an area simulating the ruins of the bomb: broken and burnt buildings, wax figures with skin flaking/falling off, very graphic images. Then, a plaque said that many bodies were never found, though oftentimes their belongings were. In this part of the exhibit, there were clothes, a sandal (with a footprint imprinted on it), a lunch box, a watch, and even some human organic remains; all left over from those who were incinerated immediately. There was also the famous shadow engraved in the wall of someone sitting on the steps of a bank. This part of the museum made me tear up because the descriptions were very sad. One particular case held a baby's tricycle and helmet. It belonged to a three year old boy who died shortly after the bombing. The father, not wanting his son to be alone in the afterlife (and since the family graveyard had no one in it yet), buried his son with his tricycle in the backyard. Many years later, the son was dug up and put in the family graveyard and the tricycle was donated to the museum. This description was fairly upsetting to me. After that section there were facts about radiation poisoning and very graphic pictures of the burned people. Finally, the museum ended and I wandered out into the main park.
I think for me the hardest part of the park was seeing how peacefully it was built. The people who died that day in August and those that died later all died in agony: whether painfully, in thirst, etc. The park was so quiet and green. And it was so cool compared to the heat that those who died experienced. It was also heart wrenching to see all the water. At most memorials, there were little shrines containing bottles of water being offered to the souls who died in thirst. Everywhere you walked you were either in the moist, cool shade of a tree or were within ear shot or eye sight of water. The deliberate-ness of this was quite moving to me. It was also beautiful because while I was there, a school class group was presenting their 1,000 paper crane project to the children's memorial. For me, I even teared up when I saw a group of children running and laughing. This place, while quite solemn and a place for reflection, also should be able to have great optimism. The people who died on that day would have liked to hear children laughing...I think that is the greatest memorial of all.
After walking around the main park, I went to another underground exhibit which was a memorial to all the victims. In this building, you slowly descend in a spiral to a huge room. In the room is a water fountain (an offering of water to those who died thirsty) and on the walls is a huge panoramic mosaic of Hiroshima in destruction. The number of tiles on the wall match the approximate number of people who died. After circling this room, you go up an elevator and can watch a video based on a book written by children at the time of the bombing. In summary, the memorial museum was moving, terrifying, and very heart wrenching. I will say that it is not suitable for everyone. However, it is a great experience for those who want to witness a place in history.
As an international relations major and history nerd, I was really looking forward to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. I had already steeled myself for the emotional weight of the descriptions and facts surrounding the human life lost and the misery of the living. However, I don't think anything can prepare anyone for the stories and symbols that surround the park.
First, I got to the park before the museum opened, but I did not want to start wandering the park until after I watched the introductions. While I was circling the main square, an older man approached and asked me if I spoke English and what time the museum opened. I told him and we started chatting a bit. He was a German-Australian and we talked a lot about the park, history, and WWII (his parents and grandparents were part of the generation that fought against the Japanese in Australia, so he was personally impacted by those years). We finally entered the museum and the first exhibit was a fairly good account of the prior events of WWII (it was a little biased towards that Japanese, but not too much). After that it talked about the facts surrounding the bomb, how many people died, how far the radiation spread etc.
It seemed like that was the end of the museum, and I was surprised at the lack of emotion (I had read that it was a very moving museum). However, after the gift shop, there was still more. There was an area simulating the ruins of the bomb: broken and burnt buildings, wax figures with skin flaking/falling off, very graphic images. Then, a plaque said that many bodies were never found, though oftentimes their belongings were. In this part of the exhibit, there were clothes, a sandal (with a footprint imprinted on it), a lunch box, a watch, and even some human organic remains; all left over from those who were incinerated immediately. There was also the famous shadow engraved in the wall of someone sitting on the steps of a bank. This part of the museum made me tear up because the descriptions were very sad. One particular case held a baby's tricycle and helmet. It belonged to a three year old boy who died shortly after the bombing. The father, not wanting his son to be alone in the afterlife (and since the family graveyard had no one in it yet), buried his son with his tricycle in the backyard. Many years later, the son was dug up and put in the family graveyard and the tricycle was donated to the museum. This description was fairly upsetting to me. After that section there were facts about radiation poisoning and very graphic pictures of the burned people. Finally, the museum ended and I wandered out into the main park.
I think for me the hardest part of the park was seeing how peacefully it was built. The people who died that day in August and those that died later all died in agony: whether painfully, in thirst, etc. The park was so quiet and green. And it was so cool compared to the heat that those who died experienced. It was also heart wrenching to see all the water. At most memorials, there were little shrines containing bottles of water being offered to the souls who died in thirst. Everywhere you walked you were either in the moist, cool shade of a tree or were within ear shot or eye sight of water. The deliberate-ness of this was quite moving to me. It was also beautiful because while I was there, a school class group was presenting their 1,000 paper crane project to the children's memorial. For me, I even teared up when I saw a group of children running and laughing. This place, while quite solemn and a place for reflection, also should be able to have great optimism. The people who died on that day would have liked to hear children laughing...I think that is the greatest memorial of all.
After walking around the main park, I went to another underground exhibit which was a memorial to all the victims. In this building, you slowly descend in a spiral to a huge room. In the room is a water fountain (an offering of water to those who died thirsty) and on the walls is a huge panoramic mosaic of Hiroshima in destruction. The number of tiles on the wall match the approximate number of people who died. After circling this room, you go up an elevator and can watch a video based on a book written by children at the time of the bombing. In summary, the memorial museum was moving, terrifying, and very heart wrenching. I will say that it is not suitable for everyone. However, it is a great experience for those who want to witness a place in history.
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