Hiroshima, Japan

Now I know why the Bible says, “Blessed are the peacemakers…” (Jesus, Sermon on the Mount). Anyone who sees Hiroshima, Japan knows why peace is so important. Hiroshima is the toughest place so far for me to write about. It touched me in a way that I did not expect. From the second I stepped off of the bus, I knew that this was going to be much different than I expected. It was the saddest thing that I have ever seen, but the thing that I am most glad to have experienced while in Japan. Nothing could have prepared me for this.

As I stepped off of the bus, my heart sunk when I saw the dilapidated skeleton of a building that was once the heart of Hiroshima. This building, now known as A-bomb Dome was once a busy building with many people working. Now, it is a memorial for the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima in August of 1945. The park, called Peace Park, was difficult for me to get through, not because of the terrain, but because of the emotional significance of this place. It was not only a place for tourists either as I also saw school groups and what seemed to be locals walking in the park. There was a large monument with a goddess of peace and doves around it. This was also covered in paper cranes because people make these as an offering and they stand for peace. There is a belief that if you make one thousand paper cranes and hang them, then your wish will come true. At this monument, there was a noise box that explained in Japanese first, then English, the significance of the monument. It described the lives lost, the children who gave up their youth for their country and very sad depictions of the day that the bomb was dropped. As I sat there listening to the number of teenagers that had died in the bombing, I imagined how I would feel if this were to happen in my home, to my friends. I thought about people the same age as those described in the recording. I thought about my youth group from home, I wondered how it must have felt for so many parents to lose their children. After this sad contemplation, I headed for the museum.

We were making our way to the museum, when somehow we began a conversation with a Japanese man and 3 Japanese women who were walking in the park. This was interesting as I almost expected them to be hostile toward Americans, but they were some of the kindest and most accepting people that I have ever met. It was incredible. The man spoke to us about our travels and appeared to be very interested and accepting of America. The women had paper cranes that they had made and placed in plastic bags to hand out. They gave each of us one and smiled a lot and spoke with us in English.

Then, we crossed the street toward the museum. We were stopped by an older woman with an umbrella, shielding the sun. She stopped each of us to bless us (or pray) for us specifically. We did not know what she said, but she closed her eyes, bowed her head, put her hand in front of one of our faces, and said some words in Japanese. After a long silent pause, she lowered her hand and said thank you many times. This was interesting and we didn’t know what it meant, but were glad to have experienced it as the lady was very glad to have done what she did.

We arrived at the museum and paid 50 yen to enter, which is less than a dollar in America. We entered and watched a video that had English subtitles, which described the gruesome events. After the video, we waited in line with people that were mostly of Asian descent to see artifacts of the bombing and historical documents that led to the event. There were letters from US presidents and former heads of state from other countries. There were the letters from Einstein that led to the creation of the bomb. There were things that I had no idea existed because we don’t learn about this event very well in American public schools.

The saddest artifacts came after the factual documents. There were clothes from school children that were killed in the bombing. There were plaques next to the clothes that told the names and ages of the children and teens who had worn those clothes the day they died. The plaques described where the victims were and what they were doing that fateful morning at 8:15. Most of the children struggled home with deep and deadly burns and died hours later by their parents. There was hair and even fingernails that parents had kept because it was all that remained of their children. I had no idea that I would see things like this. The museum and park put the whole event into a different perspective for me. It was also interesting to be one of few Americans in the museum. Most visitors appeared to be Japanese or of Asian descent. This was an awkward experience for me because I would expect for the victims of such a horrific incident to be hostile toward Americans, but they were not. For the most part, the other visitors were accepting and kind. I was very emotional in parts of the museum and even cried. This was met with sympathy, instead of hostility. Of all of the things that I expected to experience, sympathy was not one of them – wow! I could not believe this; my country is responsible for what happened and they were kind to me when I got upset.

Something that I found particularly interesting is that in the museum and Peace Park, the historical references were incredibly objective. The plaques and information did not implicate Americans as terrible people or harshly describe the events. This was surprising to me and shows the importance of the betterment of humanity. Even though the United States was responsible for this terrible tragedy, the Japanese did not express this truth in a harsh way. This shows their desire for peace and the ability for the Japanese to be humble and seek this peace without trying to blame anyone for their suffering.

At last, my trip to the museum was over, but I left with this overwhelming feeling of sorrow for the people of Hiroshima and a deep desire to not ever let something like this happen again. This leads me to what may be the saddest memory from the museum. In the museum are copies of over 500 letters written from the mayor of Hiroshima to heads of state in nations that are testing and developing nuclear weapons. These letters implore the leaders to reconsider their use of nuclear weapons and use the experience of Hiroshima to convince them how destructive these weapons can be. The leaders have never responded and have obviously not learned from the sad and destructive example of Hiroshima.

I think that Hiroshima is something that everyone should see. I think that witnessing something like this can really lead to the peace that the people of Hiroshima seek. If everyone understood how destructive and devastating these weapons are, maybe we would truly move toward disarmament (instead of just talking about it). I am very glad to have had the opportunity to see this incredible place. I know I have several readers on this blog and I don’t know how you feel about war, but know that the victims are real people – just like you and me. Think about it.