Hiroshima: I've learned a lot about Hiroshima so it was great to finally get a chance to visit the city and see what it's like 63 years after the atomic bomb was dropped on it. The city is about 4.5 hours by bullet train from Tokyo and 2 hours from Osaka.


Hiroshima is one of the few cities left in Japan that's still serviced by trams. It's the most convenient way to get around and costs a standard rate of 150 yen regardless of which stop you get off within the city limits. I stayed at Hotel Active! The location is great with a tram stop right in front of it.


A-Bomb Dome: After dinner is decided to pop down to the Memorial Peace Park to see what the place was like at night. The place was very peaceful with the Dome illuminated in an somewhat eerie manner.


Hiroshima Peace Park: Battling the downpour of rain, I headed back to the park the next morning. A short recap ~ On 8.15am August 6, 1945 America dropped the world's first targeted atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima. After the city of Hiroshima was rebuilt, the only original structure that was preserved was the A-bomb Dome.


Hiroshima Peace Park: One of the few shots of me that wasn't out of focus.


Children's Peace Monument: The statue is of Sadako Sasaki golden hoisting a golden crane. Sadako was a two year old girl who developed leukemia as a result of the bomb. Sadako heard of the Japanese folk tale that if she folded one thousand paper cranes that she could be granted one wish - unfortunately she only completed 644 before she died. The infamous story resonates throughout the world and every year thousands of paper cranes arrive from children all over the world - these cranes are displayed in glass cabinets around her statue.


Peace Flame: The peace flame will remain lit until all nuclear weapons in the world have been destroyed.



Memorial Cenotaph: Underneath the cenotaph is concrete compartment containing the names of all the people killed by the bomb. The inscription on the box reads "Rest in Peace, for the error shall not be repeated".


Peace Memorial Museum: The museum chronicles the lead up to the World War II but mostly Hiroshima before the bombing as well as after the bombing. The great thing is that it presents an unbiased view towards the war and also acknowledges the atrocities that Japan committed during the war...

Note: I've noticed that the Japanese rarely take photos inside places they consider to be sacred. Thus it didn't take me long to notice that I was the only one in there flashing my camera... in the end I didn't end up taking many photos inside the museum which was a shame.


Hiroshima before the bomb was dropped.


Hiroshima after the bomb was dropped. The red marker depicts the epicentre of the bomb. Anyone within 600 meters of the epicentre was completely vaporised. For a better account read John Hersey's book "Hiroshima". After the bomb was dropped the city was nothing but rubble, firestorms and dead bodies.


A-Bomb Dome from across the river. Originally called the Industrial Promotion Hall. You can see what it looked like before in the descriptive slab. Unfortunately it rained 90% of the time that I was in Hiroshima. Nonetheless, it was a great experience.