My stay in Hiroshima was not totally what I expected. One of the places I had to visit when I had planned on coming to Japan was Hiroshima. With its history of involvement in the war, with “the bomb” as it is reffered to, I could not miss it at all. However what I did not expect was just how much contrast there is in the city.
The city was much smaller than I expected so to think that the bomb was dropped on this city for anything other than military purposes would have been a bit narrow minded in my opinion. If they had of wanted to inflict mass casualties to civilans they could of picked a much larger city such as Tokyo or Osaka or Yokohama. This would of meant a much higher civilian casualty rate. But they didn’t.
Speaking of the bomb there is about a good 50-100 memorials dotted around the city centre dedicated to different people or groups of people affected during the blast and unfortunately 99% of these are in Japanese so you can’t tell who they are for. The bigger more important ones though were just fantastic with the Childrens Peace Memorial a bright and colourful affair that would bring happiness to anyone. The cenotaph, reflection pond and eternal flame to me though were the pinnacles of the memorials. All stunningly beautiful and done in such a way to make us remember the affects of war.
The peace memorial park and museum are highlighted by the A Bomb dome. The A Bomb dome is the remants of a dome topped building affected right near the Hypocentre of the blast. The structure is still partially intact so is a fitting reminder of just what sort of destruction a blast of this kind can cause. A reminder that war is hell. The museum though, was only 50Yen entry. That’s not even $1! The museum was fantastic and unlike the peace museum in Osaka not a touch of propaganda. The museum outlined Hiroshima and its history before and after the war in clear facts with no bias either side. Just what I wanted to see.
What I did not want to see though it seemed was the leftover remants of the war. Torn clothes, childrens toys etc all ripped apart or damanged by the blast. I could just not handle it and made my way quickly through this section. The letters were the same. I know that I should of spent more time reading these letters etc but again I could just not handle it, the sadness it brought to my heart was unbearable and I left quickly so that this big man did not start to tear up. Wikitravel was write, this museum could ruin your day very fast!
The contrasts of the city though was on the 2nd day when I had a tour of the Mazda factory. This is where the contrasts were starkly evident. In a city that was totally scarred by the war and practically destroyed (not many buildings survived the blast at all but those that did have been preserved beautifully). The city shows this stark contrast when you look at the size of the Mazda factory and how high tech the city has become. Mazda has always called Hiroshima home and with the head office and design components based in Hiroshima along with a fairly large factory it is just crazy to see these differences. It was as though they were not bombed at all!
The size and scope of the Mazda factory blew me away. It was fantastic to see the lines in operation and also be astounded at just how big a car factory can be. The new vehicles were rolling off the line extremely quickly and heading for ships quick smart. The factory is more like a small town with its own fire brigade, security force, bus line, hospital and even its own Shrine! Of course what factory is not complete without a bridge right through the middle of it. Not just any bridge either. This is the longest privately owned bridge in Japan (possibly the world) and of course we drove over it!
The tour itself was fantastic and after getting to see a few very rare Mazdas I was quite happy at giving up a bit of time in Hiroshima to see it. To be honest I think I gave myself a bit to much time in Hiroshima. The size and scope of the city means you can do so much so quickly and I think I could of given myself one less night and had a late afternoon train out to spend some more time in another city like Osaka or Kyoto or perhaps visit the new Maglev train park in Nagoya. O well, next time! What Hiroshima does allow though is quiet reflection.
There is ample time in life to rush around and go fast, but being able to stop, think and reflect on things was good. It was something I needed I think on this trip. Even though Hong Kong is going to be fairly relaxed for me as it will be spent mainly shopping, It was good to take a bit of a break and reflect on the good times I have had on this trip so far. To think back on the fun memories I will take with me forever now. I know that Hiroshima allows for this with many people sitting in peace park, watching life go past them. Hell I would of joined them on a bench in the park reading a book if it wasn’t so hot!
Current Location: Hilton Narita Airport – Narita, Japan