10 days in Japan - 10/29/2022 to 11/7/2022

Day 8- Atomic Bomb Dome-11/5/22

We took the bullet train from Osaka to Hiroshima and the train ride was about 90 minutes.

 We then went to our hotel to check in and then went to the Peace Memorial park by bus.

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park is located in the center of Hiroshima and dedicated to the legacy of Hiroshima as the first city in the world to suffer a nuclear attack at the end of World War II, and to the memories of the bomb's direct and indirect victims.  On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.

The Atomic Bomb Dome is a skeletal ruins of the former Hiroshima Prefectural Product Display center.

Atomic Bomb Dome (Genbaku dome) was the only structure left standing in he area where the first atomic bomb exploded on 6 August 1945. At 8:15am, August 6,1945, an American B29 bomber carried out the world's firs atomic bombing.  The bomb exploded around 600 meters above and 160 meters southeast of the Genbaku dome, ripping through and igniting the building, instantly killing everyone in it.  Because the blast struck from almost direction above, some of the center walls remained standing, leaving enough of the building and iron frame to be recognizable as a dome.  After the war, these dramatic remains came to be known as the Atomic bomb Dome.

The Atomic dome was built in 1915  as a facility to exhibit and sell products from Hiroshima prefecture, and also held Hiroshima prefectural art exhibitions and was called Hiroshima Prefectural Product Display center.

Through the efforts of many people, including those of the city of Hiroshima, it has been preserved in the same state as immediately after the bombing. Not only is it a stark and powerful symbol of the most destructive force ever created by humankind; it also expresses the hope for world peace and the ultimate elimination of all nuclear weapons

The most important meaning of the surviving structure of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial is in what it symbolizes, rather than just its aesthetic and architectural values.  It symbolizes the tremendous destructive power, which humankind can invent on the one hand; on the other hand, it also reminds us of the hope for world permanent peace. 

 Atomic Bomb Dome has been preserved as a ruin. It is all that remains of the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotional Hall ‘Hiroshima-ken Sangyo Shoreikan’ after the 1945 nuclear bomb blast.

Inside the property, all the structural elements of the building remain in the same state as immediately after the bombing, and are well preserved. The property can be observed from the outside of the periphery fences and its external and internal integrity is well maintained. The buffer zone, including Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, is defined both as a place for prayer for the atomic bomb victims as well as for permanent world peace.

A nice fountain close to the Dome

Motoyasu river located next to the Atomic bomb dome is a really peacefully area.

We are now walking toward the Hiroshima Museum by following the side of the river bank.

Atomic bomb dome view from the bank of the Motoyasu river

It was a beautiful autumn day.

A beautiful day to walk around.

Bridge over the Motoyasu river.

View of the city from the bridge.

View of the Atomic bomb from the bridge.

Rest House (Tourist information Center) was originally constructed in 1928 as the Taisho-ya Kimono shop.  In August 1945 the atomic bomb exploded over this building only 170 m from the hypocenter.

When the bomb exploded, the roof was crushed, the interior destroyed, and everything consumable burned except in the basement. Eventually, 36 people in the building died of the bombing; 47-year-old Eizo Nomura survived in the basement, which had a concrete roof through which radiation had a more difficult time penetrating. He survived into his 80s.

NEXT.... Day 8-Peace Memorial Park and Museum, Hiroshima