Hiroshima 3/5

The trip started with the earliest start of my travels so far - 5.45. The trio of Vince, Dave and I got up, had breakfast and rode to Kyoto station to start the somewhat challenging (at least the first time) task of dissembling our bikes to be able to board the Shinkansen to Hiroshima. I have, for a long time, wanted to visit Hiroshima. Knowing an extremely vague, possibly ill informed view of the horrific events of August 6 1945, I had a desire to know more. As expected, the experience of Museum dedicated to those particular events was informative, confronting and sobering. But above all, I noticed the stance that the Japanese people have taken. They appear to have adopted the ideal of peace. One could argue that many countries take a similar stance. But the sincerity of the Japanese on this subject, their true understanding of how utterly wrong war is and the emphasis taken on learning from their mistakes struck me as fascinating. I thankfully purchased the audio tour of the museum, and from the outset it was evident that the people of this country really did just sit down, think about what happened. They considered the consequences that burden the people involved (both directly and indirectly) and decided it really isn't worth it.

It can be said that this is not a case of not practising what you preach. To provide one example in an attempt to give substance to the Japanese ideal: Every time their is a nuclear weapons test anywhere in the world, the Mayor of Hiroshima writes to the UN, pleading for an embargo on the possession of nuclear warheads. A display in the museum showed thousands upon thousands of these letters. This also embodied an idea of perserverance, as the Japanese aren't naive enough to think that this is a short-term problem with short term answers.

On a lighter note, our visit to Hiroshima coincided with the Flower Festival, which meant that everywhere we went there were dancers, karaoke and of course flowers. Here is a photo from the museum showing the memorial park dedicated to Hiroshima.




As you can see, I was definately affected by my experience in Hiroshima and it has led to a realisation of many things and given perspective on many issues. Although I miss people at home - one in particular - I realise that things could be much worse and for now, I am happy enough knowing that the people I love are safe from the horrific consequences of the many wars that continue to be fought around the world.