Worn out from walking and standing in museums and galleries. Went to the 2 main museums in Hiroshima Park today. Before that we went for some breakfast at the beautiful old café we barged into yesterday and paid back the ladies for giving them a fright! They are just so nice and we will go back tomorrow morning for more of the same before we head off.
Anyway, the first museum which is definitely up there as not just an educational institution, but incredibly tasteful and moving, is the Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims. It starts at ground level with a sculpture of a clock frozen at 8.15am and then you go down to enter. You go straight into the truly magnificent Hall of Remembrance. Difficult to capture on camera, it’s a circular shape depicting a photograph of the bombed Hiroshima only it’s built from 140,000 tiles representing the number killed initially. It is a work of art beyond words. In the centre of the room is a small clock water feature frozen at 8.15am. I was overwhelmed by the beauty quite frankly and stood next to the water feature, closed my eyes and sort of prayed. Given I’m atheist, it was all I could do to pay some form of respect. It was definitely sincere that’s the main thing I guess.
After the Hall, you could watch a video, read some reflections from those who wrote diaries at the time or go into an extensive library and watch video interviews with survivors who were interviewed in 2005 at the 60th anniversary. For many of these victims, this was the first time they have spoken of the horrors so it was extremely traumatic for them and emotional to watch. Generations since the bombing are still struggling emotionally and the effects of radiation are still lingering. All in all a very moving and educational experience.
An artist painting opposite the Bomb Dome
- Entrance to the Remembrance Hall. Sculpture of clock with the time of bomb activation. 2. Walk into Hall 3. Lynda reflecting in Hall of Remembrance
From there it was over to the large Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. It’s a very grim building, similar to an East German Stasi Headquarters in the 70s but so it should be. What’s not grim is the attitude of the Japanese who continue to smile and attend to your every wish. One thing we’ve noticed in Japan is that “seniors” are everywhere and working! The average lifespan of a Japanese man is 74 and a woman is 89! Lots of single working grannies out there!
I don’t have a lot of photos from the museum only because much of it is too shocking to revisit. The museum is incredibly thorough and educational and despite its graphic nature, gives the entire story and leaves you with hope.
- The grim Peace Museum 2. A model of Hiroshima showing where the bomb was detonated and the only buildings that had something left standing 3. A replica of the beast that did the damage 4. After the initial explosion and fire then came the black rain which carried with it, even more radiation and suffering. This is a pane of glass with black rain on it. 5 & 6. Sadako Sasaki’s story is inspirational and has touched children’s lives all over the world. She is the reason for the children’s memorial in the Peace Park. She was actually at the time of the blast, blown out of a window aged 2. Worth Googling and sharing with your kids. 7. View from Peace Memorial Museum to the Dome
After a few big hours of gazing in horror and bewilderment of man’s inalienable capacity to destroy each other, we thought we’d hike a few km to the other side of the city and the Contemporary Art Museum. Now we haven’t had much luck getting into some museums due to our trip timing so fingers crossed. Well, we hiked up into stunning parkland and dense forest to reach this one and it looked superb from the outside. Modern, classic and supported by beautiful landscaping. The only problem was it looked closed! We walked up and down and it definitely looked closed. Not a soul around. Slightly annoyed that yet again we stuffed up, I spotted a cute sculpture of a fat bird called “little bird”. In order to alleviate the boredom, I challenged Lynda to hop on top of the bird for a photo opportunity. She struggled to get up and finally as she reached the summit a tiny lady in uniform came running out of the museum, with arms crossed across her chest and yelling NOOOOOO! She was traumatized so Lynda hopped off. We apologised and realized that the museum was open. We walked into the main hall like 2 kids sent to the headmaster’s office. The other staff were trying not to laugh having just seen a 51 YO school teacher being apprehended for mounting a $200,000 fat bird!
The museum had a couple of exhibitions which I clearly didn’t understand. My eldest Corrie is studying fine arts at VCA and she doesn’t bother anymore trying to explain the concepts to me. The spaces were huge in their though and we had a wander around and some lunch.
arewell, beautiful Hiroshima. It’s been an absolute privilege and you and your kind people will live in our memories forever. Got a long train trip tomorrow to Kagoshima at the bottom of Japan. Apparently, it’s 6 hours so not ideal but I’m sure there will be plenty to look at and reading to catch up on. Goodnight all. Cheers Willow & Lynda.
