I started off the day with a run around Hiroshima Castle and along the Ota River. It was warm and humid but an enjoyable and I ran about 12kms. When I got back to the apartment, I talked Joel into doing a short jog with me along the river, just to keep his fitness up for his footy, when we return to Australia.
We jogged along for about 2 and a half kilometres, chatting about the holiday and footy as we ran.... We had a stop a a traffic light and it all went pear-shaped. Joel said he felt crook then went the light changed he straggered forward then fainted, unfortunately banging his head on metal crash barrier beside the road as he collapsed. He was lying on the road with blood pouring from a deep gash in his chin. A couple of locals assisted me to move him off the road into the shade and helped me with some first aid - they were very kind. Joel came around quickly but the gash on his chin was deep and bleeding profusely - obviously needing sutures. We staggered slowly back to the apartment to assess the situation.
This was confronting and frightening - needing a doctor to treat my child's injury in a country where I can barely speak the language and don't understand the healthcare system! We spend a bit of time on Google and found a nearby hospital, Funairi, that we could access by streetcar. So Em came with me to take Joel to see if there was an emergency department or doctor on call.
We arrived a Funairi only to find that it was a paediatric hospital and couldn't provide treatment for Joel. However they kindly directed us to a nearby surgery where there was a doctor on duty.
I really found out how limited my Japanese is at the doctor's surgery but with the assistance of Google translate, I was able to explain what had happened and organise for Joel to received the much needed medical treatment. The doctor was great - he had a bit of English, mostly by writing - and did a good job stitching Joel's chin. With the help of Google translate, I told the doctor that Joel now had an interesting souvenir from Hiroshima!
Surviving that ordeal, and with Joel patched up and feeling a bit better, we returned to the apartment for a late brunch. Fortunately we had a not so busy day of sightseeing planned and with everything we wanted to visit being a short walk from the apartment, so we still had plenty of time to set off to see the Peace Memorial Park and Museum.
The Peace Park offered a time for reflection and paying respects, with a number of statues and monuments. To start us off, on our journey though the Peace Park, Ben rang the Bell of Peace.
The Children's Peace Monument is inspired by the hope of Sadako Sakaki, 2 years of age when the A-bomb was dropped, who surviving this went on to develop leukaemia at age 11. She aimed to fold 1000 paper cranes in the hope this would grant her wish to survive. Although she died of this cancer her paper crane folding and the monument has become a symbol of the hope of all children for peace.
The central feature of the Park is the Pond of Peace which leads to the cenotaph – an arched monument that covers a vault that holds the names of all know victims of the bomb (although there are many many thousands of unknown victims too). At the head of the Pond is the Flame of Peace, which continues to burn until all nuclear weapons are eliminated from the world.
The Hiroshima Memorial Peace Museum displays a collection of items salvaged from the aftermath of the A-bomb along with grim and graphic images of badly burned victims and an obliterated city. The ragged school children’s clothes, charred personal effects and, in particular, the images of suffering people, who were almost burned beyond recognition or who subsequently suffered greatly due to the radiation, were highly confronting and deeply disturbing. A grim reminder of the devastating and indiscriminately cruel power of nuclear weapons, will stay with me forever. Anyone who thinks war is a good idea needs to come here, then take a good hard look at themselves!
We then visited the National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims. A monument depicting a clock at quarter-past eight (the time the A-bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945), marks the entrance and we walked down a circular ramp to a central space the displays a 360o panorama of the devastation on 140,000 tiles (representing the know victims). In an adjacent room are photos and names of victims and video and written testimonies from survivors – gut-wrenching!
Last stop for us in the Peace Park was the Atomic Bomb Dome. This world heritage site is probably the best known and haunting symbol of the awful destruction of Hiroshima. This civic hall was very close to the epicentre and shell of this building was one of the few structures left standing in the wake of the devastating explosion.
We to the long way back to the apartment, to have a look at Hiroshima Castle and grounds. The castle building is a reconstruction, as the original was totally destroyed by the A-bomb, but still quite impressive.
On our way home, we reflected that Hiroshima reminded us a little of Melbourne – perhaps it was the wide tree-lined streets, the rivers and gardens, and, not to forget, the trams (streetcars) or maybe it is the style in which the city was rebuilt matching a time of post-war growth in our home town in Australia. But disturbing to think that just over 70 years ago, unlike our hometown, this beautiful city and its people were obliterated…..
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