Hiroshima, Japan - April 11th

We visited Peace Park and the Peace Museum in Hiroshima, more or less directly under the atomic bomb detonation that occurred 600 meters above the city center. One can calculate an exact “Hypocenter” for the blast, but in reality Ground Zero is about one kilometer in diameter.

The Peace Museum depiction of the fireball over a model of the city showing the only buildings left standing.

The Atomic Cenotaph, a memorial holding the ashes of many victims. 140,000 died immediately. Burn and radiation effects raised the toll to 290,000, as even more succumbed to burns and radiation sickness and leukemia and other debilities during the days, weeks, months and years following the event.

The Atomic Dome, above as it was and below as it is today,

The Children's Peace Monument. We were welcomed and given a paper origami crane.

The Bell of Peace.

Some of the pictures in the Peace Museum of the victims are pretty graphic. I am not going to post them.

But Joani and I cannot second guess US leaders who used the Bomb. WWII was a terrible war that caused 100 million deaths and it needed to be ended. Nevertheless, Hiroshima was a horrible and regtettable tragedy.

John Kerry was in Japan for a G7 meeting and visited Peace Park the same day. Press reports said Obama is considering coming before he leaves office. He would be the first sitting President to do so. He should.

Tomorrow: Kyoto