--The first thing I realized when i entered this museum is that I knew a lot about what happened and I wanted to deepen my knowledge in what happen during that time. The first thing that caught my attention was the fact why Kyoto was not chosen as a site for the bombing, because it was to serve as the post-war capital for Japan according to American forecasts. I always thought that Hiroshima and Nagasaki was chosen because of the military facilities or power plants located in the area, but the truth is I was very wrong, Hiroshima was chosen based on its size and population as key properties. The atomic bomb, to the Americans at the time was to be used as a means to justify research costs and be shown to the world as a destructive force. Therefore, we could say that Hiroshima was more of a place to display the power of the atomic bomb at it's max capacity. The part that made me sad was the part where Hiroshima was never air-raided to lower the guard of the Hiroshima town's people. It was saddening that when the bomb exploded the air-raid sirens had just stopped signaling to people that it was safe to go out. The time, 815 am, was the worst time to be possibly chosen since, it was the commuting time for most people.
--The bomb exploded 600 meters above ground, instantaneously creating a massive fireball the melted even stones. To think that pouring hot water on yourself, 100 degrees Celsius is unimaginable, imagine 2000 degrees rock melting temperatures, you literally melt and disappear. A 3 kilometer radius of the fireball was reduced to nothing. 90% of buildings collapsed and crushed or trapped people inside. The shock-wave created sent glass in every direction, concrete walls where penetrated with glass, imagine what it could do to people. The infamous shadows are left where people stood because the rocks (concrete) turned white when contacted with direct heat but when humans or animals were around, their bodies shield the rock from heat thus leaving a shadow. On the second floor where most Japanese people cried, was the fate of those who suffered the effects of nuclear fallout, or better known as radiation, listed in the chronological events list. The Americans studied these people to find out the long term effects of radiation without treating them for any illnesses, until this day though, there is no concrete result to show what exactly happens to those victims. The Japanese government started to pay for the cost of treatment for these people (the official atomic bomb radiation victims only), to me, a small burden lifted of the shoulders of the suffering people. In the following section, a lot of interesting facts of talk on how to abolish nuclear weapons and hindrances faced. America again, is the top of the list with most nuclear weapons, and with all talks of banning nuclear testing, sub-critical nuclear bombs are still being tested and countries like America and Russia who hold enough information on nuclear explosions can find the answers they need from these sub-critical explosions based on the data they already have from previous nuclear explosions. So, inadvertently there is nothing being done now, or able to be done against the stock piling of nuclear armaments. I feel it funny though, that we can still sleep at night not knowing if a rain of nuclear missiles are going to fall from the sky onto us.
--In the last part of this museum, the untold story of many victims are held in the item that once used to be theirs. Clothes, mostly of school children lay in this museum. Lunch boxes, watches, shirts, pants, and all kinds of things were left behind. Most people in this section ignore the stories written down and ignore the black marks and darkened blood on these clothes. One story read about how a girl died in the clothes she sewed herself, a summer uniform, what she had been looking forward to, to run around and play in her clothes, yet... Most children according to the stories died at their parents side. Something that makes me cry even right now, to watch your own child die, is worse then having your skin ripped from you alive. One father whose 3 year-old son died while riding his tricycle, was so grieve-stricken that he refused to bury his son alone, he buried his son's tricycle and helmet with him, saying that he is too young to be without it. My heart has never been broken into so many pieces before, all my words cannot explain the grief i felt when i read about this father.
--There are countless other stories, many which will be left untold for a long long time to come and remain buried in a lost history. I would like to reiterate the fact that in no war there is right, and therefore, there is also no wrong. During war, people do what is needed best to benefit the country that they live in. To me, the atomic bomb was the sign of the end of the war. People may blame Russia, or America for the fate of Japan, but truth be known that if the Axis had that power (people should realize that Germany was also in development of nuclear arms at that time), they would have used it too. In no ways am I saying that I'm not disgusted by the choices made during that time, and in no way am I trying to justify anyone, we should realize the fact that, when war breaks out, everyone will only stand for themselves, and we should respect to a certain extent, the choices made by those people back then, because trust me that it was hard for them too. We should realize the atrocities of war, the fate of people who suffered and die in the worst conditions we can imagine. One family, a sister and a brother (in their 20s) rummaged through the remains of the house where 3 cousins, their grandparents, aunt, and mother was in during the explosion, the house close to the epicenter of the blast, was almost vaporized. Yet they found a small ceramic bowl which they used to eat with when they were young, their grandchild donated the bowl to the museum. Most people would be sadden by the fact of their loss, but look deeper and you'd find the hope they found in that bowl, the house was totally destroyed yet, the bowl was untouched, and their grandson is still alive, which means they fought to live on, from the rubles of a city and from the rubles of hearts, they, all the citizens of Hiroshima built a new world from dust.
for in our hearts,
lies a shrine indestructible,
the strength called hope,
for in our hearts,
lies a light unending,
the power called love,
for in our hearts,
lies a place serenely,
a place called home,
for in every heart,
hope gives us power,
love gives us warmth,
thus from ashes we can rise again...
horrors we never want to see again
marks seared onto skin based on clothes designs...
the story of a tricycle...
not everything is so bad...Like a famous writer once wrote in the memory books 'less talk more action...'
