Hiroshima - City of Peace

Leaving Iwakuni, I rode towards Hiroshima City. The ride was rather uneventful, but traffic was extremely heavy so most of the time I spent on the pavements. Somehow, the pavements in this region are much narrower than those found in Kyushu and with my luggage and all, it was like attempting an urban single-track trail... Dodging pedestrians and lamp posts!

Coastal route to the city of Hiroshima

Checking into Aster Plaza International Youth House, I took a nap and then woke up in the evening to grab dinner and explore the city a little. Didn`t do much though - just walked around a bit and checked out the internet cafe.

The next day, I got up and headed straight for the city`s center - the Peace Memorial Park. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park is a huge complex with a musuem, a memorial hall, an international exchange center, a tourist information office and the famous A-Bomb Dome.

In the picture below, you see the main path of the Peace Park which leads to the Cenotaph, remembering all those who died in the bombing. In the background you can see the A-Bomb Dome. The Peace Park was built in such a way that its entrance, the path to the Cenotaph, the Flame of Peace and the A-Bomb Dome all lie in a straight line.

Everyday, thousands of visitors from all over Japan and the world come to visit the Hiroshima Peace Park. Japanese tour groups and school children from across the country make up the majority of these visitors. Daily, visitors to the Cenotaph bring fresh flowers and below you see the caretakers arranging these flowers.

As the Peace Park is in the center of Hiroshima city, many office workers pass by here everyday on their way to work. Most of them usually take a few seconds to offer their prayers before heading off to work.

This is the Flame of Peace. It will only be extinguished when the last nuclear weapon on Earth has been dismantled. Being only one of two cities to have ever experienced the horrors of an atomic bombing, it is understandable that Hiroshima City is one of the strongest anti-nuclear advocates in the world. Everytime a country tests its nuclear weapons, the mayor of Hiroshima City at the point in time will send the leader of the country a protest telegram. Copies of these telegrams are still on display inside the A-Bomb Musuem in the park.

The A-Bomb Dome is called that because it was the building which was almost directly below the atomic bomb when it exploded 600m in the air. This building is also one of the only 3 buildings that were left standing after the explosion. Everything else was totally flattened.

After visiting the Peace Memorial Park, I headed towards Hijiyama Park. This park contained a museum of contemporary art (which I did not go into) and also a Manga Museum/Library. Since the Manga Museum/Library was free, I decided to go in and take a look. Nothing much, just like an ordinary library just that the shelves were filled with rows and rows of manga comics. Also, even though it was located in a deserted corner of the park, there were at least 30 people sitting and reading comics there!