The Peace Clock

We spent a few hours this afternoon in part of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. A film crew were talking to an elderly lady in front of it and we speculated that she could have been a survivor of the atomic bomb in 1945. The main part of the museum was closed for earthquake strengthening work, but there was an exhibition on that showed clothing people had been wearing, stories of families, film and photos of the city from before and after the bomb.

There are lots of memorials in the Peace Park, but one to the 'mobilised students' sticks in my mind (though forgot to take a photo) In 1944 students from age 12 were 'mobilised' and had to move away from their families to do things like knock down houses to make fire breaks, sew uniforms or work in factories, and it's thought that nearly 7000 of them died in Hiroshima.

There was also a timeline, giving reasons the USA decided to use the bomb, in depth detail of the consequences to humans who survived the blast, and a plea for an end to nuclear weapons.

This clock shows the days since the first A-bomb and since the latest nuclear test.

A very sobering exhibition, and still feels unreal that such a thing could have happened.

We did also do some more joyful stuff today, including getting a delicious 'meal set' - miso soup, rice, chicken & veg and stuffed cabbage with veg in tomato, washed down with an IPA from Miyajima, an island which we had visited in the morning.