We had a half sea day and arrived at Hiroshima at 2:00 PM. Our morning was spent at breakfast, chatting, then a serious deck walk where I was surprised by the lack of walkers. Fellette took in a little chat about folding fancy scarfs for multiple purposes, Asians are very innovative on the use of cloth for use in so may ways. I chilled out, which I am quite good at now.
Hiroshima. Again, it is amazing how times change and what was current affairs to us growing up is now history. I remember when I was about 7 or 8 years old, [1942-43] playing 'War'. We would pretend to be shot by Japs or Germans, [that is what they were called then], we would then go through all sorts of dramas in pretending to be hit in the stomach and end up dead on the grass. [My spell-check does not even recognize the word Jap now!]
Now, 77 years later we got on a bus with a Japanese tour guide and toured this place that was blown to bits by the first atomic bomb used in a war. I remember when it went off, everybody was glad that 'The Japs are getting what they deserve!] It is a good thing that this is not censored by the Political Correctness Police, but remember I am merely stating facts.
There is one downside to growing older, I constantly have to weigh what is accepted now versus the way it was earlier in my life. Sometimes it takes a while to soak in.
It was a great tour of The Hiroshima War Memorial Park. All things to do with that day in August 1945. There were about 16 bus loads of us arriving there through the morning. It was quite a somber experience, there were no nasty remarks by anybody and the people were quite quiet throughout the whole three hour tour.
We walked for quite some while through the green trees and gardens which was great in the heat. We walked on the bridge that was the target for that day, [rebuilt of course] and saw the impact point, it was an above-ground explosion. The bombardier was off by only about 300 yards, not bad for 1945.
They left one building as it was after the explosion, that was quite a sobering thing to see. Fellette and I then went in the basement of the Museum and in the section showing paintings by witnesses to the day. Those are quite profound and almost brought tears to my eyes as i saw the horror through the eyes of the survivors and witnesses.
It was a somber day on the tour, but part of life I suppose. What a nasty world it was, and still is.
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Son Wally with Katrina and Nathan took off Tuesday night in Vancouver, flying to Rome for a Mediterranean cruise as a family. They return home some time after we do.
Boarded at Vancouver waiting to take off for a night flight to London.
Katrina, Nathan, [long hair and all] and Wally. Does Nathan looks like Jesus? Maybe a Family Resemblance! [Sorry, I have had a wine!]
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Our day in pictures...
It all started with this, 74 years ago.
This was all residential area of small homes in 1945. Now part of
the Peace Park,
The memorial that has about 300,000 names of casualties inside that granite case. Casualties of power gone mad, the innocent suffer, as always.
Erected by school children some years later. I suppose many/most lost relatives.
They left this building, reinforced and with a new dome as a reminder.
Good decision.
Drawings by survivors, hard to look at.
More.
And more.
Back to the real and present world as the sun was going down. Not a fun day but an necessary day methinks.
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