 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Hiroshima |  |
1st kanji: "hiro" (hero)=wide, broad 2nd kanji: "shima" (she-ma)=island |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| say: Hero-she-ma | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Children's Peace Monument After the death of a classmate ten years after the bombing, students called for a monument in honor of all the children that died as a result of the A-Bomb. 3,100 Japanese schools, as well as 9 other countries helped to construct this monument. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This is perhaps the Peace Park's most famous monument. It certainly was my favorite. While mourning the loss of lives, it still displays an amazing wish for peace. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Have you heard the story of Sadako and the thousand paper cranes? Sadako was exposed to the bomb at age 2. She was not injured, and didn't show any signs of illness--until she turned 10, when she developed leukemia. There is a belief in Japan: that if you fold 1000 paper cranes, your wish will be granted. Sadako began folding, praying with each crane that she would get better. She died at age twelve, having folded 644 cranes. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sadako's classmates finished the rest, and are the reason this monument was built. It stands 9 meters high. The girl at the top is believed to be Sadako, holding a 'folded' crane high above her head. Two other statues of children circle the monument, symbolizing a bright future and hope. The stone below the monument reads: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This is our cry. This is our prayer. For building peace in this world. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Did I make you cry? (: Heart-wrenching as it is, it's a true story. One which inspired the crane-folding phenomena that continues to this day. Children have been making crane-presents to send to this memorial for years. Older pictures of this memorial do not include the structures behind it, where millions of cranes send from all over Japan (the world?) are displayed. I have a feeling that years after the memorial was erected (1958), the city found it necessary to add them to the site. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| There are nine glass-windowed sections. The day we were there, the seventh section was left open--the previous 6 were STUFFED with cranes already. The eight and ninth stood waiting. There were hooks from the ceiling to hang crane 'ropes', and plastic tubs on the floor for single cranes. Crane-pictures were pressed against the glass in many of the other sections. It was really something. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Memorial Tower to the Mobilized Students | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
Another memorial dedicated to children, but a bit more sobering was this one. To make up for the labor shortage, middle and high school students were required to work in munitions facorites, help | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| tear down buildings, and so on. Of the 8,400 of these students in Hiroshima City, about 6,300 died the day of the attack. However, there were restrictions on which of these souls were | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| allowed to be enshrined in Yasukuni-jinja (for dead war heroes). Families bereaved and angered by this began a movement to create a list of the dead and collected donations to build this tower. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| detail of the Angel of Peace | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| more Hiroshima | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hiroshima | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||