Hiroshima

1st kanji: "hiro" (hero)=wide, broad 2nd kanji: "shima" (she-ma)=island

say: Hero-she-ma

Hiroshima Today

There are more than 500,000 people living in Hiroshima today.  Considering the entire city had to rebuild itself from scratch, it is really amazing what has been done in about 60 years.  Aside from all the memorials, you would think that Hiroshima had never been leveled, as you walk around the streets.  Today it is a busy, bustling city.  It has a very convienient trolley system running through the city, on top of trains, buses and subways.  However, the number of people who develop certain cancers is still very high here.  People are still dying because of the bomb.  Though 75,000 people died in the days after it was dropped, it is believed that the true total of deaths surpasses 200,000.

I took these photos from a pedestrian bridge over one of the bigger streets in Hiroshima--looking in one direction, then the other.  You can see the trolley tracks running along the street.  They 'drive' like cars, stopping for red lights and everything.  It was neat. On the left side of the photo to the left, you can see a sturdy, grey, old-fashioned-looking building.  This was the Bank of Japan before the blast.  It received fairly little damage, and because its armored shutters on 2 floors were shut, they were not badly damaged.  However, everyone inside at the time perished.  It served as a relief station, and was open for business again on the 8th.  It, like the Dome, is one of the few buildings that was standing after the blast.

And, lastly..... SNOW!

When Jeremy and I set out from our minshuku that morning, we came across that lump of snow on the street.  I was so surprised!  I heard it had snowed in Kyoto the previous weekend, so I guess it hit Hiroshima, too.  I was extra-surprised to see it here because Hiroshima is a bit more southern than Kyoto, and Numazu on top of that... and we didn't have any snow!  We found more 'hiding' in the shadows, away from the bright sun, as we walked through the park.  I was surprised enough to take pictures. (;  So lame.

THERE!  That ends my rant on Hiroshima.  I hope you enjoyed my info and my pictures.  It was a really interesting city and I'm really glad we went. (:  I wouldn't mind going back, but then, there's Nagasaki to see now.

If this was very interesting for you, visit some official sites: Hiroshima City Peace Memorial Park and Museum Hiroshima Peace Site

Fukuoka

Hiroshima