Hiroshima

The Hiroshima manga library

The most obvious thing to come to mind when thinking of Hiroshima is the dropping of the first atomic bomb on August 6, 1945 (8:15 am local time). While a lot of the city seems to stand as a monument to those who died in that horrific event, there are a lot of other areas of interest in Hiroshima as well. Now I've never been called a great lover of art, but I was impressed by the outside of the Hiroshima museum of art, which features a sculpture garden and a really cool staircase with mini-waterfalls. I have been called a great lover of food (or a lover of great food, or a great lover, who eats food), and so I was all to eager to chow down on the Hiroshima version of Okonomiyaki, which is pretty famous. I would have posted a picture, but the thought of taking one only occured to me about 3/4 of the way through eating. For all the manga fans, Hiroshima has a library that exclusively carries the further adventures of all your favourites. Food, shopping, and culture are just some of the things that make Hiroshima an intersting place to visit.

monument to the victims,
depicting a clock frozen at 8:15

All that being said, I would be lying if I didn't say that the Peace Park, dedicated to the A-bomb detonation wasn't the most dominant aspect of the city, and the main reason that I came here in the first place.

I'm sure that most people have seen pictures of the Atomic Bomb dome, which was formerly the Hiroshima Industrial Promotion Hall. It, being one of the few buildings left standing near ground zero, stands as-is as a monument to the destruction. The surrounding area, which was levelled in the explosion has been converted to the Peace Park, the main attraction of which is the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. It's the best 50 yen you can spend. Most shocking displays: photos of victims in the aftermath; a cement wall with shards of glass embedded in it from the explosion.

All the photos are here