Hiroshima and Miyajima

Pardon our tardiness. We have been in a pasta-induced coma in Italy for the last two weeks and have been very bad about blogging. As we are now setting a record for being behind in our blog, I'm going to spend the next few posts dumping lots of pictures from Japan. For today, I'll show you a few from Hiroshima and Miyajima.

Visiting Hiroshima was powerful in a way that reading about it in a history text never could be. I read the story Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes with my 4th grade students, so visiting the children's memorial to Sadako was particularly moving for me. We were both surprised by the tone of Peace Park, casting no blame toward the United States and instead representing itself as a world city committed to peace and the abolishment of nuclear weapons. It was remarkable to see photos comparing Hiroshima the day after the bombing to the city today. I find it amazing to think about how the city was one of four possible targets, and was ultimately chosen for the bombing because there was good weather overhead that morning.

The A-Bomb Dome, restored to look exactly as it did immediately after the bombing, serves as a reminder of the catastrophic effects of nuclear weapons.

The memorial to the children who died in the bombing and in the following decade as a result of radiation.

Cranes for Sadako.

The beautiful and iconic island of Miyajima, which we visited on a day trip from Hiroshima.