Hotel Wakakusa

Stamps

by Rabbityama

When you are finished touring the Hiroshima Peace Museum, you may notice that there are some stamps like the one in the picture sitting out. These stamps are very popular in Japan. The Japanese will often stamp brochures or pamphlets, and you can do this too if you have any from Hiroshima. Also, if you have/bought any books, you may want to stamp the inside cover. I never saw anyone stamp there hands, so that may not be something they do. These stamps are not only in Hiroshima. I found that many museums or tourist attractions have them, as well. I always enjoyed stamping books and other materials from the place where the stamp advertised. It's a fun and unique type of stamp collecting!

Island Visit

by Chilie

Just in front of the big city Hiroshima is the beautiful Hiroshima Island with many animals (like deer for example) and some unique pagodas and temples to see.
The famous five stored pagoda is one of the highlights. It is made completely of hard wood, no nails used.
It is impressingly high and painted in bright orange and red colours.

A-Bomb Dome

by pure1942

The most recognisable symbol of Hiroshima’s tragic past, the A-Bomb dome is one of the most visited site in Hiroshima. The building ruins were formerly the Hiroshima Industrial Promotion Hall but today the skeletal remains of the building serve as a stark reminder of Hiroshima’s devastation at the hands of the US Atomic Bomb. The building’s ruins were the only structural left standing in this area of central Hiroshima after the A-Bomb reeked its havoc.

Located across the river from The Peace Memorial Park, the A-Bomb dome is the focal point of the entire area and park, with the Cenotaph, Peace Flame, Peace Pond and Museum all erected in alignment with the A-Bomb Dome.

The original building was finished in 1915 and was designed by the Czech architect, Jan Letzel. Originally, the building was opened as the Hiroshima Prefectural Commercial Exhibition but was later renamed Hiroshima Prefectural Products Exhibition Hall in 1921. However, for some reason that name wasn’t just right either and the building was renamed again in 1933 as the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall!

The building is located very close to the Aioi Bridge, which had been the designated target for the A-Bomb in 1945. Exploding slightly off-target, the A-Bomb actually went off almost directly above the dome of the Industrial Promotion Hall at a height of 600m. Amazingly, the structural skeleton of the building remained largely intact unlike almost every other building in the immediate vicinity, which were flattened by the blast.

In the following years, the dome was left in place in the hopes that it may be reconstructed, due to the fact that the shell was largely intact. As the rest of central Hiroshima was rebuilt, the population became divided as to whether the dome building should be torn down or kept intact. Some voiced their concern that a reminder to such a horrific event in the history of the city would be left in such a prominent place, where people trying to move on and build a future would be reminded constantly of their pain and suffering. Others felt that the dome would serve as a moving memorial to those who died and suffered as a result of the bomb. Eventually, in 1966, it was announced that the dome would be left as it stood, to act as a memorial to the victims and was named the A-Bomb Dome. In 1996 the dome was controversially listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

HIROSHIMA

by JORGE.BARRENO

"BOMB-A DOME"

Summer in Hirsoshima is extremely hot and humid. Those, like me, who are not used to this climate, will find it suffocating. I have never sweat so much in my whole life as in Hiroshima, my clothes were soggy at all times, and I must say that I am not the kind of person who often sweats.

My advice: Very light clothes and a bottle of water always within reach.

"BOMB-A MONUMENT"

I couldn't avoid a sense of grief while I stayed in Hiroshima, because I always had in mind what happened there. Human stupidity and insanity do not find limits!. War is cruel but, once in a blue moon, can push men to show noble virtues such as courage comradeship,..), but violence against innocent civilians is always cruel, a crime, an atrocity and a cowardice. No matter what idea is behind such actions, Never can justify this horror. States and terrorists should always remember this!

I do not recommend you to enter in the Bomb A museum if you are a very sensitive person.