TL;DR – I spent a day in Hiroshima on my way to the south of the country.

Disclosure – I paid for my flights, accommodation, entry, and everything you see purchased in this article.

Exploring Japan –

I had always planned to go back to Japan one day, and had started making plans to go back in 2020. Then, well, 2020 happened. But late last year, I finally had the chance to put those plans back in motion as I flew out of Melbourne for Osaka, and thus my time in Japan began.  

After spending my first five days based out of Osaka, it was time to begin my trip down to the south of the country. I didn’t want to spend a whole day travelling down to the south, so it was time to make a pit stop in the middle, and for me, that would be Hiroshima. Okay, I say pit stop, I was always going to spend some time here.

I did visit Hiroshima on my last visit to Japan, and it was one of the most transformational experiences in my life, and I needed to spend some time back in the city.

My first stop in the city was the Peace Memorial Park; it is almost like a pilgrimage for me, and no matter what, it is a profoundly moving place to sit and just reflect on the world.

The scars of the nuclear weapons are placed in stark relief to the gardens around, a juxtaposition of stunning beauty and a haunting reminder of the past.

One of the parts of the garden that caught my eye this time was the rose garden. I spent more time than I probably should reading all the tags that showed where the rose was donated from. They came from all across the world, even from places that do not technically exist any more, such as Czechoslovakia.  

One place you need to spend some time in reflection is at the Children’s Peace Monument, and it is hard not to be moved. When I had been waiting there in contemplation for a time, a group of school children arrived in uniform, and no, I did not take pictures of this. They were coming for a ceremony, bringing folded origami cranes to add to the monument. Now, I have to be clear: I do not speak Japanese; it did not matter. Their words moved me to tears.

Before leaving the park, I rang the Peace Bell, letting the sound wash over me.

I spent some more time in the park in reflection, watching the water lilies, looking at the willows by the water. Eventually, it was time to start the second part of my day by taking a tram all the way to the end of the line.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Bluesky at @Tldrmovrev, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images and content have been created by the author unless stated otherwise