In today’s Hiroshima little remains of the city that was before the atomic bomb as the city has been completely rebuilt. The city of Hiroshima is located in western Japan, in the Chugoku region. It is a port city located on the Ota River Delta, which gives the city a peculiar charm as it is surrounded by stretches where the river passes.
But, unfortunately, Hiroshima is best known to be the scene of the first-ever atomic bombing, which took place on August 6, 1945 by the U.S. Army during World War II.
The Hiroshima bomb was nicknamed “Little Boy.” In its explosion it destroyed 69% of the city’s buildings, killed 140,000 people immediately and many more because of radiation.
If you are looking for a hotel in Hiroshima that is well priced and located in the city center you have plenty of options to choose from. In my case, I stayed at the Guesthouse Poptone as it is close to Hiroshima Station and Peace Memorial Park. We can find it in booking with good references, with a score of 9 out of 10 and a price of 17-20 euros per night in a shared bedroom.
If you are looking for an even cheaper option you can also stay at the Tsuruya Guesthouse. This hostel, as of today, comes out in Booking as the cheapest accommodation in the center of Hiroshima. It has a score of 8 out of 10 and a price of 15 euros per night in a shared dormitory.
Today’s Hiroshima, it is a modern and cosmopolitan city. Even so, above all this modernization highlights the ruined building converted into a monument in Commemoration of the Peace of Hiroshima. This building, also called the Genbaku Dome, was the epicenter of the atomic bomb explosion. The bomb never touched the ground, exploded while in the air, 600m from Genbaku Dome and was one of the few structures that resisted the impact.
The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park is a collection of monuments dedicated to the victims of the nuclear attack, to the city of Hiroshima as a symbol of peace and to the active struggle for the elimination of all nuclear weapons so that this horror never happens again.
The Dome of Genbaku is the most outstanding monument, although there are also others:
At first Hiroshima was not part of my travel plans, but as I was nearing Onomichi I approached to see it. Without a doubt it left me more than satisfied. Whether you are one of those people who are interested in history or not, the Peace Memorial Park is worth a visit. It will help you to understand the suffering this place has gone through and to understand Japanese culture a little more.
I was surprised not to find a hint of revenge or anger during my visit to the Peace Memorial Park. In fact, you find the opposite. In today’s Hiroshima there is an enormous feeling of sorrow for what has happened and a message begging the four winds that such horror will never happen again.
It is admirable how today’s Hiroshima has risen from its ashes and has become a modern city, which has healed wounds, which looks to the future, but has not forgotten the past. That is why it has managed to become a symbol of peace and hope where its daily struggle against nuclear weapons is one of its main reasons to go.
In conclusion, going to Hiroshima and not visiting Peace Memorial Park is like going to Japan and not visiting Tokyo, it doesn’t make any sense. This city and its inhabitants, victims of one of the worst attacks in human history, deserve my admiration and respect. They are the clearest example of an enormous truth that Hawking so simply defined:
As long as there is life, there is hope.
Once you have finished your visit to Hiroshima, the most recommendable thing, because of its proximity and because it is worth it, is to go to Miyajima Island. There you can see the great Torii of Japan, one of the most famous venues in the country.
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