Japan: Hiroshima

This is actually a donut restaurant in Iwakuni. That is melon flavored fanta and a green tea donut. The donut was awesome. The fanta was so-so. Overseas orange fanta still wins. Hiroshima was a sobering place to visit. It turns out that since most of the men were fighting, children, particularly middle school age were using school hours to clear areas around government buildings as a precaution against allied bombing. When the nuclear bomb hit, those children were exposed outside. The museum did a decent job of attempting to explain all sides of the decision to use nuclear weapons, but it was very sobering. Did you know that the mayor of Hiroshima has personally written a note protesting every nuclear test since the bomb went off in Hiroshima? This is the Peace Arch.

This mound is where victims were cremated after the bomb.

Have you ever read the book Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes? Making 1000 origami cranes is considered good luck. Sadako suffered from radiation after the bomb but according to some sources she did not finish before she died. Other sources say she did finish. Since then people from across the world have been sending 1000 paper cranes to Hiroshima to remember her and others with radiation poisoning. My 6th grade class did this, and I was so excited to actually see the place where she is remembered.

This building was the epicenter of the bomb and is still partially standing.