August 6th

Every year on August 6th the city of Hiroshima holds a peace memorial celebration to commemorate the lives lost in the dropping of the atomic bomb during WWII. In the morning the Prime Minister and Royal family come from Tokyo and hold a ceremony in front of thousands of spectators at the Peace Memorial Park. In the evening a celebration is held at the A-Bomb Dome Memorial. We took the kids down to the evening portion and here are some pictures from the night.

 

This first picture is us in front of the A-Bomb Dome Memorial. It is considered "ground zero" for the dropping of the atomic bomb. The building in the background was the actual target the US air force used to drop the bomb. During the war the building was the tallest building in all of Hiroshima and had a green dome roof which made easy to see. At the time it was used as government offices, however before the war it was a cultural events center where orchestra concerts, dance companies, and fairs were held. 

 

The evening celebration is centered around building peace between individuals and other nations. There were even people standing with signs that said "Free Hugs". Mike had to take a picture of this!  They had a table where children could decorate a wax lantern and then light the lantern. The lanterns were placed around the perimeter of the A-Bomb Dome Memorial.

 The A-Bomb Dome memorial is located on the Ota-gawa River and sits across the river from the Peace Memorial Park. A the Peace Memorial Park you could pay to light a paper lantern and float it on the river. It was an amazing sight to see miles of lanterns floating on the rivers out o the sea.

It was a beautiful night to celebrate the peace that currently exists between Japan and the USA. But also, a somber night that reminds us of the devastation that war brings. It was also very interesting to be an American in that setting. There is a lot of politics and history that is part of this setting, but I won't go into it here.  This year was the 68th year since the bombing.