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Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
 - November 1995
 
A-Bomb Dome The A-Bomb Dome (Genbaku-domu-mae) is one of the few
ruined buildings to be retained after the bombing. 
Originally the Industrial Promotional Hall, it is a world famous symbol of
the destructive power of the atomic bomb which flattened and burned
a city of 350,000 people, with about 140,000 people dying from injuries
and radiation within a few months of the bombing in August 1945.
  The Peace Memorial Museum contains very moving displays of
the effects of the atomic bombing and maintains a watch on
the continued testing of nuclear weapons around the world. 
  In front of the building are the Statue of Mother and Child in the Storm
and the Fountain of Prayer. 
 Colourful origami cranes are left on most of the memorials, monuments
and statues in the park as a symbol of visitors' wish for Peace.		 Peace Museum and statue of Mother and Child in Storm
Flame of Peace
The Museum is seen beyond the Flame of Peace, its shape
symbolising hands held palm upwards. 
The flame will burn until all nuclear weapons are removed from the Earth. 
 The Memorial Cenotaph contains the register of all
who have died as a result of exposure to the atomic bomb.
It now lists more than 180,000 people. 
  The arch over the stone coffin is a replica of an ancient haniwa house,
shielding the souls of those who died. 
  Through its arch you can see the Flame of Peace
and the A-Bomb Dome. 
  The stone here is inscribed: 
        'Let all souls here rest in peace, 
        for we shall not repeat the evil'. 		 Memorial Cenotaph
Praying at the cenotaph Children pray for Peace at the Cenotaph
with the Museum at rear. 
The Children's Monument is topped by
a statue of a girl holding a folded crane. 

The statue is generally considered to represent Sadako Sasaki
whose death from leukaemia at age 12 moved her fellow students
to raise money for the monument from donors all over the world.

 Close-up of Children's Monument
Children's Monument
 

Sadako tried to fold a thousand paper cranes
so that her wish for a return to health might be granted. 
Her school friends completed the folding after her death
and the folding of paper cranes has become a symbol
of a wish for Peace and a world free of nuclear weapons. 
 
Sadako wrote of her cranes: 
        ' I will write Peace on your wings 
        and you will fly all over the world.'		 Close up of Children's Monument
Close up of cranes at Childrens Monument Around the base of the Children's Mounument
lie many thousands of folded paper cranes and
peace messages from all over the world. 
   The painted banner reads Heiwa (Peace) and
has folded cranes around its border.
  Other Peace messages are spelt out in colourful cranes
pasted onto cardboard.		 Cranes at the Children's Monument
Praying at the Children's Monument
Every day hundreds of students come to pray at the
Children's Monument. 
The inscription in stone here reads: 
            'This is our cry. 
            This is our prayer. 
            Peace in the world'.
  The Peace Bell is rung by visitors as 
part of their wish for Peace. 
  The dome shape of the belfry symbolises the Universe. 
  The bell weighs more than a ton. 
Around it wraps a map of the world with no national boundaries
shown, to symbolise 'One World'.		 Peace Bell
Monument to the Unknown Victims
The Monument to the Unknown Victims, modelled on
an ancient burial mound, contains the ashes of
about 70,000 unidentified A-Bomb victims. 
It stands on the site of some of the first cremations
of A-Bomb victims, and became the resting place
of ashes brought from other parts of the city. 
  The Monument to the Mobilised Students remembers nearly 7,000
Hiroshima school students who died in the atomic bomb blast. 
  They were 'mobilised' to demolish wooden buildings for firebreaks,
to produce food and to work in factories for the war effort. 
  The statue represents the Goddess of Peace with eight doves. 
Thousands of paper cranes are left here by visitors seeking a world
in which children can live without fear of nuclear weapons. 
  The sign reading 'Peace' is made of folded paper cranes
glued onto a board.		 Close-up of Monument to the Mobilised Students
Lunch with the Doves
Modern Hiroshima rises beyond students sharing their lunch
with some of the thousands of doves which live in the Peace Park. 
Doves are a symbol of Peace all over the world. 
As a reminder that  we must work to maintain Peace,
it is not uncommon to see birds of prey attacking the doves in flight here.
To remember the past is 
 to commit oneself to the future.
To remember Hiroshima is 
 to abhor nuclear war.
To remember Hiroshima is 
 to commit oneself to peace.
-  Pope John Paul II  1981 		No More Hiroshimas!

 
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