Hiroshima and Miyajima  

Truly "peaceful" places

Traveling with Dad and Michael (brother)

May 2002

(click on pictures for larger view)

Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima.  All of Hiroshima revolves around this park to honor the victims and preach peace to the rest of the world.

Michael and I pose on the steps in front of the memorial.  From this view you can see the Atomic Dome through the cenotaph.

The Atomic dome stood almost exactly at the epicenter of the blast and is one of the few buildings to remain standing within 2 kilometers. 

As we stepped off the ferry on Miyajima Island, the first thing to greet us were deer! 

Miyajima island is officially designated as one of Japan's Three Most Beautiful Scenic Places.  The big Torii (gate) marks the entrance to the Itsukushima Shrine. 

Itsukushima Shrine...most of it is on stilts over the water. 

Most of the island consists of one mountain (Mt. Misen) which is covered by a forest of Japanese Maple trees.

The view from the top of Mt. Misen is incredible.  Unfortunately for us, it was a very hazy day. 

The Memorial Cenotaph for the A-Bomb victims. Beneath it sits a casket containing the names of all those known to have died directly or indirectly as a result of the bomb - currently 176,964.

The Children's Peace monument is surrounded by thousands of origami cranes folded by school children.

Michael poses in front of the dome.  The Japanese have done a great job of showing the world the capabilities of a 1 megaton bomb.  Imagine if it was one of the 200 megaton bombs of today.

These deer were quite tame, and were not shy when looking for food.  Here one is sticking it's nose in my purse!

The gate is 16m tall and 24m wide.  At one time, boats approaching the island would have to pass through the gates before coming ashore.

As you can imagine, this is a popular place for class trips.

To get to the top of the mountain you can take the "Ropeway", or what I would call a Gondola. 

Also at the top of the mountain, a Monkey farm!  Japanese monkeys are just running around without any cages....it's great.