Numbers turned to People

17.08.16

Today we went to Hiroshima. There we fist stopped at the Hiroshima piece memorial, where dramatic remains of the atomic blast are displayed. The tower and its surrounding crumbling walls, were directly under the atomic bombs and were not knocked down due to direct pressure from above (and nor from the sides). It was the first time that I had actually realized what kind of damage the bomb did. When we then proceeded to the Hiroshima Memorial Museum, I was scarred with the horrors that were inflicted on this particular city. Stories of lost children were told and their ripped clothes displayed. It was not because of their sad history that I was shocked, but because these were just a few stories of many.

The Bomb Tower

Inside the museum 

 If those stories had not been told; if simply facts and numbers would have been stated – I, and many others, wouldn't have felt the way they felt. We would have simply seen these tragedies as lost numbers in a bombing and not as actual people. It is therefore important to tell the stories of a lost people, to show the world that these victims of destruction were never just numbers. They were people with lives that we go on living everyday and were taken from them.

Illustration of city after the bomb hit

After this mind-opening adventure, we went to an art museum of my choice (the prefectural art museum of Hiroshima). There I was surprised to see Dali’s dream of the Venus, Max Ernst’s surrealist art and other Japanese works.

Mademoiselle S  by Nakanishi Toshio

To end the day, we took a fairy to Miajima and visited the famous Torii and made a wish at the temple. I bought a lucky amulet before taking a dip in the beach.  

On the bright side: when we got home, the receptionist handed us a bag full of Susonon Gadgets (the Susono mascot), which one of our friends organized after having heard of our quest.

Song of the day:

Empty Chairs at Empty Tables

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqqSa9n2ZQk