Heart of Hiroshima

[Photo by Sun Ye/China Daily]

Field trips

On my Saturday-afternoon visit to the Peace Memorial Park, I saw at least six primary student groups on field trips. They're told about the damaging effects of radiation, blasts and heat rays from A-bombs. How the city lost 140,000 lives and was razed to the ground 70 years ago. While standing on their "Ground Zero", they saw relics from the historic day such as charred lunchboxes and scorched clothes, disfigured models with peeled off skin and melted eyes. They gasped. Some fled. And at the end of their tours, strings of paper cranes were presented to the Children's Peace Monument, in memory of Sadako.

"We would all come to the park starting from a very young age," a passer-by in his 20s told me. "We are shocked. It's fearful."

"What did we learn? No wars. No more fighting anymore."

The Peace Memorial Park, which opened 10 years after the event, is peaceful today. The A-bomb Dome has somehow stripped most of the horror its blackened columns carried. Standing with its skeletal frame, it's now the serene backdrop to tourists' smiley selfies. The park, with wide alleyways, a clear water passage and woods going golden during my early October visit, is also the civic square people come pushing kids' strollers.

Its east end opens to Hiroshima's central commercial area, along with its old municipal baseball stadium.

Boisterous city

And on that Saturday afternoon, when I walked to the Shareo area from the packed museum, Hiroshima was a boisterous city - that is, by Japanese standards.

Streets were lively with laughter and talk. One had to watch out not to bump into another skinny yuppie donning a beanie hat.

Streetcars were crammed with Carp fans wearing their team's bright red baseball caps and jackets. They were heading to the world-class Mazda Zoom-Zoom stadium.

Hiroshima Castle, a short walk away, had families picnicking, throwing frisbees and walking dogs as their weekend routines.

You could choose to become completely oblivious to the bomb's hypocenter and the tragic history after turning away from the park.