Flake in order to Sense

Hiroshima has got to be one of the best places I have visited while I have been here in Japan. I went about 2 weeks ago with Kristen, Kira, and Jessica, on a Sunday night. What a spiritual and overwhelming experience. We went to the Peace Park there which is a dedicatory to the remembrance of all those who died in the Hiroshima Atomic bombing. They have a shelled out building there has was one of the few buildings left standing. It stands as a reminder to the world of the disasters that war and nuclear weapons can cause on mankind. They have an eternal flame as well and monument to the thousands of kids uprooted from their homes and brought to Hiroshima to work for the war effort and die for it as well. They have a monument to a girl who was dying of cancer so she folded 1000 paper cranes as a reminder to bring peace to the world. Her name was Sadako. You can even fold your own paper crane and they will put it up at the monument. I think the most overpowering place though was the Atomic bombing museum. It has all the facts behind the war, Hiroshima, and what really happened. It also shows pictures of the city before and after the bombing. They have four walls covered with letters from the Mayor of Hiroshima to countries that are still making and testing nuclear weapons (with the USA and Russia being the leaders), begging them to stop. I took a picture of the letter that was written to the Soviet Union on my actual birthday!! The saddest part was upstairs where they had remains of people, pictures, walls, clothing, accessories, and other things found after the bombing. You could listen to the story about all of them. It was so devastating. I have never felt such an array of feelings all at once. Sadness, happiness, peace, unrest, humility, anger, shame, love, bravery, depression, devastation, admiration, and even more that I cannot name. We even saw the story of one of the survivors. It was such a growing and learning experience. One which I will never forget!!