History and Culture
Visit the Atomic Bomb Museum in Nagasaki
At two minutes past eleven, on August 9th 1945, the tranquility of a quite Sunday morning in Nagasaki, Japan was shattered by an atomic bomb. It was dropped by the American Armed Forces in an effort to hasten the end of World War II. The area considered to be "ground-zero" is now a beautiful place called Peace Park. Not surprisingly, it has statues and monuments dedicated to the idea of peace throughout the world, so that mankind might never have to experience this level of destruction again.
Even though this event happened before I was born, it was still an emotional day for me - similar to my visits to Dachau in Germany, and Omaha Beach in Normandy, France. Ten years after the end of the war, a large statue was erected in the park in the name of peace, bearing the plaque shown below...
But in contrast to this message of peace and global harmony, another plaque states the chilling statistics...
As the statistics indicate, most everything within four kilometers of the blast was completely destroyed. There was a cathedral only 150 meters from the hypo-center - this is all that remains...
But now the park is a tranquil place filled with beauty in the form of statues...
...and fountains - this one was designed to resemble an angel's wings...
