“I do not believe that civilization will be wiped out in a war fought with the atomic bomb. Perhaps two-thirds of the people of the Earth might be killed, but enough men capable of thinking, and enough books, would be left to start again, and civilization could be restored.”
― Albert Einstein
What do you come up with when you hear the name, Hiroshima? Even if you’re not Japanese, probably you’ve heard of the name in your history classes or seen it in the WW2 section of a history book. During my holiday, I had a chance to visit my long-awaited city, Hiroshima, by the Shinkansen (bullet train), which took almost 5 hours all the way from Tokyo.
Hiroshima Peace Memorial, also known as Atomic Bomb Dome or Genbaku Dome in Japanese, composes a significant part of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park as well as is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, designated in 1996.
At 8:15 a.m. on August 6 1945, Enola Gay, B-29 bomber of the United States Army Air Force, dropped Little Boy, the first atomic bomb to be used in human history. Since the bomb exploded almost directly over the dome, the building was able to remain in shape, while other buildings around ground zero were destroyed without leaving any trace but shadows.
The ruin used to be called Hiroshima Prefectural Commercial Exhibition Hall, designed by the Czech architect Jan Letzal, who had found his passion in developing his career in Japan. Due to the rise of the war, he no longer was allowed to stay in the country. For good or bad, he never lived to see the transformation of the hall into the ruin.
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