Honshu, Japan

Peace Memorial Park is located right beside where the atomic bomb detonated and was an intensely moving experience. The A-bomb Dome is right beside the park and survived the blast mostly intact, it was left untouched and might be the most powerful site to experience. After viewing some of the monuments we were joined by 2 survivors of the bombing- Mr.Sasaki and Mr.Ito, who both lost siblings due to the bombing.

Mr.Sasaki's sister Sadako was only 2 years old when the bomb was dropped but died years later of leukemia and is well known for folding a thousand paper cranes in hope of a wish of getting well. Her story is iconic in Japan history and chronicled in the book "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes". Mr.Ito lost his brother to leukemia after the bomb as well and in 2001 he also lost his son in the World Trade Center on 9/11. The stories the men told were beyond just moving but their humility and lack of anger or desire for revenge was a lesson to us all. Meeting these men, hearing their stories, seeing the museum, and walking through the memorial is the kind of experience which might be inexpressable with mere words but it will be with me forever.