Standing quietly in the shadow of the skeletal Dome with thoughts of the past, I could not, and nor would I have tried to, avoid a feeling of overwhelming sorrow. Realising the inhuman, nay inhumane, brutality of that day as I gazed at the everlasting monumental reminder...so emotional. It is both starkly horrifying yet beautiful at the same time. Whether it was the dreary day on which I visited that heightened my senses I do not know. But, even now some 4 years on from my visit [the drop-down box for stating when for posting this review doesn't track back far enough], whenever I look at photographs (and, indeed, as I type this) I relive my quiet moments of contemplation in stark clarity.

I only had one day in Hiroshima (the other was spent on Miya Island (Miyajima), unfortunately when the Heaven's opened in a Biblical downpour), but the Memorial Park could and would not be missed. And I am thankful I attended. The Dome is located very, very close to the hypocentre and survived (if that is the word to use) probably due to its proximity to the blast (I suppose rather like being inside the eye of a hurricane). 'Just around the corner' on a side street is a plaque commemorating the hypocentre.

Visit the park, people. Pay your respects, and pray that such an atrocity is never again deployed on the innocent people of this beautiful Earth.

And to the wonderful people of Japan: sumimasen.

The Peace Park serves as a visual reminder of the perils of war and especially the atomic bomb. It must never be used again.