It was a sunny morning in Hiroshima on August 6th 1945, when the Atomic bomb dropped out of the sky, obliterated the city, and changed the course of world history forever. The atomic flash and the eventual loss of over 200,000 lives have forever linked the city of Hiroshima with the utter ferocity and ultimate tragedy of nuclear holocaust. Today this beautiful city of nearly 3 million, located in Japan's southwestern Chugoku region, offers some of the most somber and moving sightseeing in Japan.
Though the event will no doubt be seared on the Japanese consciousness forever, the Heiwa Kinen-koen (Peace Memorial Park) located at ground zero of the Atomic bomb's explosion is a reminder and moving memorial to those who lost their lives. The Peace Memorial Park is southwest of the Hiroshima Castle between the Motoyasu and Ota rivers. Across from the Peace Memorial Park is the Genbaku Domu (Atomic Dome).
Ironically, this structure once housed the Industrial Promotional Hall. Today its crumbled façade, and the skeletal remains of its main dome, are among the only vertical structures that withstood the bomb's initial shock wave. The Atomic Dome and Peace Memorial Park combine to form some of the most reflective and moving sightseeing in Japan.