Japan (2) - 1979

So, what did I learn in Hiroshima?... Firstly, about the people: they are phenomenal workers, working - usually 10 hrs/day at least. The shipyard was very clean and tidy, unlike most British yards I had seen. I found the people easy to work with and I never felt threatened at any time, even when walking the city streets after dark. As a Christian, I was unable to find a place where I could worship, except when alone in my hotel room, but over the month this was not a huge problem as I could read my Bible and pray, and God's presence was just as real there as anywhere else. The whole city of Hiroshima had been rebuilt after the A-Bomb and there is a beautiful park which was filled with families picnicking under the almond blossom trees at the weekend. I had very little free time but I did walk in the Peace Park and also visited the Museum where there are many exhibits showing the effects of the A-Bomb in graphic detail: things that I find it hard to describe even now, but I shall never forget: waxworks tableaux of people with the flesh melting from their bodies; photos of dead and dying children, some of them without faces (Did you know that all of the middle school children were out in the streets, clearing up after an air-raid, when The Bomb exploded - a whole generation of 11-14 year olds wiped out?). Enough said, except 'It must never happen again!'