The Peace Memorial building was designed in 1915 by a Czech architect as part of the Hiroshima Prefectural Commercial Exhibition. The only structure left standing near the epicenter of the nuclear explosion, it is widely known as the Genbaku Dome (Atomic Bomb Dome).
The Peace Memorial Museum is divided into two parts. The East Building tells the story of Hiroshima before and after the bombing. The West Building focusses on the physical effects. Some of the exhibits are heart-rending: clothing remnants, charred lunch boxes, the last words of dying children. Details of the destruction are portrayed through photos and paintings. Black rain streaks cover a white plaster wall and the stages of radiation sickness are graphically displayed. It’s a moving experience designed to reinforce the exhibition’s central message: Never again!
The Peace Bell sounds mournfully throughout the Memorial Park as visitors line up to ring it. Constructed in 1964, it bears a map of the world and an atomic symbol marks the spot where it is struck.
The East Wing of the Memorial Museum, redesigned in 2017, allows for open space to cope with the number of visitors. Interactive panels provide details about the damage done in particular areas.
The Memorial Cenotaph aligned towards the Atomic Dome bears an epitaph which translates as ‘Let all the souls here rest in peace for we shall not repeat the evil.’
Amongst the most moving of the exhibits are those that speak of personal tragedy, such as this irradiated tricycle. Nearby a watch has stopped at exactly 8.16, the time of the blast on August 6, 1945.
HIMEJI CASTLE
JAPAN’S BEST-PRESERVED SAMURAI STRONGHOLD
HIMEJI CASTLE AT A GLANCE
REGISTRATION 1993, for combining military function with aesthetic appeal.
FEATURES Castle with 2 moats (originally 3) and 83 structures arranged around a 6-storey tower.
PRACTICALITIES Access from Himeiji JR stn (15 mins walk). Open 9.00–17.00 (last entry 16.00). ¥400. Volunteer guides available through Information Office or try [email protected]. Guided tours take 90 mins.
INFORMATION Tourist Information Office at JR station (079) 222-0003; email: [email protected] Castle tel. (079) 285-1146.
DATELINE
1333—First hill fortification
1581—Remodeled by Toyotomi Hideyoshi
1601–9—Present layout adopted
1618—Extra buildings added
1871—Sold at auction
1930—Parts designated as National Treasure
Of the twelve castles which remain intact from Japan’s samurai age, Himeiji is the biggest and best preserved. It combines a sophisticated defence system with beauty of design, such that it has been compared to a bird taking flight (hence the nickname, the White Egret Castle). It was built on a grand scale yet with sensitivity to the landscape, as a result of which it appears integrated into nature. It seems extraordinary that this robust complex was made from only the simplest of natural materials: wood, water, stone and clay.
The proportions of the castle are staggering. It is fifty times larger than the Tokyo Dome and the combined length of the walls totals three miles (4.8 km). The tallest section is 85 feet (26 meters) high, built entirely without mortar so as to allow for earthquakes. When the builders ran short of stone, they resorted to tombstones, coffins and temple lanterns, some of which can be seen in the fabric of the wall. Also visible is a small grinding stone which belonged to a widow who was moved by the shortage to donate her precious kitchen implement. It prompted other donations and helped speed up the construction.
The magnificent main keep of the castle has undergone an extensive five-year restoration, which involved replastering the walls and replacing the roof tiles. The tower appears to have five floors, but there is actually a disguised sixth floor and a basement.
After the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 the castle was awarded to Ikeda Terumasa, who enlarged the complex and added the family symbol of a swallowtail butterfly.
A man in samurai uniform poses at the entrance to the castle grounds. There were originally three moats but only the inner and parts of the central moat have survived.
The grounds of the castle are well known for cherry blossom viewing, and in early April there’s a festival with lantern illumination culminating in a performance of drums and some 100 kimono-clad harpists.
Beneath the multistoreyed tower stands one of the original 84 gates. The castle boasts formidable defences but was never, in fact, tested in battle.
Every aspect of the castle was built with defence in mind. The network of storehouses and residences was arranged in a maze-like manner so as to confuse attackers, and even today with sign-boards pointing the way tourists can find the layout baffling. The 84 gates of the original castle (only 21 remain) were designed to channel attackers into a spiral of narrow passages where they could be shot at from above. The castle walls have roughly 1,000 loopholes—circular, triangular and rectangular—from which rifles and arrows could be fired.
Some of the design details are ingenious. The castle walls are coated with white plaster that was resistant to fire, and one of the moats served as a water reserve for fire-fighting purposes.
Windows have bars that look like wood but are actually metal to prevent them being sawn through. They are also hollow inside to allow for drainage of rainwater from the roofs. The long corridors have concealed openings for rocks or boiling liquid to be dropped on attackers, while guardrooms were designed to enable ambushes. If all else failed, a special area was reserved for hara-kiri.
The connecting corridors that run along the castle walls look innocent enough but conceal ambush rooms and holes for dropping rocks on attackers.
The approach to the castle leads round bends and curves in a maze-like manner, exposing would-be attackers to the mercy of defenders.
The centerpiece of the castle is a 150-foot (46-meter) main tower, which effectively doubles the height of the hill on which it stands. From the outside it seems to have five floors but, in fact, it has six plus a basement (the fourth and fifth floors are constructed to appear as one). The structure is strengthened by two massive wooden pillars which stand