Hiroshima

Even before I went to Japan we all knew about the tragedy that happened in 

Hiroshima. We also knew who was responsible for it.

My second visit to Japan was in 1982. We went to Tokyo and Osaka. My husband who was Cardiologist had learned about this new Technology that we call Echocardiography. In 1978 when we went, there was a  “ World Congress of Cardiology “ to attend which was held in Tokyo at newly built hotel named New Otani. There he had a chance to interact with doctors who were experts in that. I would say perhaps more advanced.

After World congress of Cardiology in 1978 , our next visit was in 1982 - just Tokyo and Osaksa - so it has to be an independent visit to learn Echocardiography. Dr. Kiyoshi lived in Tokyo.

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Dr. Kiyoshi Machii was one of the most prominent, pioneering authorities on cardiac ultrasound (echocardiography) in Tokyo.

• His 1982 Location: Around 1980–1982, Dr. Machii was leading groundbreaking clinical research in real-time, phased-array cross-sectional echocardiography at the Center for Cardiovascular Disease at Mitsui Memorial Hospital, located in Chiyoda, Tokyo.

So, in 1982 we went to visit Tokyo and Osaka to learn from these experts. 

The famous doctor in Tokyo told us that  he was a young boy when Atomic explosion occurred . He told us that he ran and sat in a pool of water for hours and survived. This shook me up.

The other consultant whom we met in 1996, in another hospital, we heard  from him that his family also lived in Hiroshima at the time of explosion. We had become good friends but with him we never discussed the episode. So when we planned to go to Hiroshima, which is a beautiful city, the main reason was the Museum. We did go inside and felt sad. 

Even before I went to Hiroshima, I had many thoughts in my mind. How could a learned person think of doing such a cruel thing to ordinary people living their everyday lives? I also wondered about the scientists who agreed to make a bomb capable of causing such destruction. I had seen the film about the making of the bomb, and I remember seeing how deeply troubled he became about the bomb and its use.

The atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. I went to Japan much later, in 1978, but the memory of that terrible day had remained with us for many years. In India, and perhaps in many other countries, people mourned the disaster and remembered the day with sorrow.

When we first went to Japan, we knew that one day we would visit Hiroshima. But we also felt that going to the Museum would be a very sad experience. I had heard that some people could not even bring themselves to enter.

Nevertheless, we went. What we saw there was beyond words. To say that it was “unbelievable” is not enough. The destruction and the human suffering were so overwhelming that there was really nothing one could say and nothing anyone could done.

The feeling I had inside me was strangely like the feeling I have when I stand before Gandhiji’s Samadhi. There are no words. You simply stand there in silence, thinking about human beings, about suffering, and about what human beings are capable of doing to one another.

And yet, there is another thought that has stayed with me. We in India continued to go to the United States, to study, to work, to learn, and also to enjoy all that was good in that country. I have done so myself, and America has been an important part of my life.

These are my feelings as I remember Hiroshima now, at this late age.

This is not a history of Hiroshima. It is simply my story of Hiroshima.

Hiroshima to Miyajima

The famous "Hiroshima Torii gate" is the giant vermilion O-Torii gate belonging to the Itsukushima Shrine on Miyajima Island, just off the coast of Hiroshima. It is one of Japan's most photographed and iconic sights. 

It stands 16.6 meters (about 54 feet) tall, is 22 meters wide, and weighs over 60 tons. It appears to float on the water during high tide and stands on the seabed during low tide.

It relies entirely on its own heavy weight and gravity to stay stable in the sea, which also lets it gently sway with the tides. It takes about a 30-minute train ride from Hiroshima station plus a quick 15-minute ferry ride to reach Miyajima Island. 

There are lots of Deers in the Island. If you sit down to eat your snacks, they make it impossible.

What a contrast - Hiroshima to the North and Miyjima to the South. 

The sequence:

It was President Harry S. Truman.

• August 6, 1945: The United States dropped the atomic bomb “Little Boy” on Hiroshima.

• August 9, 1945: A second atomic bomb, “Fat Man,” was dropped on Nagasaki.

• At that time, Harry S. Truman was President of the United States.

• Dwight D. Eisenhower was not president then. He became President much later, in 1953.

Eisenhower was actually opposed to using the atomic bomb against Japan, or at least expressed strong reservations about it before Hiroshima.