Inquiry in Japan - Day 3

Tuesday, January 4

We spent most of the day at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and Park, built on the site of the U.S.’ first nuclear attack on Japan on August 6, 1945. Paying our respects to this hallowed ground, we laid a wreath at the Senotaph monument, and toured the Peace Memorial Park.

Before lunch we viewed “A Mother’s Prayer,” a short film about the victims of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima. After lunch we met with Steven Leeper, the Chairman of the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, which runs the museum and related programs as part of the city’s commitment to the global nuclear disarmament movement.

Then we had several hours to tour the museum and grounds before a short educational reflection session on what was one of our most intellectually and emotionally challenging days in Japan. As Americans coming to terms with the stark truth of our nation’s contribution to humanity’s capacity for destruction, and as members of the last generation to have personal access to survivors of WWII, we were at once humbled by our responsibilities to history and emboldened by Hiroshima’s commitment to a future of peace.

In the evening we enjoyed a delicious dinner of okonomiyaki, a savory grilled pancake made right before our eyes with a variety of ingredients—eggs, vegetables, a choice of meat or seafood, sauces, etc. Known as Hiroshima’s specialty, its name comes from the Japanese phrase for “what you want.”

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