I was in Hiroshima, Japan last week, and I took some time with my 645z to do some night photography of the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall.

Some call it the "Atomic Dome", but I feel that makes it almost a tourist attraction...which is inappropriate considering.

On planet Earth...above and less than a mile away, where I was sitting taking this image ...on August 6th 1945...the United States of America dropped humanity's first atomic weapon on a/the city.

In my life, which began in 1963, and through various stages of my life, I have viewed that event differently.

When I was young, the voices of WWII were still being heard from folks older than me. When I went through High School, the voices of Vietnam were heard.
When I was at Pearl Harbor, other voices were heard.

Now middle aged, sitting in Hiroshima, all I could think about was the empty shell and the madness of humanity.

Hiroshima is vibrant and alive now, Japan is one of our great allies. So many voices are gone now, and hopefully nothing like this will ever happen again.

[RGlasel]

I really like how the black and white treatment and night time lighting gives context to this portrait of a shell of a building frozen in time for more than 70 years,

[LaurenOE]

I really like how the black and white treatment and night time lighting gives context to this portrait of a shell of a building frozen in time for more than 70 years,

If you walk up to the fence that surrounds it...the rubble from what fell...still surrounds it. Definitely frozen in time, but obviously "maintained" as there is a skeleton/frame holding the building up/together on the inside.

I've had the privilege to be in places all over earth where humanity did something that changed its course...this was one of those places.

[RobG]

If you walk up to the fence that surrounds it...the rubble from what fell...still surrounds it. Definitely frozen in time, but obviously "maintained" as there is a skeleton/frame holding the building up/together on the inside. I've had the privilege to be in places all over earth where humanity did something that changed its course...this was one of those places.

The steel skeleton had to be added because the original structure of the building was collapsing. Great photo - really nice monochrome tones. Did you go into the museum? It's just been reopened. When I visited in 2009, the most moving thing I saw was a geta (wooden sandal) which was all that the mother of a girl found of her daughter. She knew it was her daughter's geta because the strap had been cut from the mother's kimono.

[LaurenOE]

The steel skeleton had to be added because the original structure of the building was collapsing. Great photo - really nice monochrome tones. Did you go into the museum? It's just been reopened. When I visited in 2009, the most moving thing I saw was a geta (wooden sandal) which was all that the mother of a girl found of her daughter. She knew it was her daughter's geta because the strap had been cut from the mother's kimono.

I was in Hiroshima filming a project...so I didn't have time to visit the museum. The best I could do that day was take some night photography.

Not sure I could have kept it together if I saw artifacts like you describe...around 10% of the folks in Hiroshima that day were actual military...so its even more painful to think about.

[clackers]

A pretty amazing documentary has the surviving Enola Gay crewmen of the time taken on a tour of Hiroshima like you, including visiting hospitals where some civilians were dying years later, without their identity being revealed to their Japanese hosts. Very touching, these guys were no longer 19 year olds who didn't understand the world.

[LaurenOE]

A pretty amazing documentary has the surviving Enola Gay crewmen of the time taken on a tour of Hiroshima like you, including visiting hospitals where some civilians were dying years later, without their identity being revealed to their Japanese hosts. Very touching, these guys were no longer 19 year olds who didn't understand the world.

I did some tracking of the timelines of the Trinity test, the Indianapolis, and the bomb over Hiroshima. The weapon was fast tracked, and the target identified way earlier. Hiroshima was one of the cities chosen because of lack of allied POWs, and being an industrial center. We even stopped "regular" bombing of the city weeks/months earlier so that we could asses the damage from the bomb.

The guys in the Enola Gay...had no real knowledge of what they were doing...just that they were dropping a "special bomb".

Not giving people the full truth is something that enables this sort of thing.

Humanity needs to stop doing these things...it makes your stomach turn.

Having been all through Japan, I also know there was zero chance of a successful invasion. Japan is one big craggy mountain range, with deep valleys and deep forests.

War makes for decisions and memories folks should never have to deal with.

Dropping an Atomic weapon is the worst thing we can do as humans.

[RobG]

I was in Hiroshima filming a project...so I didn't have time to visit the museum. The best I could do that day was take some night photography.
Not sure I could have kept it together if I saw artifacts like you describe...around 10% of the folks in Hiroshima that day were actual military...so its even more painful to think about.

Did you see the children's memorial in the park? It's close to where you would have been looking across to that building. There are containers housing origami cranes. This originated from the story of one victim of the bomb (Sadako Sasaki) - she survived the blast, but developed leukemia from the radiation. She heard about a tradition that if you folded a thousand cranes, your wish would be granted. She died before she managed to fold a thousand. Since then, children from around the world have sent paper cranes to the memorial.

A pretty amazing documentary has the surviving Enola Gay crewmen of the time taken on a tour of Hiroshima like you, including visiting hospitals where some civilians were dying years later, without their identity being revealed to their Japanese hosts. Very touching, these guys were no longer 19 year olds who didn't understand the world.

Interesting! I hadn't heard of that.

I did some tracking of the timelines of the Trinity test, the Indianapolis, and the bomb over Hiroshima. The weapon was fast tracked, and the target identified way earlier. Hiroshima was one of the cities chosen because of lack of allied POWs, and being an industrial center. We even stopped "regular" bombing of the city weeks/months earlier so that we could asses the damage from the bomb.
The guys in the Enola Gay...had no real knowledge of what they were doing...just that they were dropping a "special bomb". Not giving people the full truth is something that enables this sort of thing. Humanity needs to stop doing these things...it makes your stomach turn. Having been all through Japan, I also know there was zero chance of a successful invasion. Japan is one big craggy mountain range, with deep valleys and deep forests. War makes for decisions and memories folks should never have to deal with. Dropping an Atomic weapon is the worst thing we can do as humans.

The saddest thing is that the bombs weren't necessary. Japan surrendered because the Russians invaded Manchuria. Conventional weapons had already destroyed more than fifty cities, so two more didn't convince the Japanese military to capitulate. As far as I know, the cities which were chosen as targets weren't bombed at all prior to being selected, and as you say they were excluded from "conventional" bombing so that the effects of the Atomic bomb could be measured. In particular, targets were chosen which hadn't been attacked previously with incendiaries. More people died in the firebombing of Tokyo with incendiaries than died in Hiroshima. Sadly there were POWs in the Hiroshima area, including twelve Americans who died. One of my Japanese friends' grandparents grew up in the original target of the second bomb, Kokura. Bockscar moved to Nagasaki because there was smoke and cloud over Kokura. My friend's grandparents were nearly killed by the second bomb. I hope that one day we can eliminate nuclear weapons from the world, but I'm not sure if it will ever be possible. There has to be a better answer than MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction).

[clackers]

The saddest thing is that the bombs weren't necessary. Japan surrendered because the Russians invaded Manchuria.

Yeah, from my reading a *conditional* surrender (code for 'don't execute the Emperor') could've happened as early as the second half of 1944.

It was tragic, including for those US and Allied servicemen who lost their lives in the final months of the war.

[RobG]

Yeah, from my reading a *conditional* surrender (code for 'don't execute the Emperor') could've happened as early as the second half of 1944. It was tragic, including for those US and Allied servicemen who lost their lives in the final months of the war.

Agreed, tragic for everyone who died because the option of keeping the Emperor wasn't offered. Ironic, because the "unconditional" surrender was conditional in the end anyway.

[LaurenOE]

All these details and facts...hit like a sledgehammer when sitting there. I knew some at the time, and I would have been a sobbing mess if I had known more.

[clackers]

All these details and facts...hit like a sledgehammer when sitting there. I knew some at the time, and I would have been a sobbing mess if I had known more.

I'm sorry to say it gets worse the closer you look, Lauren.

All that cloud you may be seeing day after day in this island nation? The 20th Air Force found that precision bombing of a factory as was attempted in Germany wasn't possible - you couldn't see the target, and the winds unfavourable. So knowing Japanese houses were wood, they set about a strategy of using fire bombs to set the entire city alight - civilians included, of course - in order that any worthy targets somehow burned along with them. More died in the napalm attack on Tokyo in March 1945 than either of the atomic bomb blasts.

I think philosophical reflection's great, but probably like witnessing poverty in India, for your own soul it's best to concentrate on the enjoyable parts of your trip!

[LaurenOE]

I think philosophical reflection's great, but probably like witnessing poverty in India, for your own soul it's best to concentrate on the enjoyable parts of your trip!

Don't get me started on India - I've worked there too.

Since I was working in Japan, and I had to do so many cities (a new one every day) I didn't have much in the way of "enjoyable" parts of the trip.

Riding a motorcycle and filming may sound great, but its brutal.

I love Japan, and I am fortunate to have essentially traveled and filmed from Hokkaido to Kyushu.

Now if I could only get Skal in the United States...that is something positive...I am addicted to the stuff. Melon and Original.

[clackers]

Don't get me started on India - I've worked there too.

Since I was working in Japan, and I had to do so many cities (a new one every day) I didn't have much in the way of "enjoyable" parts of the trip.

Riding a motorcycle and filming may sound great, but its brutal.

I love Japan, and I am fortunate to have essentially traveled and filmed from Hokkaido to Kyushu.

Now if I could only get Skal in the United States...that is something positive...I am addicted to the stuff. Melon and Original.

Well, you can always take kawaii style back with you, Lauren … this could be your next 'look' ...

[LaurenOE]

Well, you can always take kawaii style back with you, Lauren … this could be your next 'look' ...

Kumamon...is my weakness. I love everything Kumamon.