Sakura Flower

On August 6th 1945 at 8:15 a.m., the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the unsuspecting city of Hiroshima, Japan. Over 140,000 people died from the bomb - the first of its kind to cause this level of unprecedented destruction.

The city, which we’ve explored over the last few days, now stands as a symbol of peace, resilience and hope. Rebuilt from the ashes of one of the world’s greatest tragedies, Hiroshima promotes an end to war and global peace through it’s many peace memorials and a few reminders of the past.

The Atomic Dome stands as one of those reminders. Formerly, the Production Exhibition Hall, the building’s skeletal remains exist as one of the only structures to survive the blast.

We experienced this and several other memorials in Peace Memorial Park during our brief stay in Hiroshima.

The jet lag from a trip to Asia is always more mild for me than anywhere else. The 12 hour time difference is totally manageable if you can just get through the first day long enough to reach a reasonable bedtime.

This was no issue for us because after 3 flights (the longest of which was 15 hours and 50 minutes) and an hour train ride we settled into bed in Hiroshima around 12:30 am.

We were too sleepy on the first night to notice how unbearably small our hotel room is. It’s nice and clean and in a great location but - o.m.g. - it is small! We’ve implemented an only one person up and moving at a time rule and we’ve stayed gone until bedtime each night. Josh and I stayed in some real dumps in our younger years of travel - but this is definitely the most modest place M (our 3 year old daughter) has ever stayed.

Regardless, Hiroshima has been an amazing city to start our Japan trip. We’ve fully explored the main area of the city in our short time here, including a children’s museum (free admission, by the way) and a 30 minute rental of a private karaoke room!

M has enjoyed it all and been a real trooper. Our visit to Hiroshima Castle involved walking up more stairs than I could count and a less than toddler-friendly museum. While Josh and I found the history of the castle (originally built in the 1590s) and the Asano samurais who protected it riveting - M was really just along for the ride.

Her patience was rewarded with an ice cream cone. Sakura Flower (cherry blossom) flavored as it is cherry blossom season all around Japan right now. It was an extremely light and delicate flavor more like vanilla than a cherry. She loved it and we enjoyed watching her enjoy it under the - just in bloom - cherry blossoms around the castle.