Thanks - the memorial park in Hiroshima is a must

for anyone visiting Japan - one of the most interesting museums I've been to. To read the details of what happened and the affects it had - not easily forgotten.

My late mother-in-law's family were from Iwakuni, not far from Hiroshima and many of her family saw the mushroom cloud. Also many of her family died younger than expected.

There is a very interesting book that I recommend called 'Japan's Longest Day' which covers the period leading up to Japan's surrender in WWII. My wife's grandmother once recalled to me the story of when she heard the emperor's voice on the radio announcing the surrender - amazing for 2 reasons: 1, Japan essentially didn't believe in surrender, hence they fought on for so long and 2, They believed the emperor was a demi-god, descended from the Sun God and none of the public had ever heard his voice before.

Anyway, history is always written by the victors but dropping atom bombs on a broken country (essentially to test their effectiveness) was a cruel thing to do.

Posted By: Jester, Aug 6, 14:33:58