Okonomiyaki (お好み焼き) is a sort-of pancake that is made with batter, soba noodles, cabbage, meat, mayo, and really anything that people want in it. The “okonomi” part of the word means “whatever you like”, and “yaki” means “grilled”. This was at a place called Micchan (みっちゃん), which is one of Hiroshima’s most famous okonomiyaki chains, but my friend who has lived in Hiroshima for a bit told me that there were definitely better places to eat Okonomiyaki.

We visited the Atomic Bomb Dome (原爆ドーム), which is a building that symbolically represents the destruction of the atomic bomb. When the bomb exploded in the sky over the city, over 70,000 people died instantly. Some buildings managed to remain standing, and this was one of them. On one hand, it is a sad reminder of the history’s tragic past, and on the other hand, it speaks of the horrors of the use of atomic weapons. It was quite rainy that day, which added to the depressing effect of the history of the tragedy.

At the Children’s Peace Monument, there is a statue of a little girl holding up an origami crane. It commemorates a Sadako Sasaki, who was two years old at the time when the bomb dropped. Before her death from Leukemia at the age of 12, she folded 1,000 origami cranes, which according to an ancient Japanese legend, would grant her one wish. On the day we visited, a large group of people gathered around the statue reciting something together, presumably, the story of Sadako Sasaki.

Behind the statue are display cases full of origami cranes.

Another monument, the Peace Flame, has been lit since 1964 and will continue being lit until the world is free from nuclear weapons.

At the Peace Memorial Museum, a quote reads:

War is the work of man
War is destruction of human life
War is death
To remember the past is to commit oneself to the future
To remember Hiroshima is to abhor nuclear war
To remember Hiroshima is to commit oneself to peace

The purpose of the museum is to tell the story of Hiroshima, so that the same thing does not happen again anywhere else in the world. One of the artifacts at the museum is a simple watch, but it is stuck at the time 8:15, which is the time of the detonation.

This scale model shows the magnitude of the destruction. The red ball represents the location where the bomb exploded.

As a plea to end the use of nuclear weapons, every mayor of Hiroshima sends a letter of protest to the country that performs any nuclear testing. There is definitely still more work to be done before this goal is reached.

Link to photos: here

After years of diplomacy, the DPRK still continues to develop nuclear weapons (source).  The country even develops long range missiles that many fear will one day be nuclear missiles.  Yes, the UN wishes North Korea to halt their nuclear ambition, but even after so much foreign aid given to them in exchange for them to stop, nothing has changed.  North Korea agrees to halt their nuclear program, and then some time later they start again.

In 1994, as a part of the Agreed Framework, an agreement between North Korea and the United States, North Korea agreed to halt their production of plutonium in exchange for the construction of nuclear power reactors, oil, and economic support.  However, in 2002, because of construction delays in the construction of the power reactors, North Korea argues that the United States violated the agreement.  In December of 2002, North Korea pledges to reactivate its nuclear facilities.  In February, they announced that they reactivated their nuclear facilities, and in April they withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.  The accusation from North Korea shows that they had no intention to stop.  They looked for a reason to start their nuclear program back up again, and they found one. 

North Korea continues to perform nuclear tests (one in 2006 and one in 2009).  Although the international community condemns this nuclear test and tightened sanctions on the country, the DPRK continues its nuclear program.

Sanctions on the country do little to stop their nuclear program.  The sanctions simply prevent the country’s economic growth.  Sanctions hurt their citizens by preventing economic aid being sent into the country, and it’s no secret that poverty is rampant in North Korea.

As long as North Korea continues in its current course, the sanctions will stay.  Diplomacy can help alleviate this, but only if an agreement can be reached.  Six-party talks continue, with no favourable result.  This has gone on since the late 80’s/early 90’s.  It’s clear that North Korea has absolutely no intention to halt their nuclear ambition.  All people can do now wonder at what their next step will be.