In April, 2023, I attended a scientific conference held in Hiroshima, Japan, which was a well-organized and hence successful conference.
On the road to the conference venue from my Hotel, I was to cross a bridge, called Yorozuyo Bridge (万代橋). One day I found a stone monument built at the riverside,
which described the amazing history of the bridge with a horrible and impressive photo:
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爆心地から約880メートル
原爆の強烈な熱線をさえぎった欄干は、その形を影として残しました。アスファルトの上には、欄干の柱と一番下の鉄棒の影がはっきりと映っていました。影の位置と形から爆発の方向を知ることができました。この橋の上には、その時、歩いていた人の影や荷車、リヤカーの影も残っていました。
A rough translation in English:
The bridge is some 880m distant from ground zero.
The shadow with the shape of the balustrade which blocked the intense heat rays from the atomic bomb was clearly left on the bridge. Moreover, the shadows of people who were walking on the bridge, carriages, and rear cars were left. These are seen in the photo taken by the US Army after the war.
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I know that similarly horrible photos and other more awfully horrible things made by the inhuman act of exploding a nuclear bomb above innocent citizens are displayed in Hiroshima peace memorial museum.
I was also so much impressed by the fact there are so many monuments in the city, which
show the names of the citizens including medical doctors and nurses who were killed by the bomb.
街行けば慰霊碑あまた御忌の鐘 辰郎
