Hiroshima

There's this undeniable vibe about the Hiroshima Peace Park at night. Whether it be a sense of tranquility or an eerie lingering sadness, I'm still not sure. (It didn't help that the weather was particularly gloomy the whole time I was in Hiroshima.)

 

70 years ago, this became ground zero for the world's first atomic bombing. The Genbaku Dome on the left was the only structure left standing in the hypocenter after the explosion killed over 70,000 people instantly. Today, its ruins remain a reminder for peace.

 

Admittedly, I've had mixed feelings about Japan & WW2 memorials. Raised in a country directly hit by WW2, I have family members who lost their homes during Japanese air raids, left for dead after being stabbed in the head with a bayonet, forced to walk the Bataan Death March. But these aren't the forests of Guadalcanal, these were homes, hospitals, offices, schools, epic civilian casualties. Seeing how these people rebuilt their lives and moved on after such an event is truly something else.

 

Hiroshima, Japan

April 2015

Shot with a Canon EOS 6D

 

All images copyright Christina Itchon © 2015

Now available on Getty Images! gty.im/557104585

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