Hindsight of the A-Bomb

On the 6th of August 1945 at exactly 8:15am all the clocks in this small city would suddenly freeze to capture history. Thanks to a clear morning for flight conditions, the American B-29 Super fortress called the Enola Gay (named after the pilot’s mother) proceeded to her primary target. In a matter of a few seconds, a relatively quiet port city would be obliterated by a two and a half tonne weapon nicknamed "Small boy".

It was here that an entire city and an estimated population of 120-200,000 people (exact figures are still unknown) would vanish from the face of the earth. Those left behind would suffer the horrific conditions of radiation poisoning and in later years die from the exposure.

This was no ordinary weapon but in fact the worlds live premier of the now infamous "Atomic-Bomb". In 1941 the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour had pushed reluctant America into World War II. Now 4 years had passed, and with such loss and destruction America and its Allies seemed desperate to end the war.

Their new hope had cost an astronomical $2 billion to build at that time, ($5 billion in 1996). It had involved 200,000 persons to construct. It took three years to complete. It could destroy almost everything within an 8 km geographical radius and this previously unheard of city becasme its first live test. On July 16th 1945 the weapon had a pre-test in New Mexico but, time, lives, finances and patience seemed to be running short for America and its Allies as surrender was not an ideology accepted by the then fanatical Japanese "War Effort". It would only be a matter of days before the A-Bomb's controversial deployment. The next step would change the history of the world forever in what represented arguably the most important and most sinister development in warfare of the 20th century.

Stop. Forward 62 years later. July 7th 2007. 07/07/2007.

There's no rush in Hiroshima. The cars drive calmly and cautiously, the people ride bikes everywhere, the taxi rear doors pop open magically by themselves and the lady in the restaurant takes 30 minutes to cook your fried noodles and shrimp in front of you, despite this tourist's instantaneous hunger. Built on a two river estuary, with this season’s current monsoons, and wet atmosphere, the city itself appears pleasantly relaxed. The foreigners are no surprise to the locals and you're treated with calm and traditional Japanese custom. No there is no rush. Why should there be? Ever since that day maybe Hiroshima has a reason not to rush anymore. To some it's known as the City of Ghosts and to others it's the City of Peace but no matter what you believe today's new Hiroshima is definitely somewhere unique.

I suppose like most men, I am saturated with too many great war films, the thrill of action, patriotism and the fight for the greater good, to neglect the casualties and great tragedy's of war. Any experience my generation (the 25's) has of war is stereotyped and romanticized thanks to fantastic American and European big budget film directors. This time it's the complete 'Shock Factor" of Hiroshima that pulls this observer in.

I was aware that the city’s levelling in 1945 helped city planners define and expand the wonders of Japanese design but this city dismantled my expectations. I was surprised to find state of the art buildings such as shopping centres, museums, hotels, swimming pools, baseball stadiums and art galleries. The architecture utilises light and space within each environment to bring a sense of harmony across the natural landscape. The city is small and everything within easy walking distance but it feels epic thanks to clever planning and design.

The restaurants cater for both the tourist and the locals with a fantastic selection of Western and Eastern foods. I was obliged to sample some raw horse meat in a local restaurant, while the meat having no particular taste or smell, gave a sense of Japanese delicacy. The famo