63 Years on

63 years ago yesterday the city I live in was more or less obliterated in an instant. There isn't much original we can say about that every year. It was bad. Let's not do it again. That's it basically.
It amazes me the lack of bitterness against foreigners you feel in this city, considering. The emphasis truly is on remembering those who died, and trying to make sure it never happens again, anywhere.
One event which is a particularly special experience is the lantern floating held at sunset on the evening of the 6th of August every year. I had never been before, so took M down last night to check it out. Lack of a tripod means that the pictures are not very good, but I'm glad we went.

Originally the lanterns were set afloat down the Motoyasu river from a point right in front of the A-Bomb Dome, in commemoration of and prayer for the souls of the more than 200,000 people who died as a direct result of the bomb. It was the idea of a volunteer group. It has blossomed since the start, and now we see messages and wishes hoping for world peace in various forms and languages floating past colourfully and peacefully on the river into which the dying jumped 63 years ago, to try and get some relief from their burns.

Weechan is still really too young to understand what happened here, but already shows an interest in the A-bomb dome and why it is there. Does floating a lantern really make a difference in the grand scheme of things? Probably not, but as someone who was born not 300 yards from where this happened, it won't do any harm for her to start thinking about the fact that only a mountain's lucky position saved her grandmother's life that day, and therefore her very own chance of existence.
And that tolerance, and good communication skills might be better tools to make a better future than nuclear weapons.
So, she coloured in her lantern, set it afloat, and we'll see in time where she takes it from there.

After making our lantern, we took a walk down the river, to find an orchestra and a choir in the park on the riverbank, performing Mozart's Requiem on the grass as the messages for the dead floated by....

A beautiful way to remember a horrible man-made mistake.