By. Ashoka Peiris
In 1945, even though Japan had admitted defeat in World War II, the United States dropped the atomic bombs on Japan. Accordingly, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
The number of visitors to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, which documents the devastation caused by the atomic bombing of the city, exceeded 80 million as of Sunday, according to reports.
This is a good sign that 70 years after opening in 1955, a milestone in peace tourism has been reached. I personally had the opportunity to visit the Hiroshima Memorial Museum in 1992 thanks to Mr. Yamada Kenji, the former Colombo branch master of the World Shorinji Kempo Organization.
At a ceremony to mark the victory of the peace tourism attraction last Sunday, museum director Yoshifumi Ishida said: “I hope that people who value peace in Japan and abroad, as well as those who will lead the next generation, will continue to come to this place”. Furthermore, at this Peace Memorial Museum they will recognize that the use of nuclear weapons is an “absolute evil.”
As the Japan Today newspaper points out, the 80 millionth visitor was Rinon Shimura, a 23-year-old cafe employee from Tokyo. She said she heard stories from atomic bomb survivors when she was a junior high school student, inspiring her to tour the museum.
Visiting Hiroshima for the first time with her family, Shimura said, “I want to learn about the extent of the damage in Hiroshima and what those exposed to the atomic bomb felt back then. I will share that with everyone.”
Leaders of the Group of Seven nations visited the museum during their summit in Hiroshima in 2023.
The newspaper pointed out that 2 million visitors have visited the site in the current financial year from February to March 31, the highest number recorded since its opening.
Devpriya Peiris, a 26-year-old Uniqlo candidate manager from Canberra, Australia, had the opportunity to go on a school exchange trip to Japan when he was a junior high school student. He had also visited the memorial museum there.
Located near ground zero, the site of the nuclear explosion in Hiroshima, this museum conveys the horror of nuclear weapons. It also has artifacts and other materials from the victims of the atomic bomb on display.
He asked me, “The army is waging war, but the civilians are the ones who are being brutally killed. Why don’t the leaders understand this?”
The United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 in the final days of World War II, killing an estimated 214,000 people by the end of that year and leaving numerous survivors with long-term physical and mental health challenges.
Even today, a statue of a political leader who turned Sri Lankan politics upside down can be seen on the museum grounds. As one enters what attracts is an exquisitely finished bronze bust of Mr Jayewardene with the inscription…
” Great Benefactor of the Japanese People”
The context of which goes back to the Peace Treaty signed in 1951 in San Francisco Conference where President Jayewardene delivered his famous speech quoting the immortal words of Lord Buddha,
The Dhammapada Verse:
Na hi verena verāni,
Sammantīdha kudācanaṃ,
Averena ca sammanti,
Esa dhammo sanantano.
Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this world.
By non-hatred alone is hatred appeased.
This is the eternal law.
Dhp Verse 5
“Hatred ceases not by hatred but by love”
Mr. Jayewardene speech inspired 51 nations at this summit to look at Japan from a different perspective, without hatred. The revenge, contempt that followed World War II, and the war reparations that Japan had to pay, disappeared with this sermon.