During the summer holiday of 2023, my family and I went on a trip to Hiroshima, Japan. The primary aim of the trip was to visit the military base of Japan in WWII, but the sightings in the city is even more stunning than the old warships boarding in the national harbor. Before the travel I considered Hiroshima as a city unmodernized and in bad repair after the drop of the atomic bomb. But amazingly the city had recovered itself using merely 30 years after the explosion, according to our navigator, Qiao Lee, who had studied international relationships.
Near the remains of the atomic bomb explosion, we observed a lot of Europeans praying in front of the monument. When we approached, Lee told us to be quiet and watch. The group of people continued to stand for a while. When they left, some of them placed a banquet of flowers beside it. When I asked what they are doing, my dad explained to me that its the 70 year ceremony of the dropping of the bomb, and that the Japanese prime minister had just ate breakfast with us. That’s the first time I had been so close to a celebrity.
In the last three days, we spent time on the Kumesake Island in the Seto Inland Sea. We visited the base of the Japanese navy in WWII and boarded a ship which guided us through the current navy. The navy officers, despite the fact that they didn’t realize that we are Chinese, saluted and smiled to us. One of the officers on the ship gave me the flag of the imperial Japanese government, though I throw it anyway before I boarded the plane.
Although I visited Japan more than 10 times, the trip to Hiroshima is always the best of them. Not only did I got increasingly closer to the national government of Japan, but also amazed by its ideas of peace and international communication. If I have the opportunity, I would choose to visit Hiroshima every year and accompany the little city with its growth and rebirth.