Hiroshima: Reflections and Resets

We’ve spent the last two days in Hiroshima, arriving from Kyoto on the Shinkansen — Japan’s famed bullet train. After dropping our bags at the hotel, we set out on foot for the Peace Memorial Park and Museum.

Inside the museum, we rented audio guides that shared the stories of atomic bomb survivors. One account — from a young boy who lost his parents that day and became an orphan — hit me hardest. As a father, it was impossible not to feel the weight of his words.

At the Peace Dome, I paused to take a photo and couldn’t help but feel a strange, layered energy — part grief for the tens of thousands of souls lost in an instant, part hope inspired by the park’s enduring message that such a weapon should never be used again.

We then walked the grounds in silence, letting the magnitude of the place settle in.

Back at the hotel, our legs demanded a reward after four or five straight days of 10,000+ steps. The plan was simple: pool and spa time. The reality? We’d forgotten it was “family” (read: kid) swim time until 6 p.m. Still, we bought the mandatory bathing caps and made the best of it — easing sore muscles and savoring the quiet once the clock struck adult swim o’clock.

Cleaned up and a little looser in the joints, we headed out for dinner — ready for another day in a city that can make you feel sorrow and hope in the same breath.