THE CHIMING BELLS OF HIROSHIMA

A blue sky dotted with wispy clouds greeted me as I waited on the train station. I had anticipated this day for many years and I was thankful for the fine weather. I forced my way onto the crowded train and stood among the commuters on their way to work. Would I make it on time as I still needed to catch a tram to get to my destination? I glanced at the time as I hurriedly walked across a bridge and into the park. I arrived with only minutes to spare. It was ten past eight. I was in at the Peace Memorial Park, Hiroshima, waiting to hear the bells marking the time when the horrifically destructive A-bomb was dropped on the city.

At the Peace Clock Tower, quietly, I waited for 8.15am. Very soon the bells would ring to mark the moment when Hiroshima’s fate was sealed. That day, that time, my world became serene and quiet. I didn’t hear the noise of the traffic passing by. The Peace Park provided a wonderful setting. A typical Japanese landscape. Ancient Japanese Black Pines and Flowering Cherry Trees surrounded the tall and majestic time piece. Pines with their twisted limbs and sparse canopy contrasted with the delicate pastel blossoms of cherry trees. The shining steel tower, twisting like clasped hands to hold the world and its clock face for all to see, mesmerised me. As I looked at the clock face, my thoughts were in sync with the movement of the hands.

At precisely 8.15am, the bells began to chime and sing. It was the gentleness and beauty of sound that took me by surprise. I was expecting to hear a loud, jumbled peel of bells or the deep resounding strike of a huge bell, rebelling against the horrors and agony of that day. Instead, the bells sang sweetly, slowly and sadly. The song enchanted me, inspired me. At first, a single chime sang the melody and, half way, developed into a two and three part harmony of chimes. I was spellbound. I was to learn later that this song of the bells was selected in 1996 as one of the hundred Soundscapes of Japan.

What are my thoughts about the bombing of Hiroshima towards the end of World War 2 and the meaning behind the Peace Park? I was very privileged to visit this memorial. In the museum, photos showed before and after the bomb. It was hard to understand the force of such a bomb which could devastate the landscape for miles. Not a tree or building was left standing except for the building directly below the epicentre of the bomb. It was like a dusty moon landscape. Frightening and eerie. I saw a crumpled tricycle, a watch that had stopped at 8.15, many photos of burnt people, people with sparse tufts of hair, children crying, the sadness, loneliness and confusion on the faces of the elderly and young. I read their stories and read their poetry and their pleas for peace.