A Mother’s Day Slideshow and Message of Peace from Hiroshima
Filed Under: For this Mother’s Day, we are in Hiroshima, Japan, the site of the dropping of the first atomic bomb. Although the city was once a site of death and destruction beyond what we could ever imagine, the message here now is one of peace.
A reflection at the Children’s Peace Monument in Hiroshima, Japan
Michiko, our volunteer goodwill guide at the Hiroshima Peace Park, explained how her mother was a survivor of the atomic bomb. Her mother told her how, as a young girl, she ran through the rubble shortly after the bomb trying to her sister, Michiko’s aunt. Her search was in vain, her sister was dead. Michiko’s voice cracked as she relayed her mother’s stories — of the completeness of the destruction she saw everywhere, of people begging for water on the streets, some literally dying of thirst.
But as Michiko shared the story of what happened to her family in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, she carried an even more important message for all of us today — one of peace. As she explained it, her mother instilled in her that we should all work together for peace, to prevent war, to prevent events like the atomic bomb from ever happening again.
With each mother’s wish for peace in a world that she passes on to her children, we hope we are getting one step closer to a more peaceful world.
So to our mothers who are far, far away from us today, and to all moms out there, we wish you a very Happy Mother’s Day.
Mothers from Around the World
If you don’t have a high-speed connection or you’d like to read the captions, you can view the Mother and Child, Around the World photo set.
Mothers featured in the following slideshow are from: Bangladesh, Bolivia, Burma (Myanmar), China, Ecuador, Egypt, Guatemala, India, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Mexico, Nepal, Nicaragua, Peru, Thailand, Turkmenistan and Vietnam.
Disclosure: Our trip to Japan is provided by G Adventures in cooperation with its Wanderers in Residence program. As always, the opinions expressed here are entirely our own.
May 13th, 2012 at 8:53 pm
Thanks for that wonderful slide show. They are all lovely images, and many brought back memories of favorite countries. It was a great Mother’s Day gift to us!
May 14th, 2012 at 11:56 am
@Gretchen: You’re welcome! So glad you enjoyed it and that it brought back good memories from your travels around the world.
May 14th, 2012 at 1:39 pm
Glad you could make it to Hiroshima!! The museum must be something people who visit, won’t forget!
May 16th, 2012 at 7:25 pm
@Sutapa: Hiroshima has been one of the highlights of the trip. The city has a good, almost optimistic feel to it – may sound odd, but that’s how we felt. And yes, the museum is great. Sobering, but important to see.
May 18th, 2012 at 5:35 pm
Love the picture at the top of your post of the Children’s Peace Monument. Very cool! Thank you for sharing this story and the slideshow of mother’s across the world. Seeing all these beautiful loving mothers across the world is really touching. Thank you!
May 22nd, 2012 at 12:04 pm
Thanks so much for this post. Reading it with my coffee this morning I am reminded humbly to be thankful for who I have in my life and also am excited and humbled to meet others that have been through so much in their lives. Your blog is beautiful and I remain inspired. From another married traveler- T
May 25th, 2012 at 9:22 pm
@Michelle: Thanks! The top photo was a reflection from the Children’s Peace Monument in Hiroshima. We were lucky that we arrived just as the light was perfect. Glad you enjoyed the slideshow with all the mothers – it’s one of my favorites.
@Tiffany: And thank you for your thoughtful comment! We are continually surprised and inspired by the people we’ve met on this journey, especially those who have been through so much and often have very little but are yet so giving. Safe travels with your loved one!
June 6th, 2012 at 11:49 am
What an amazing set of photos, it was very beautiful. I loved how the camera captured their smiling faces and it brought warmth to my heart. Motherhood is such a beautiful thing. The story of mother who was a survivor of an atomic bomb in 1945, held a strong powerful message. It is touching to know that she wishes to share peace with her children and their children’s children. That is definitely a message we should all share. Thank you for this great post.
(I uploaded before and put the company name not my own, so I am posting it again with my own name)
June 10th, 2012 at 12:27 am
@Lolia: Thanks for your kind comment about the photo and the story from Hiroshima!
June 10th, 2012 at 3:26 am
It just a sad story that of what happened to Hiroshima during the world war,but after that incidents peace came suddenly. Unfortunately sacrifice were neede to realize peace.
June 15th, 2012 at 3:57 am
We often tend to forget how lucky we are being rasied in such a loving families. This video reminded me what a miracle life is!You got me sentimental!
July 3rd, 2012 at 2:41 pm
@Reinier: Yes, what happened at Hiroshima was horrible and horrific. Fortunately, the war ended shortly after this in the Pacific and this area has experience peace since then. But, work is still needed around the world to reduce the number of nuclear weapons we have.
@Benjamin: Glad you enjoyed this slideshow & story!