No more Hiroshimas

Thirty five years ago, in early August 1980, I was in Japan on a press trip to visit car factories and drive some of their latest products. It so happened that we were in Hiroshima on the 6th of August, on the 35th anniversary of the dropping of the bomb on the city.

Together with another Fleet Street colleague, I got up very early that morning to walk from our hotel to the Peace Park, where an anniversary remembrance service was due to take place at the precise time the bomb hit: 8.15 am.

The scene is forever etched in my memory. It was incredibly sad, poignant and deeply moving. A beautiful and peaceful park, in the rain, with a large crowd of people sheltering under a sea of bright umbrellas. The sound of a massive Peace Bell being rung to mark the moment, and a flock of white doves being released symbolically into the grey morning.

This small wooden artefact, from the museum shop, has been a small reminder in my office ever since. Today is the 70th anniversary. No more Hiroshimas.