Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Dome: I want you to come here before starting a war

I visited the Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima.

I have seen this building, with only its skeletal frame remaining, many times on television and in photographs. Standing before it in person, there was 'something' there that was completely different from the images.

I cannot put it into words well, but I definitely felt 'something'.

I am currently living a life without conflict and with little stress. I am of a generation that does not know war, and to be honest, there are times when I feel like it is something happening in a distant country.

And yet, the moment I stood in this place, I felt an inexplicable weight, a silence, and something like fear.

It was as if my body was receiving 'something' separate from my mind's understanding of what happened here on that historic day.

What am I feeling?

Even when I ask myself that, I don't know if it is sadness, fear, or perhaps something like remorse. It is probably all of those things, and yet none of them.

I felt 'something' that shouldn't be put into words, a sense that the weight of life is not something to be used lightly.

This place has the power to move people's hearts. Even someone as insensitive as me felt this much. Many people from all over the world would surely feel 'something'.

That is precisely why, now that conflicts are constant somewhere in the world, I want those who are about to take up arms to come here first.

I want them to stand in this place on their own two feet and breathe this air.

Even I, living a peaceful life with no hardships, could not help but feel it. If that is the case, those who are actually in a position of power and decision-making should feel 'something' even more.

After that, would they still choose conflict? I want them to ask themselves that once.

The Atomic Bomb Dome is a record of the past, but it is also a question for the future. This place is surely preserved so that people can take that question home with them.

I hope that as many people as possible will stand in this place to feel this 'something'.

Under the scorching sun, while engraving the question I received in this quiet place into my heart, I will spend today, as always, being grateful for this ordinary daily life.