Our visit to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum was one of the most eye-opening and memorable experiences of the program. The main building featured exhibits that were divided into two sections. The first one was titled “Hiroshima on August 6” and it was made up of the “Devastation on August 6” and “Damage from Radiation” exhibits. It started out showing images of Hiroshima after the atomic bomb had been dropped and had a projector video showing the areas of the city that were most affected by the bomb. Hiroshima looked like a dried-up wasteland with only the shells of a few buildings surviving.
The second section of the museum was titled “Victims and Survivors” and it contained the “Cries of the Soul” and “To Live” exhibits. Additionally, there was a gallery at the end where people could write reflections from the museum in a notebook and decompress from the heavy subject matter while looking out at the beautiful Peace Memorial Park. I thought that was a unique touch to the museum that took the emotional and mental wellness of museum visitors into account. This area prompted great reflection for visitors. 
I am glad I got to visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and Peace Memorial
Park because it helped me gain a better understanding of what happened when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. I knew about the bomb, but I did not know much about how it affected the people near the explosion. I learned the horrible details of what an atomic bomb can do to the human body and the ways people suffered from the bomb for a long time after it was dropped. Artwork was used to show how people were so badly burned by the atomic bomb that their skin was hanging from their bodies and their faces depicted pure agony. There were also pictures of real victims in the museum. Some of these images were graphic and depicted the burns and injuries suffered by victims. At the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, I also learned that there were many smaller bombs dropped on other areas of Japan and that atomic bomb tests had taken place before the atomic bomb on Hiroshima was dropped. All of which caused harm.
The exhibits that had the biggest impression on me were the ones that told the stories of children. There were displays that showed the burnt clothing children were wearing when the atomic bomb was dropped. Seeing their clothing and the locations where the fabric was burned away made the pain they went through more easily imaginable. There were also children who suffered from the radiation the atomic bomb exposed them to as well. A girl named Sadako developed cancer because of the atomic bomb, and she tried to fold 1,000 paper cranes so that her wish to be healthy would be granted. Some of the cranes she folded were on display. 
It was extremely disappointing that those who were so innocent had to be victims of the atomic bomb. I thought about how the children and many other citizens who were harmed or killed by the atomic bomb had nothing to do with the war, yet they still suffered for it. There were even Americans who died from the bomb dropped by their own country. This experience taught me that violence and war have no limits. The realizations and knowledge I gained from visiting the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum made me appreciate the museum’s takeaway message and hope to never have atomic bombs dropped again.