WHS#76

Genbaku Dome is one of the smallest WHS out there. The ruins of a single great building, surrounded by rails, are immaculately preserved as they were on August 6, 1945 after the Little Boy exploded almost directly overhead. Literally, it looks as if the tragedy had just happened a few days before when I visited one night in December 2019. I had just come from a day trip in Miyajima, and the long winter nights overtook me on my way to Peace Park. I don't regret seeing the dome at night, though. With the dark silhouettes of leafless trees ever so slightly covering my view as disembarked from the Meipuru-pu bus, the dimly lit concrete ruin was truly a startling sight. It felt ominous to see the dome at night, but it had a strange calming sensation too. There were barely any tourists around, and the few people there either passed by quickly or stood still while reading the information boards. I was totally free to admire and photograph the building from every angle, including right under the riverside entrance, where the rails were a few feet from the facade. While not part of the WHS core zone, the nearby Peace Park and most especially, the Hypocenter Marker a block away add a lot of insight into the tragedy that happened here. Back to the Genbaku Dome itself, it's truly a unique site. It was once an impressive building, but it never would've become a WHS if not for the way it was destroyed. That's where I questioned the OUV of the site: How does one prove how special this building, as a building, is? After visiting, the only answer I can give to that is the experience it provides the visitor. We can see where the dislodged blocks fell. We can see where the heat scarred the structure. We can see where the force bent the pillars. Most importantly, we can feel the weight of the deaths that occured at this very spot. This otherwise insignificant building brings back the days of darkness, and it was even more magnified by the literal darkness that smothered the building. And yet it stands strong today to remind the world of what happened and to push the world towards what should happen - world peace. That's why this building is so important to the world, and that's how this dubious WHS in my mind showed its true worldly significance. It's a memory I'll be keeping for a long time, and it's sure to move any visitor lucky enough to see it.