Took train from Kyoto to Nara Monday 2nd April.

The outstanding site was the Todaiji Temple, reputedly the largest wooden structure in the world. It dates from the 8th century. Rebuilt after a fire it is two thirds of its former size. The Giant Buddha Has the open hands representing the welcoming mudra.

The lantern at the front dates from the 8th century.

A pair if giant figures at each end of the gatehouse, represent - one with open and the other with closed mouth - the alpha and omega: the beginning and the end.

At 08.15 on 6th August 1945 the B29 Enola Gay dropped the A bomb on Hiroshima. A full 92% of the city’s 76,000 buildings were destroyed and 140,000 or 40% of the population killed either immediately or from illnesses directly attributable to the bomb by the end of 1945.

The first photo shows the ruined ’dome’ building preserved in the ‘Peace Park.’ The second was taken at the point of the blast: 600 hundred metres from the ground.