The A-bomb dome that stands in the peace park in Hiroshima is a poignant monument. The building has been preserved exactly as it was left on the day of the bomb. That it survived at all is remarkable; virtually every other building within a 3km radius was destroyed, either directly by the blast or by the fire that followed. Today the building stands at the head of the Peace Park which is at the heart of this lively modern city. It all seem totally removed from the detailed scale models of the city on 6th August 1945 in the Peace museum which illustrate the extent of the devastation. It is a shame we could not have been here a week earlier, the 60th anniversary of the bombing. However, the experience has been moving enough without the added significance of that date.140,000 people perished here because of the bomb. According to some estimates, that is a similar number to those killed in the ongoing conflict in Iraq. As the Museum points out, Peace seems a long way off; even nuclear proliferation continues apace.