![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sahajbalgunde.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/IMG_1588-rotated.jpeg\")
<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"People often ask me why I admire Japan and Japanese people so deeply. For a long time, my answer was simple: Hiroshima.<\/p>\n
During my high school days, I watched a documentary on Hiroshima. It moved me deeply. More than history, it made me take human life seriously. Hiroshima\u2019s restoration left a strong impression on me. Not giving up on life and the future became a quiet mantra for me.<\/p>\n
But as time passed, that reason slowly became shallow. I kept saying the same words, but without depth. Even during interviews, when I spoke about Hiroshima, I realized the feeling behind my answer was missing.<\/p>\n
Last month, I finally visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. I had been avoiding it because of my sensitive temperament, but I decided to go.<\/p>\n
I first stood before the Atomic Bomb Dome, the place closest to where the bomb fell. I was stunned. Inside the museum, every section carried a piece of Hiroshima\u2019s history. Each exhibit etched itself into my heart. The writings, the evidence, the silence, it was heavy.<\/p>\n
One moment stopped me completely. A school uniform of a student who died during the atomic bomb attack. I stood there for a long time. It felt as if the uniform still carried life within it. That image is etched into my mind.<\/p>\n
By the time I reached the end of the museum, something within me had shifted. I wrote a note in the visitors\u2019 diary and walked out. The shallowness disappeared. The depth returned. I understood why Hiroshima stayed with me all these years.<\/p>\n
Those citizens never gave up. Every Japanese citizen worked together to rebuild what Hiroshima is today.<\/p>\n
Hiroshima reminded me:
\nto rise above adversity and harsh times.
\nto rebuild life, even when it falls apart.
\nto rebuild the future, even when it feels uncertain.<\/p>\n
This is why Hiroshima remains my source of \u201cNever Giving Up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thus with this, my series of \u201c7 Things I am grateful for 2025\u201d ends. It has been an amazing year. I am eager for what 2026 will bring for me. Taking lessons from 2025, I am moving ahead.<\/p>\n
Happy New Year to all!
\n\u3042\u3051\u307e\u3057\u3066\u304a\u3081\u3067\u3068\u3046\u3054\u3056\u3044\u307e\u3059\u26e9
\n\u672c\u5e74\u3082\u5b9c\u3057\u304f\u304a\u9858\u3044\u81f4\u3057\u307e\u3059\u3002\ud83d\ude4f<\/p>\n
<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
People often ask me why I admire Japan and Japanese people so deeply. For a long time, my answer was simple: Hiroshima. During my high school days, I watched a documentary on Hiroshima. It moved me deeply. More than history, it made me take human life seriously. Hiroshima\u2019s restoration left a strong impression on me. Not giving up on life and the future became a quiet mantra for me. But as time passed, that reason slowly became shallow. I kept saying the same words, but without depth. Even during interviews, when I spoke about Hiroshima, I realized the feeling behind my answer was missing. Last month, I finally visited the […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[79,3],"tags":[78],"class_list":["post-2990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dear-2025","category-experience","tag-dear-2025"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sahajbalgunde.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sahajbalgunde.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sahajbalgunde.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sahajbalgunde.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sahajbalgunde.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2990"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sahajbalgunde.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2990\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3011,"href":"https:\/\/sahajbalgunde.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2990\/revisions\/3011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sahajbalgunde.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sahajbalgunde.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sahajbalgunde.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}