Einstein did this believing the United States needed to stay ahead of Adolf Hitler\u2019s Germany \u2014 Japan was still 28 months away from bombing Pearl Harbor. It was a letter he came to regret after World War II ended. In 1947, he said as much: \u201cHad I known that the Germans would not succeed in developing an atomic bomb, I would have done nothing for the bomb,\u201d he told Newsweek magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n What has largely been forgotten is that Einstein, in December 1922, visited Miyajima, now part of Hiroshima Prefecture. He met local residents, hiked a sacred mountain, visited shrines and saw \u2014 at least from a distance \u2014 the Hiroshima Prefectural Commercial Exhibition Hall designed by Czech architect Jan Letzel. Today, the building is known as the Genbaku Dome, or Hiroshima Peace Memorial.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n \n Albert Einstein (second from left) visited Tohoku University in November 1922. He is seen here with (from left) metallurgist and inventor Kotaro Honda, physicist Keiichi Aichi and geophysicist Shirota Kusakabe. Einstein\u2019s five-week trip to Japan transformed the way he thought about Japanese culture and its people. When he later said \u201cOh weh,\u201d he knew exactly where the bomb had been dropped and what it had destroyed \u2014 because he had been there.<\/p>\n By pairing local newspapers, archival sources and a site visit I made in April 2025 with Einstein\u2019s diaries of the trip, it is possible to trace his movements during the three days he spent in Hiroshima. He was 43 years old and at the peak of his fame. His second wife, Elsa, accompanied him.<\/p>\n Getting to Hiroshima<\/p>\n On Nov. 17, 1922, the Kitano Maru docked in Kobe. Einstein and his wife were met by large crowds. A press conference followed, then a respite at a hotel in Kyoto. When the couple reached Tokyo, the intensity of the attention drained what energy he had left: \u201cArrival at hotel, completely exhausted among gigantic floral wreaths and bouquets. Still to come: visit by Berliners and burial alive.\u201d<\/p>\n Over the next few weeks, Einstein toured the main island of Honshu, his rock-star level of fame evident at nearly all 15 of his lectures. From Sendai to Fukuoka, his theory of relativity was met with what he described as \u201cimmense interest.\u201d<\/p>\n During the lectures, Einstein spoke in German for about 15 minutes while his translator, Jun Ishiwara, took notes. Einstein would then pause, allowing Ishiwara to interpret his words for the packed audience. In a Dec. 14 lecture on a frigid, snowy day at Kyoto University, Einstein attempted to explain how he developed his theory of relativity. As he had in countless talks before, he cited \u201cthe strange result of the Michelson experiment,\u201d along with a favorite anecdote from his time at the patent office in Bern in 1907, when he was struck by the idea that \u201cif a man falls freely, he should not feel the weight himself.\u201d<\/p>\n Einstein spoke at universities and public lecture halls, meeting with hundreds of Japanese officials and faculty members. No country he had visited since leaving Germany, however, impressed him more. \u201cThe Japanese do appeal to me,\u201d he wrote from Kyoto on Dec. 17 to his sons, Hans and Eduard, \u201cbetter than all the peoples I\u2019ve met up to now: quiet, modest, intelligent, appreciative of art, and considerate; nothing is for the sake of appearances, but rather everything is for the sake of substance.\u201d<\/p>\n He was even more candid two days later in a letter from Nara to his friend Michele Besso. Einstein felt confident enough to suggest that he understood Japan better than Lafcadio Hearn had \u2014 even though he had been there only a few weeks. \u201cNot as mysterious as Hearn sees … but they are delicate and natural.\u201d<\/p>\n From Nara, Einstein and Elsa traveled overnight by train \u201cfrom 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.\u201d to Hiroshima Prefecture. In the early morning hours of Dec. 20, after a 15-minute motorboat ride, they arrived \u201cin the dark\u201d on the island of Miyajima \u2014 about 20 kilometers from central Hiroshima \u2014 and checked in at the Miyajima Hotel.<\/p>\n The sacred island<\/p>\n Until 1868, when Emperor Meiji began the painful process of modernizing Japan, no one was allowed to be born or die on the island of Miyajima. If a pregnant woman was about to give birth, she was taken by boat to the mainland to deliver her child. If an elderly resident grew weak or ill, they were removed from the island before death. For nearly 18 centuries, Miyajima existed in a state of suspended animation \u2014 immortal, in this sense.<\/p>\n After half a century of industrialization, however, these and other sacred strictures gave way to practical considerations, including tourism. Still, by the time Einstein arrived at his hotel at 6 a.m. on Dec. 20, 1922, the island retained a fable-like quality \u2014 and does to this day. His itinerary planners had intended these few days to serve as a period of rest and recovery after three exhausting weeks of crowds and lectures.<\/p>\n Einstein\u2019s guide and interpreter was 28-year-old Morikatsu Inagaki, whom Einstein referred to in his diary as \u201cGaki.\u201d Inagaki had been at Einstein\u2019s side for the previous month, interpreting anything Einstein said in public or in conversation \u2014 the technical lectures on relativity were Ishiwara\u2019s job. Fluent in German \u2014 his wife was German \u2014 Inagaki developed such an easy rapport with Einstein that the two became lifelong friends.<\/p>\n Inagaki\u2019s language skills and political connections were formidable. They had been strong enough to place him on Japan\u2019s executive committee during post-World War I negotiations connected to the establishment of the League of Nations in 1920. Both men believed that a world government was the only viable path toward international cooperation and lasting peace.<\/p>\n After sleeping until 10 a.m., Einstein and Inagaki took a 10-minute walk from the hotel to Itsukushima Shrine. In his diary, Einstein noted that \u201cfrom 11-12,\u201d he took an \u201centhralling walk along the coast to the temple with graceful pagoda, built in the water (tidewater region).\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Albert](\"https:\/\/cdnx.premiumread.com\/?url=https:\/\/www.japantimes.co.jp\/japantimes\/uploads\/images\/2026\/01\/20\/516848.jpg&q=100&f=webp&t=1.53\" "\\"Albert")
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