Somber Sunday
18 May 2003 | ||
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| On Sunday morning I took the Shinkansen to Hiroshima. I have always wanted to visit the memorial site there. When I was a teenager and Pershing 2 were stationed and the arms race was at its top, I had frequent nightmares of the Nuclear Holocaust. | ||
Rose 'Anne Frank'
18 May 2003 | ||
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| The flower park in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial: each respective flowers has a symbolic name given by their Cultivators. | ||
Rose 'Friedenspark Hiroshima'
18 May 2003 | ||
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| A German cultivated Rose. | ||
Sadako Sasaki's Story
18 May 2003 | ||
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| Sadako was 2 years old when the US dropped the A-bomb over Hiroshima in 1945. In spring 1955 at age 11, like many other children she became sick and diagnosed with Leukemia, which people from Hiroshima called 'the A-Bomb disease'. She heard a story that if you fold a thousand paper cranes a wish is granted. She folded more than a thousand, but her wish to recover was not granted and she died in October that year at age 12. Three years later the 'Children's Peace Memorial' was erected in her name. | ||
Children's Peace Memorial
18 May 2003 | ||
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| Every day hundreds of school children visit the Hiroshima Children's Peace memorial to bring thousands of paper cranes that they folded.... Here you see a group of schoolchildren at the memorial... | ||
Origami Cranes
18 May 2003 | ||
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| The Cranes brought by school children from Japan and sent to Hiroshima from all over the world are exhibited in the glass cages surrounding the memorial... Sadako's legacy has made the paper crane known as a symbol of the desire for peace around the world... | ||
Sadako holding a Crane
18 May 2003 | ||
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| A closer look at the statue of Sadako.... | ||
Memorial for the Korean Victims of the A-Bomb
18 May 2003 | ||
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| Japan's society was (and still is to some degrees) very discriminatory. It is a shame how they treated the Korean victims of the Atomic bomb. In death (and especially in such a horrible death like the one of the nuclear bomb) we should all be alike... The story of the memorial is on the next photograph.... The central cenotaph of the Memorial park does not contain their names. | ||
The background of the Korean Memorial
18 May 2003 | ||
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| In some of the more recent plaques at the memorial site, Japan has started to quietly approach this aspect of their past in a more critical light... Their own 'Vergangenheitsbewaeltigung'. | ||
Paper Cranes
18 May 2003 | ||
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| Left at the Memorial for the Korean victims... | ||
More Paper Cranes
18 May 2003 | ||
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| Also at the Korean memorial.... At some hotel rooms in Japan you will get a paper crane Origami on your bed next to a chocolate. From this visit on I will cherish them even more. | ||
The A Bomb Dome
18 May 2003 | ||
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| Formerly the Hiroshima Prefectual Industrial Promotion Hall. Probably the most well-known building of Hiroshima. Before and After.... Everything surrounding it was totally destroyed.... And all the people inside were burned to ashes at the instant of the blast. The blast came straight from above, which is why the walls were not blown over.... | ||
Strange visitors
18 May 2003 | ||
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| Not everyone has the proper mindset for the memorial. This is a peace bell and here are some Japanese tourists that stand under the bell while one of their friends tries to hit it the strongest. The person under the bell then would walk away with shaking legs. It would have been funny in a different place, but here it was just creepy. | ||
Faces of Hiroshima
18 May 2003 | ||
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| Many entire families were eradicated. As Hiroshima's administrative buildings and official records were destroyed, most of the victims are faceless and nameless. Here are some of the faces that have been registered and where survivors submitted photographs... | ||
Cenotaph
18 May 2003 | ||
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| The Cenotaph holds the registered names of tens of thousands of victims. The inscription is 'Let all their souls rest in peace. For we shall never repeat the evil'. This inscription was contentious. But the authors of it refered to mankind never using nuclear arms again.... | ||
Selection of Hiroshima
18 May 2003 | ||
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| I know many people whose families come from cities that could have been chosen instead as targets. I would never know them. Kyoto is one of my favourite places with its old temples, shrine and history. It could have been evaporated as well. Of course the firestorm in Tokyo destroyed almost the entire city and killed 500,000 people - it was more devastating than the Atomic bomb, but the nuclear bomb symbolizes a perversion of technology creating a destruction far beyond 'conventional' bombing. | ||
8:15am
18 May 2003 | ||
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| Time stood still.... | ||
Before
18 May 2003 | ||
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| Just below the photo is the T-shaped bridge that was the goal of the bomb.... This was Hiroshima before... See the next photo.... | ||
After
18 May 2003 | ||
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| Days after though... When the rivers cleaned up.... | ||
Target
18 May 2003 | ||
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| This T-shaped bridge was the target of the bomb. You can also see the building now known as the A-Bomb Dome. | ||
Hypocenter and the Hiroshima Valley
18 May 2003 | ||
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| The white sign is the location of the museum. Around 1500 meters around the red ball everything was gone. The people further away got deadly burns and were exposed to massive radiation.... | ||
Wallet, School Badge, Company Badge and Tickets
18 May 2003 | ||
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| Among the artifacts at the Memorial Museum many tell a story. Many stories sound similar. Children from the central schools suffered extreme burns and returned home blind and heavily injured to die just days later. Also heartbreaking are the tales of parents going to the central locations and searching for any trace of their children. Wallet, School Badge, Company Badge and Tickets 790 meters from hypocenter Kimiko Nishimaru (then 15) was a third year student at Hijiyama Girls' High School. She was a mobilized student working at the telegraph office, when the atomic bomb exploded. Though her entire body was covered with severe burns, she managed to return to her home in Ushita-machi. Her parents did their best to care for her, but she died on August 10. |
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Name Tag
18 May 2003 | ||
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Name Tag 900 meters from hypocenter Seiji Segawa (13), a student at Municipal Junior High School, was exposed at the site where he was working on building demolition as a mobilized student. His mother, Ayame, his older sister Mieko and his younger brother Masumi (who donated the tag to the museum) walked around the city searching for Seiji. On August 8, they learned that Seiji had been taken in at Takasu National School in the suburbs and rushed to his side. In a room crammed with severly injured victims, they recognized Seiji's shoes. Seiji's face was too burned to be recognizable. They found him and his mother called out his name and he responded by opening up his eyes. They brought him home and did all to save him, but he slipped away on August 11. |
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Female Student's Uniform
18 May 2003 | ||
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Female Student's Uniform 1200 meters from hypocenter Nobuko Shoda (then 14) was a second year student at Yamanaka Girls High school. She was expoed to the bomb at her building demolition work site. She suffered burns over her enture body, with especially severe burns on both arms, legs and her face. She was carried on her parents' back to Hiroshima's Red Cross Hospital, but received minimal treament. She was carried to her house, which was significantly damaged, where she passed away on the 10th of August. |
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Peace Memorial Park
18 May 2003 | ||
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| With its famous Cenotaph and the A-Bomb Dome in the background. Seen from the top of the memorial museum. | ||
Mother unable to save her child trapper under the building
18 May 2003 | ||
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| In 1975 a project began to let some survivors that were still deeply troubled by what they had seen release their memories in the form of drawings. These are some of them. Mother unable to save her child trapper under the building Shigeru Miyoshi (40 at time of bombing, 70 at time of drawing) 'If she were alive now, she would be a woman of 35 or 36. "Hiroko, don't give up, be strong. Namu Amida Butsu, Namu Amida Butsu." Hiroko.... Only her head stuck out from under the fallen ceiling. A girl of 5 or 6.' |
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Cremating my Old Child
18 May 2003 | ||
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| Cremating my Old Child Tamaki Ishifuro (35 at time of bombing, 65 at time of drawing) I cremated my oldest daughter Naoko (3). The tears flowed without stopping. 'You go first, I'll follow you!' I joined my hands in prayer. My second son Tatumi (9) was still missing. I prayed that he had fled safely somewhere. As she burned, the oil in her body gradually flowed out. A huge amount, what a healthy child! So piteous. I couldn't stand to watch, I thought I would go crazy. How could this be the real world? It was hell.... I have continued to live for 30 years feeling guilty towards my two dead children. Forgive me, I didn't keep my promise, a parent's responsibility. (I didn't have the courage). |
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All the School Students died as they stood in line
18 May 2003 | ||
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| All the School Students died as they stood in line Tojo Sera (43 at time of bombing, 73 at time of drawing) The Children at Ote Machi Elementary School were standing in line for morning assembly. Every one of them was knocked over and burned to black char. |
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A girl who died while asking for water near Tsurumi Bridge
18 May 2003 | ||
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| A girl who died while asking for water near Tsurumi Bridge Kazuo Matsumuro (32 at time of bombing, 62 at time of drawing) When I passed near her, she feebly asked for water. 'Don't give up, soldiers will be here soon' I said encouragingly, as I walked on by. When I saw her 20 minutes later, she was dead. Nearby stood a soldier whose face was half bandaged. Lots of body tags hung from his waist. |
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Watching a young mother flee with a dead child in her arms
18 May 2003 | ||
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| Watching a young mother flee with a dead child in her arms, I began to cry Hiroshi Yoshii(25 at time of bombing, 55 at time of drawing) Amidst crowds of people burned to tatters and fleeing desperately, a young woman came along carrying something important. Looking carefully, I saw it was a lifeless baby that looked like a large piece of meat. The face was such a hideous sight I couldn't look at it twice. But as I watched her fleeing in desperation yet carrying that baby's body, I was blinded by my tears. I saw the embodiment of motherly love, a tragic scene beyond any you might see in paintings of hell. That sight remains etched deep in my mind's eye even after 30 years. |
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A Mother who burned up trying to shelter her two children
18 May 2003 | ||
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| A Mother who burned up trying to shelter her two children Kazuo Akiyama (34 at time of bombing, 64 at time of drawing) A mother and her two children had been swallowed by the flames they were trying to flee. She had dropped forward on the ground, pulling them beneath her and that is how they died. The children's fingers had dug deeply into their mother's skin. |
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Two little girls fanned their seriously wounded mother
18 May 2003 | ||
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| Two little girls fanned their seriously wounded mother Hiroshi Shindo (33 at time of bombing, 64 at time of drawing) Two little girls, one about five and the other about three fanned their seriously wounded mother. |
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The Storm
18 May 2003 | ||
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| Quite a famous sculpture of a mother trying to protect her children in the blast. It is the entrance sculpture of the Memorial Museum in Hiroshima. | ||
No trace of what happened 60 years ago....
18 May 2003 | ||
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| I had to leave quite quickly to meet up with Ken and his wife in Kobe. When I was taken the tram back to the station and mounted the Shinkansen, I was amazed at how the people from Hiroshima had built up their city from the ruins. | ||
About this page | Contact Me at photodiary (at) gmail.com | Last Updated: 19 June 2008 - ©2007 Julian Pye