A Principal and Wife Travels: Day 5: *CAUTION GRAPHIC* Hiroshima Peace Park and Museum

Friday, July 5, 2013

Day 5: CAUTION GRAPHIC Hiroshima Peace Park and Museum

We started our day at 9: am. our guide picked us up by car and taxi we headed to the first and second schools in Hiroshima. After our school visits we drove (in traffic) to Hiroshima Museum. The museum closes at 6:00 pm, and you need to enter the museum by 5:pm.

The first school visit started with the Peace Program and. Lesson on the "Accident" on August 6, 1945, at 8:15 am...

Gift Shop T-Shirt

At the Hiroshima Remembrance and Peace museum Allows no flash photography. We took photos of key elements of the story. Answering mostly the why (which was front of mind because of the presentation in the elementary school).

The Hiroshima bombing - the "accident" as called in this area - is difficult to discuss Because they are a no fault society. For example if your late for a meeting, to help the tardy person save face, the person your meeting may say "I am sorry I was on time." Also Japan mainstream is not an overly analytical society. One junior high school in Hiroshima said that there high school entrance rate was only 25%. Therefore a Museum that leave gaps in the history is problematic. Where will people learn their history if not in museum and public institutions? Obviously this is a snapshot of some cultural insights and we can't go in depth here. And I'm a laymen, no expert at all.

In the US there is the Trinity site in Arizona where the manhattan project tested the first atomic bomb. I have a piece if lava rock from this historic site.

There are 15 photos discussing hiroshimas growth as a military hub, and Japans cultural conditioning of the people to a war like mentality.

Japanese villagers being trained for war. In a countrywide effort.

Propaganda Materials

Discovery of nuclear fission which eventually leads to the atomic bomb. Large 12x9' photo of post bombing

A wall approximately 12 feet across and 6 feet high with one of the first Ariel photos after the bombing.

Letters seemed to be positioned through one lens. While true it's imperative to read the whole letter and not just the highlighted portion. There is discussion of Japan and Soviet Union interactions, but brief. The bombing of Pearl Harbor is one photo and a brief description. Very brief.

The below letters show Japan's frustration and some US insiders attempt to thwart the "surprise" bombing. Contrarily, the "surprise" aspect of the Pearl Harbor bombings isn't mentioned or the aftermath. This is one example of the subtle propaganda.

Horror and ariel photos of the destruction and aftermath

Ariel photos - left, before the bombing. Right, after leveling of the city & life/vegetation.

Classic mushroom cloud

Th Bomb was dropped August 6. Japan did not surrender until August 9, after the US dropped a 2nd bomb on Nagasaki. The museum does not have political information about those 3 days.

Aftermath, propaganda and monitoring of the media reporting.

On the 2nd floor graphic photos of the aftermath. The heat of the bomb was over 3,000 degrees. Those that were away from the blast center suffered Clothes burn marks and holes, skin literally melted. This section of the museum is the most graphic. They show skin fragments, clothes remnants, photos of the terrifying aftermath, medical procedures, mothers crying, truly horrifying photos.

This is a red lit mannequin portrayal of people just beyond the impact zone. A close up shows burned clothes and depictions of melting skin.

Extensive cases of burned students and children's clothes.

One mother found her sons body, identified by the lunch box gripped near his stomach. The lunch was charcoaled.

Aftermath photo and limited artifacts found nearby, labeled.

After the US attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 a few days after the tragedy, google started a survivors page where families could get information about there loved ones. And you may remember the photos glued to walls, windows, and street signs near by and for miles around ground zero. This was the way survivors post bombing in WWII communicated with families on where they are and their injuries, written on apartment building walls and common community areas.

4th floor, survivors poems and letters, translated and displayed with art. This floating exhibits final poem, at the very end exemplifies the Japanese people's fierce belief, thru their governments teachings and exercises, in their war effort. Will we (still) win? See excerpt below.