Japan Travel Guide: Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Hiroshima from Tokyo: by bullet train (2 hours 30 minutes)
Nagasaki from Tokyo: by bullet train to Fukuoka (4 hours) then by special express (2 hours)

There is a lot more to both these vibrant cities than that they alone, of all cities on earth, were once atomic bomb targets. But let’s be honest, we go there for one main reason. I would have liked this piece to just be about Nagasaki, which often, in a grotesquely funny way, gets overshadowed; but I only spent half a day there, so I’ll have to recycle some of the Hiroshima stuff I’ve already showed you guys.

On August 6th, 1945, the “Little Boy” uranium bomb was dropped over the center of downtown Hiroshima. When Japan failed to surrender immediately, “Fat Man” was dropped on Nagasaki on August 9th. Death toll estimates (including later deaths by radiation poisoning) hover around 200,000 for Hiroshima and 100,000 for Nagasaki. The aim was of course to end the war quickly; although subordinate aims surely included showcasing the weapon for Soviet Russia, and simply seeing its effects. Neither city was a major military target; those targets had mostly been destroyed by our extensive firebombing campaign that killed more people overall than both the bombs put together.

Whether the bombs were neccesary is of course contentious. The vicious battle over Okinawa fueled American fears the Japanese would fight to the last man. Historians agree it’s unlikely that Japan would have followed through on their plan of defending the shores with spear-wielding civilians. There were, however, hardliners who still opposed the surrender even after the second bomb. Statements by Harry S. Truman suggest his racism, which was far from unusual at the time. But ultimately, as macabre as it sounds: could humanity really have escaped seeing this weapon used? If not here, it may well have been somewhere else.

Above: Hiroshima castle was blown away like a heap of matchsticks by the bomb; this is a reconstruction

Above: A wall stained by atomic “black rain”

Above: The Children’s Memorial

Above: A bomb survivor speaking to our class; it was a powerful experience, but really, you can imagine what she said

Above: Nagasaki is a city in a valley, and the hills helped to contain the blast, accounting for the lower death toll

Above: Nagasaki Memorial donated by Turkey

Above: Nagasaki’s famous Peace Statue

Sadly I don’t have space for much more local color, but I will add: one of the coolest things about Nagasaki is its ex-mayor, Hitoshi Motoshima. This guy was like Mr. T and Chuck Norris’ lovechild. He had the nerve to suggest in a speech that Japan, and the Emperor personally, bore some responsibility for the bomb. A rightist thug shot him in the back. As his aides subdued the man he calmly walked to his car, sat down and waited for help. Later he said in an interview: “I used to be a fisherman. One day my boat turned over and I floated out to sea. What am I supposed to be afraid of?”

When Kurosawa’s [link]Rhapsody in August[/link][Jeremy, if I could trouble you to add the link to Tammy's article when it comes up ^_^] was screened, some criticized him for sentimentalizing and glossing over Japanese war guilt. One critic yelled during a screening: “Why was the bomb dropped?” Kurosawa’s reply: “Wars are fought between governments, not people.” To be honest, this seems naive; who elects officials and fights in armies? But Kurosawa was expressing his deep humanism, and that he stood always on the side of people, no matter their nation.

The atomic bomb is the final expression of human alienation. Because of our fear and mistrust of each other, we’re sitting on atomic stockpiles able to blow up the world a thousand times over. But even if we could agree to dismantle every single weapon, what good would it do if still don’t get along?

I live in a country that’s never been invaded. We are, nonetheless, currently “at war” with an emotion. That’s what the demonizing of our enemies has come to; Franklin Roosevelt said the only thing we have to fear is “fear itself,” and now we’re trying to kill fear itself. This is more than absurd; it’s laughable. The only way to get rid of it is to laugh it into oblivion. It’s not a question of being liberal or conservative, pro-war or anti-war: love is so powerful that it demolishes in one blow all conflict and the politics of both left and right.

Rather than arguing who’s most responsible, shouldn’t we be so desperate to love and forgive each other that the moment we can be reasonably sure our “forgiveness” won’t be taken as a sanction to commit more wrong, we’re literally tripping over ourselves in our haste to offer it? When two people get into a fight, both of them are always to blame. And so, to however infinitesimal a degree, is everyone else. Who is responsible for the atom bomb? I am; if I don’t, every waking minute, take to heart its lesson. If I say an unkind word to someone I am, without exaggeration, setting in motion a process that might one day lead to a bomb being dropped. The truth is that everyone is guilty, constantly guilty before each other; and if we all realized this for even one instant, wouldn’t we fall down and beg each other’s forgiveness? Do you call that idealism? I call it realism. Because what other solution is there?

Let’s make it happen.
Peace,
Jacob Ritari