Memory
I lived for 3 years near Hiroshima (Iwakuni – not to be confused with Iwa Jima). And as one does you invite family to come visit and usually they would come in the summer, mainly because I was a teacher with summers open. So my parents came to visit me the early part of August. A hot and muggy time of year in Japan. What to do and see?
Well, since Iwakuni was so close to Hiroshima it was natural to go and see the spot that is only one of two that nuclear weapons were used on. It is not a ‘jolly’ spot and it shouldn’t be, but it, like the battlefields of Gettysburg and Europe, is a reminder.
So hop a train and we’re in Hiroshima. One of the books (of many) I remember reading at some point in my parents’ house was “Hiroshima” by John Hersey. It wasn’t a thick book, but it made its point.
We arrived and walked over to “Children’s Peace Park” where the memorial is to that morning in August. We walked past the remains of a building whose dome is still propped up with metal arches. Looked at the statue to the girl who believed if she could fold a thousand origami cranes she would be healed of the killing effects of the radiation she had received. And walked through the museum of photos and personal effects that remained, a shoe, the shadow of a seated person waiting for a bank to open created in reverse by their body shielding the stone from the blast, and other things. Not displayed for ‘horror’, but simply as a record and pretty horrific because they were ‘simple things’ on display.
Okay, let’s get back into the August sunshine and a little lightness. Wonder what all the chairs over there are for? Wandering obliviously when a gentleman walks up and quietly says to us, that perhaps we should not stay. August 6th…duh…it was a memorial ceremony. The thing is, the Japanese are not angry about August 6th, but they do not want the world to forget what happens to people, people getting ready for school, for work, waiting for the bank to open, when someone decides to use a nuclear bomb. And the gentleman did not want us to stay for fear we would be attacked, but that it was more like intruding on a funeral.
Monument to the ‘crane girl’My parents went on to Korea from Japan. My dad had been stationed there during the Korean War. He worked at an Evacuation hospital, think MASH. Actually he was a ‘wheel mechanic’ which meant he keep their vehicles running. Perfect job for a country boy who liked tinkering with engines. There was nothing left of the scene he had witnessed. Seoul is a built-up modern city. But as they stood outside their hotel an older Korean gentleman came up to ask my father if he had been stationed there. My father told him, yes. The gentleman thanked Dad for being there for his country.
As long as people remember.
