|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Hiroshima Remembers, Calls for Peace |
| Memorial ceremony draws 43,000 people |
|
Ida Grandas (jezaky)  |
 Email Article
 Print Article
|
|
|
|
Published 2008-08-10 04:38 (KST) |
|
|
|
The girl next to me is crying silently. Katsuko Kawamoto starts speaking slower and her voice starts to tremble. It is 63 years ago that the first atomic bomb exploded over Hiroshima and Katsuko became hibakusha, a survivor.
Every year around Aug. 6, people from all over the world come to Hiroshima to join the peace memorial ceremony in remembrance of those who suffered the bomb but also to discuss about how to never let it happen again.
In a cafe close to the Peace Memorial Park, where most of the celebrations take place, many people have gathered to listen to Kawamoto. As for many hibakusha, it took Kawamoto a long time to start witnessing. She did not want to stick out, afraid that people would say that the bombings in Hiroshima was not that special or showing aversion toward the fact that her genes could be affected by the radiation.
 |
TODAY'S TOP STORIES |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
FROM THE SECTION |
|
|
|
|
| The girl next to me tries to dry up her tears with the back of her hand.
Someone taps my shoulder and reaches over a folder with some documents. "Back exposed to the blast," it says on the first page. I keep on reading.
There is information about direct effects such as vomiting, diarrhea and bleeding wounds. The papers are Kawamoto's first medical record after the bomb.
The stories of the horrors of the atomic bomb are everywhere. A friend who is from Hiroshima takes me to the museum of contemporary art that is hosting an exhibition called "Hiroshima -- Strings of Time." The artist, Ishiuchi Miyako has take photographs of female cloths worn on the day when the bomb exploded.
My friend stops at one of the first photos displayed. It is a shirt with a spot pattern. She points at some details of the shirt. Some of the black spots are burned out.
"I just bought one of these kinds of shirts," my friends says.
Passing by the next few photos, she stays silent. Then suddenly, one photo seems to draw here attention and she walks up closer to it. It is a school uniform jacket.
"I went to the same high school," she says.
Hiroshima is doing many things to remember the horrors of the atomic bomb. Today, many hibakusha act as witnesses, and there is a research institute on radiation affects. But the city has also moved toward a more positive approach, spreading the knowledge about the reconstruction of Hiroshima as a way of becoming a symbol of peace and hope.
The people of Hiroshima basically rose from the ashes and started to rebuild their city. Three days after the bomb fell, the streetcars started to run again.
When the peace memorial ceremony was held for the first time in 1947, 1,000 people participated. People came to mourn their dead. This year, 43,000 people attended the ceremony, listening to the commitment to peace read out by elementary school children and the peace declaration by Hiroshima's mayor.
The week of the ceremony is being turned more and more into a festival for peace. The universities are offering special peace courses, there are conferences and symposiums, films are being screened, arts shown. This year, a peace camp was initiated, where people from all over the world can stay for free and meet other people interested in peace.
"Hiroshima is beautiful because people survive," Kawamoto says. "It is the symbol of hope that I want people that visit on Aug. 6 to feel and bring with them."
|
|
©2008 OhmyNews
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Comments Note: Kindly refrain from personal attacks and profanity. |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
How worried are you about the H1N1 influenza virus? |
|
 |
| * Vote to see the result. |
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
RSS
Del.icio.us
Digg 
reddit
Y! MyWeb
.jpg)
