67 years Since Hiroshima And Nagasaki bombings

By Mina | Thursday, August 9, 2012 | 21 Comments

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67 years Since Hiroshima And Nagasaki bombings

It’s been 67 years since the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, on August 6th and 9th 1945 respectively. I’m usually with my family in Japan during this time, watching the ceremony at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima on the news. The Peace Bell rings, followed by a moment of silence. Speeches are made by politicians as well as primary school students. The whole nation remembers and mourns our losses. Never again, we pray.

This year, I didn’t get to go home to visit my family, so I catch up on the news on the internet. I read about Harry Truman’s grandson attending the ceremony; the grandson of the man who ordered the atomic bomb to be dropped on Hiroshima. I read Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui’s annual Peace Declaration, which makes parallels between the atomic bombings 67 years ago and the terrifying nuclear reactor meltdowns in Fukushima in March last year:

March 11, 2011, is a day we will never forget. A natural disaster compounded by a nuclear power accident created an unprecedented catastrophe. Here in Hiroshima, we are keenly aware that the survivors of that catastrophe still suffer terribly, yet look toward the future with hope. We see their ordeal clearly superimposed on what we endured 67 years ago. I speak now to all in the stricken areas. Please hold fast to your hope for tomorrow. Your day will arrive, absolutely. Our hearts are with you. Having learned a lesson from that horrific accident, Japan is now engaged in a national debate over its energy policy, with some voices insisting, “Nuclear energy and humankind cannot coexist.” I call on the Japanese government to establish without delay an energy policy that guards the safety and security of the people. I ask the government of the only country to experience an atomic bombing to accept as its own the resolve of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Mindful of the unstable situation surrounding us in Northeast Asia, please display bolder leadership in the movement to eliminate nuclear weapons.

I read about high school students from Fukushima visiting Hiroshima (see photo above): ”I think it was hope that the people in Hiroshima relied on to rebuild… We, too, don’t want to be defeated in the nuclear disaster,” said one of the students, 13 years old.

I read that the Prime Minister made a vague and uncommitted declaration at the ceremony: ”The government has a basic policy of making Japan free from dependence on nuclear power generation. It will aim to establish energy policies that can put the people at ease in middle to long-term.” What these “energy policies that can put people at ease” could possibly mean, I don’t know. Sounds like an empty appeasement to me. What I do know, though, is that we really need to be working towards ending dependency on nuclear power. My heart goes out to all the victims and their families. Rest in peace. Rest in power.

[Photo credit: Ryo Ikeda]

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History

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LTE2

I have found it remarkable as to how the Japanese treat Hiroshima and Nagasaki, that is as discreet events completely detached from a greater war. The bombings were not the result of their actions, but by an act unprovoked.
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No expression of regret or misgivings as to how they treated their neighbors for decades, no thought of the sufferings of others. These ceremonies were all about them.
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In Harry Truman’s archives there is a letter written by him to a pastor about his use of the A bombs on Japan. He stated his greatest regret is how it will harm the innocent women and children of Japan but it was a way to end the war quickly. The man who authorized the use of the A bomb expressed greater regret of an action against an enemy than the enemy ever expressed to the millions of people they brutally subjugated.
m_wei

while the atrocities of WW2′s Imperial Japanese Army should never be forgotten, the overwhelming victims of the two bombs were civilians.
LTE2

Japan placed war industries within residential areas making targeting difficult.
happyappa

I agree. The disgusting actions and beliefs of the WWII Japanese Army do not represent all Japanese. Just look at how some Americans reacted to the Japan vs US soccer match via Twitter… I quote, “This ones for Pearl Harbor you [insert racial slur]“. Obviously not all Americans feel this way, but seriously those twit commenters are stupid. No thoughts of the sufferings of the innocent people killed.
LTE2

My point is, the Japanese should not be allowed to get away with disembodying Hiroshima and Nagasaki from the greater context of why the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings occurred. Every ceremony should start with if you start a war, war may come back to your door step.
m_wei

is this documented in legit research by real scholars, or based on the same CIA teams that gave Tenet and Powell ‘proof’ of WMDs in Iraq?
m_wei

barring, of course, “American exceptionalism” in all things political…

it’s war and nobody disputes that; however, the fact remains there are documentation about how the two cities were specifically left alone for testing purposes of the atomic bombs.
LTE2

Kyoto and other cities were not bombed or not heavily bombed. Keep in mind the thinking was to use the A bomb on Germany.
m_wei

from what I read, they intentionally kept a few cities untouched so they can see the total effects of the bombs.

I acknowledge that at some point they were thinking of using it on Germany, but the reality and history is completely different than hypotheticals.
LTE2

I will revise and extend my remarks on industry within residential areas. It was not uncommon for war industries to be found in residential areas, the Germans had this form of placement too.
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I am sure many of the industries producing war material were placed there before Pearl Harbor as factories were generally located by the work force (or the residential areas grew up around where the jobs were).
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The Japanese government would have some factories placed in or very near residential zones operating under the assumption it would be inhumane to bomb such locations.
m_wei

I recommend you watch Graveyard of the Fireflies. it’s totally revisionist, but also totally a tearjerker. T_T
http://hellomoye.com/ moye

How is that movie revisionist? It’s about two children trying to survive and stay together during the war.
LTE2

I have heard the stories of the aftermath of the bombings. I never stated death by A bomb was pleasant and I do feel a great deal of sympathy for the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I had and have good relationships with Japanese and have a positive view of them. The sons should not have to bare the sins of the fathers.
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My objections are as I stated, they should treat Hiroshima and Nagasaki as a result of their actions, not treat it as some distinct and unrelated event during World War 2. The A bombs were the final and severe response to the empire building they started in 1905.
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Even today, such attitudes create anger with Japan’s neighbors.
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By the way, I sent a response to you concerning the Romney/Asian post. Seems we got moderated.
m_wei

I’m not saying it should be taken out of context. The suffering of other Asian groups under Imperial Japan and the Batanga Death March won’t be forgotten either.

But to drop the most devastating weapons ever devised by mankind and rationalizing it is completely unsympathetic towards the civilians that died.

Graveyard of the Fireflies was about the firebombings of civilians, not the aftermath of the atomic bombs.
m_wei

there’s no nice way to state this: it’s “revisionist” in the sense that it divorces the story from the larger war efforts and civilian support of the Imperial Japanese Army.

even to this day, I doubt they teach the history of Unit 731 and teenage Imperial Japanese Soldiers.
LTE2

I sampled a few minutes of GOTF and it appeared to be about the A Bombs. I went back and sampled more to get a fuller sense of the story.
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I have seen a few other Japanese films about the war from their viewpoint but once again, I am conflicted by their sense of denial.
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GOTH has an interesting background, GOTF written as a memorial from a brother who did did see his sister die from malnutrition. A live action version (2005) has been made and appears to have a stronger anti-war that message that questions Japan’s war effort and the value of war.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jing-Hu/100003120366663 Jing Hu

If they atomic bombs were not dropped Japan will not stop killing innocent people in Asia and they will continue to torment the American POWs they captured.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jing-Hu/100003120366663 Jing Hu

@happyappa:disqus Civilians or not, if the atomic bombs were not dropped millions of more lives will be lost under the Japanese imperialist rule (especially for China, Korea, and the POWs detained by the Japanese).
How many bombs have the Japanese dropped on China? How many bombs have they dropped on Korea? How many bombs have the japanese dropped on the innocent lives of an average human being??? Think about that! The atomic bombs were dropped to end the bloodshed they once caused.
happyappa

In no way am I justifying the whitewashing, murder, rape, mutilation, colonization done by the Imperial Japanese army. But we shouldn’t rejoice that more innocent people died. Peace Memorial Park is not Yasukuni Shrine.

When those twitter people completely focused on the bombing of Pearl Harbor, that was okay? As long as Americans didn’t kill as many people, it’s justifiable? All innocent lives are precious, I don’t care what race or nationality they are.
happyappa

But taking aspects of the war out of context such as by whitewashing textbooks, or letting right-wing nationalists claim Nanking never happened, etc, has got to stop. But kids grow up using the whitewashed texts, and some parents will support it too. Those kids will then teach their children, as adults, and see WWII as “all the Japanese were only victims”. That is wrong. This is similar to LTE2′s first comment, but I do not support war, I am not generalizing about all Japanese, nor am I saying it is okay to kill innocent people.
Ben Ef

Yet post war millions of lives were lost to the Imperial powers of Holland, France, and Britain, all supported by the US after the war. The use of the bombs did not end the war against Asian people, nor was it meant to, nor did it bring liberation to many of Asia’s people.

Re-read your history books and acquaint yourself with 30 years of warfare inflicted on the people of south-east Asia by the victorious European and American allies in the post-war period.

The Pacific War cannot be understood without understanding the context of colonialism that existed both prior to Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor and the often brutal efforts of France and Holland to re-assert their colonial dominance over the region after the war ended. The French even tried to overturn a wartime treaty in which they gave up “their right” to regain their territories in China.

The bottom line is that the war in Asia was fought between competing imperial powers none of whom were actually fighting to liberate Asians – they were simply fighting for their right to rule Asians.

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