hiroshima

Here's a recomendation for you;

I went to the Trauma screening of 'Children of Hiroshima' last night, it's part of a season of films concerned with Japanese filmmaker's reaction to the A-Bomb.

From 1945 to 1951(I think), the American occupation of Japan did not allow any filmmakers to refer to the Bombing of Hiroshima or Nagasaki. When the occupation was over (and the censor was lifted), in 1952, this was one of the first films to be made specifically about the Atom bomb.

The plot follows a kindergarten teacher from Hiroshima, who lost her parents in the bombing, returning to the City after spending 6 years(the 6 years directly following the bomb) away teaching on an island. She tries to find children she used to teach (and finds that there are only 3 survivors from her class) and friends she used to know. Hearing people's stories of how the bomb affected them, people are still dying from radiation sickness, are sterile because of the radiation, blinded or crippled from the blast.

Apart from it being one of the most well put together films I've seen in years, the most striking thing about it is the lack of bitterness or hatred toward the Americans. Everyone is very dignified and philosophical about the horrific ways it has affected them and their families. One orphaned girl, as she dies from radiation poisoning says, calmly, "war is the greatest evil", and a blinded man who has just had his grandson, and only family member taken away to be better looked after says something about the senslessness of war.

The acting, even by the very little children, is amazing and never goes to far or milks the emotional scenes.

I just thought I'd say that you should probably try to watch it if you can find a copy, as an example of one of the best anti-war movies.

The season is continuing for the next few weeks. http://www.traumafilm.com/menu.htm

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absolutely! it had the same effect on me. Standing in front of the Atomic Bomb Dome is an extremely powerful and moving experience.

I also visited the Pearl Harbor Memorial and was struck at the many contrasts and similarities of the two (Hiroshima and Pearl Harbor). Both are sad and solemn and respectful of those who died. However, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial has a central theme much different from Pearl Harbor's. Hiroshima's isn't vindictive, accusatory or inflammatory. it's message is war is never justified, after all, its victims were civilian and had no means of fighting back. One marks the beginning of a war and the other the end. (Curious that in 'Barefoot Gen' there are comments that the Japanese government and military could not recognize they had lost the war well before August, 1945 and could have avoided the tragedies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and Sakhalin Island for that matter. This message perpetuates at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial). The are many more contrasts but after visiting both you get an overwhelming direct, emotional and visceral realization of the tragedy of war you don't get from books and movies. I can't imagine how people live through these horrors.

a poignant contrast to visiting Hiroshima is Kyoto. Kyoto was on the short list of A-bomb target cities so was left virtually untouched from bombing raids, as was Hiroshima. When you visit Kyoto you are visiting a city that still reflects the architecture and structure of a pre-WWII Japanese city. When you visit Hiroshima (and Tokyo for that matter) you see a city that's obviously rebuilt into a modern city (much as Chicago and San Francisco after their massive fires). The point is when you see Kyoto you realize how densely everything was built AND that everything was made of wood and paper - very little was made of concrete or steel. It's easy to see how even a small fire could quickly engulf a tremendous area.