Hiroshima - 60 years Photo Gallery by Nicolas & Nami at pbase.com

Hiroshima - 60 years

July 18th, 2005, 2pm : I arrive in Hiroshima for a 1 day and a half visit.
August 6th, 1945, 8.15 a.m. : The US throws the first A-bomb on the city of Hiroshima. 240,000 people died.

The Memorial Peace Parc and the main museums are breath taking (visit : http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/top_e.html). The parc still echoes the screams of all those who perished going to work, of the children going to school or the elderly buying food at the market. The bomb exploded approx. above what now is know as the A-Bomb Dome (precise location of explosion : red ball on picture). Result : Except for a few concrete buildings, nothing remains and temperature reached 3000 to 4000 degres Celsius for about 4 seconds. Some of those who did not die of the blast had their bodies peeling off because of the heat and radiation, others looking to escape the extreme heat, to cool their wounds jumped in the the contaminated and extremely hot river... and the other "lucky" ones survived a few hours, days maybe months... some might still be there today, but at what price.
I saw an old lady explaining to school children what she had lived : I think I never saw students so silent and calm.

Those who believe nuclear arms are a necessity never visited Hiroshima. Today nations have bombs that are thousands of times more powerful than the bomb that disseminated Hiroshima and so many lives ; today North Korea and Iran are negotiating political stability and economic compensation with the West in exchange of a promise not to use nuclear weapons. Shameful trade... but fingers should also be pointed to those other countries today who do have nuclear weapons and who "promote" worldwide peace.

Never have I been so overwhelmed and distressed by a visit since my trip to Rwanda after the mass murders.

Hiroshima, July 18th 2005 : I will remember my 32nd birthday.
August 6th, 2005 : Remember Hiroshima's 60th anniversary.

Before the Bomb	After the Bomb
Red ball : precise point of explosion of the Bomb	A-Bomb Dome on the left
The Dome today	The Children's Peace Monument surrounded by paper cranes (read text on following picture)
Story of Sadako Sasaki	Under the grass, ashes of thousands who died on August 6th, 1945
The Peace Bell	Cenotaph for the A-Bomb Victims. Engraving reads : "Let all the souls here rest in peace ; For we shall not repeat the evil."
Victims

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Barry S Moore		09-Feb-2007 21:31
What a great gallery. I have read the comments below and I must say that discussion is far better than destruction. For whatever reasons the A-bomb happened. Keep talking about it and maybe we can all sleep a little better for that. The many lives lost then will not have been worthless.

guest		19-Aug-2006 16:42
I would like to concur whole heartedly with the guest of 12-Aug-2005 04:00. I have lived in Hiroshima for 13 years, and while I appreciate the celebration of peace each August 6, I too have been to the Okinawa museum, and... well, I cannot say it better than the guest of 12-Aug-2005 04:00. I do not attempt to justify the currrent existence of such horrible weapons, however the use at that time was wholely justified given the understanding of that weapon at that time.

Guest		12-Aug-2005 04:00
Mike G, The article you posted doesn't reflect what I know of my own people. It is unlikely that Japan would have capitulated without a full-scale invasion or something as catastrophic as an A-bomb. Keep in mind that surrender did not come after Hiroshima. It only came after Nagasaki and the threat to use more a-bombs (though the United States did not have other bombs ready, the Japanese military did not know that). This fits with the picture we saw of Japan throughout WWII. Do some research on how bloody and vicious the fighting was on Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Look at the fact my people were putting teens in airplanes to conduct suicide attacks against US naval ships. Some were as young as 16. Read on how the military preparations on Kyushu and how many people had volunteered for what was the equivalent of militia. Then take some time to study Bushido and how it was applied to the Japanese military forces during WWII. One important concept: better to die gloriously or in service to one's lord (in this case, the Emperor) than to live in shame (and surrender was shameful which was why "banzai attacks" were launched when the situation was lost).

Guest		11-Aug-2005 20:47
Mike D I told you I was a conservative. I am a proud member of the National Rifle Association, I'm also a Christian and I also belive in individual freedom. Yep, I would say that makes me a conservative! The web sites stand on their own, just like the Socialist web site. Don't dissmis the message because of who I am, look at the articles.

Mike D - UK		11-Aug-2005 18:39
Now I gave your comments some thoughts dlofthouse but then i looked at your galleries containing "shootouts" "gun holsters of the national rifle association" and a "military museum". Say's it all to me.

Guest		09-Aug-2005 21:15
An article from the World Socialist Web Site? No bias there!! The article I mention about Truman is based on recently released documents not available before. I guess “truth” is in your view of the world. I’m a conservative and see things differently than a liberal. It doesn’t have anything to do with nationalistic feelings or brainwashing. Regardless of how you fell about the Atomic bomb use, there are certain things you have to admit are true. First, dead is dead, weather it is from a flamethrower, hand grenade or atomic bomb. Second, the Atomic bombs did end the war faster and with fewer casualties that if Japan were invaded. Third, the United States helped rebuild Japan back into a world economy and did not make it a territory (the same goes for Germany and Italy). We even returned all captured islands in the south pacific back to the Japanese. So much for the U.S. being an imperialist invader. Fourth, the U.S. did not start the war. Guest, I’m sorry you have such blind hatred of America. While I find the British, in general, to be anti-individual and England to be a ‘Nanny State’ I don’t hate the UK.

Guest		09-Aug-2005 15:38
Here's an article that gives a rather more truthful perspective on the reasons why America dropped the atomic bombs.http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/aug2005/hiro-a06.shtml Some Americans (especially those elites in power) may wonder why so many people around the world disagree with their personal view of the world. That's because some Americans appear to have been so indoctrinated with their upbringing that they suffer with blind patriotism. Certainly the Japanese government and their military have a lot of crimes on their hands, as do most countries governents and military establishments. My own country (UK) supports the American establishment, because they wish also to carve a vicious prize for themselves. I don't like my own government, but then I didn't vote for them. I can distinguish between myself and my government, something which a lot of Americans seem to find difficult to do. Let's be clear on this. No country compares to the power of the USA, especially in the present world. That hegemonic rule was set in concrete by dropping the two atomic bombs. The USA wields that power with devastation. Most of the victims in Vietnam were a civilian peasant population fighting to survive in their own country. Communism (as preached by American governments) is a figment of paranoid and disturbed minds, used as an excuse to murder people. All this to control as many countries resources as possible and to make sure that any attempt at an honest or open government is destroyed. Now they are doing the same in Iraq leading to the death of over 100,000 civilians. This is the death of ordinary people, including the exploited poverty stricken young Americans drafted into the war machine. When will so many people awaken from this continuing nightmare. I'm talking about the deluded, psychopaths in power, who couldn't care less about human life. They must feel nothing. I despair of humanity sometimes, then I meet an extraordinary ordinary person who restores my faith.. Poignant photographs. Excellent subject. Mike G

Guest		09-Aug-2005 13:55
Two articles help put this topic in perspective: Why Truman Dropped the Bomb --http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/894mnyyl.asp?pg=1 Trashing our history; Hirshima --http://www.townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/ts20050809.shtml

Guest		09-Aug-2005 04:27
The estimates on losses for a land of invasion of the main islands of Japan were horrendous. Not just US losses, but Japanese ones as well. The United States fully expected the Japanese to fight as tenaciously as they did at Okinawa, at Iwo Jima, and along the rest of the island hopping campaign of the Pacific. In the end, the losses from the two a-bombs were significantly less than what would have happened had the US had to invade Honshu, Kyushu, and Shikoku. American casualties (and only American casualties) were expected to be over 1 million, and that was considered a conservative estimate. Japanese losses were expected to be far greater. It needs to be pointed out that those casualties estimates were based on incorrect estimates of Japanese strength and defensive capabilities. The US estimates and intelligence were very low compared to actual. Had an invasion of Japan happened (which the a-bombs prevented) we would have remembered it for the millions killed on both sides. Yes, the a-bombs were terrible weapons that will hopefully never be used again. But the losses for the a-bombs put beside the expected casualties for an invasion, the only other way to force Japan to surrender, show Truman made the right choice between the only two terrible options available to him.

Guest		09-Aug-2005 03:15
Thanks for the reminder of what horror humans have brought into the world. Too bad the people who foster aggression are not the only ones to suffer. Wonder if there are similar memorials in Japan for the millions of people murdered by Japan 1937-1945... Maybe they should have had a moment of silence for the 369,366 people they murdered in China during their invasion Dec 1937 - March 1938 or the 80,000 women who were systematically raped by the Japanese in Nanking...

Guest		08-Aug-2005 20:52
The dropping of the atomic bombs was the result of Japan trying to negotiate a conditional surrender that would allow those in power to stay in power after the war. Japan was making overtures to the Soviet Union to assist in a conditional surrender but there was concern that the same thing that was happening in Europe after the defeat of Germany, would happen in Japan, in other words, the cold war. The United States would only accept an unconditional surrender to keep Japan from rebuilding its military structure and ruling culture. Also, the U.S. had just finished a terrible battle for Okinawa in which 12,000 American soldiers died and about 110,,000 Japanese soldiers and conscripts were killed. There was every indication the battle for the Japanese homeland would be every bit as bloody. Although the defenders of Okinawa knew they were defeated, they fought on until almost all were dead. The bombs ended the war sooner and saved lives in the long run.

Guest		08-Aug-2005 17:43
Very nice tribute. We seem to forget or fail to learn from history. We seem to always think that our present situation is different and that brutal force is justified. "Culture...a constant parade of lofty ideals negated by abominable behaviors." Hiroshima & Nagasaki Remembrance Event, Austin TX http://www.pbase.com/aisassipbase/2005peacegrove

Mike D - UK		08-Aug-2005 17:02
OTIS USMC'S comments are unbelieveable below. It shows how some people in the US are so blind as to what's going on in the world outside of the US and makes you think it is no wonder why many people in many countries hate the USA. It is time people like Otis open their eyes and embrace the world and it's different peoples and communities with a bit of respect; only then will there be world peace instead of murdering, both by terrorists and by gung-ho trigger happy governments.

Guest		08-Aug-2005 16:09
To OtisUSMC "In a way it is difficult to feel too badly about it". Oh dear! Check your feelings in at the door. How would it be if 60 years down the line, somebody were to say about the Twin Towers tragedy (in which far fewer, but no less important people, died) the same thing that you have said for 240,000 Japanese people? True history tells us that the USA dropped the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to prove their might in the world and threaten Russia after WW2. Japan was already a defeated country when they carried out the firestorm bombing of Tokyo. The US government is still carrying out it's terrorisation of ordinary people in Iraq today. That has been American foreign policy for 60 years. Mike G

OtisUSMC		07-Aug-2005 08:58
NIce Gallery. Let's hope it doesn't happen again...anywhere. People die in wars, innocent as as well as combatants. Funny no one mentions the Tokyo air raid (date slips my mind) in which 70,000 people died THAT NIGHT in a firestorm created by incindiary bombs. In a way it is difficult to feel too badly about it. Had the Japanese not started the war in Asia in 1937, and had surrendered instead of fighting to the very last man everywhere, and setting the stage for a massively bloody invasion for eveyone involved, the bombs might not have been dropped. Still, let's hope the world has learned something. And truthfully, I think it has. BTW, anyone know are there any museums in Japan dedicated to the victims of Japanese atrocities, beginning in China in 1937? Or those tens of thousands who died in the Phillipines in the Japanese occupation?

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