VOX POPULI: Rare photos of Hiroshima A-bombing show grim aftermath
The event 'Hiroshima 1945: Special Exhibition 80 Years after Atomic Bombing' opened at the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum on May 31 with many foreign visitors in attendance. (Photo by Koichiro Yoshida)
There are few photographs left today that show what Hiroshima looked like immediately after the U.S. bomber Enola Gay dropped its nuclear payload on the city on Aug. 6, 1945.
Of the pictures taken that day to graphically record the horrendous fate met by Hiroshima's citizens, only five film negatives still survive.
They are all the works of Yoshito Matsushige (1913-2005), a photographer with the local daily newspaper The Chugoku Shimbun.
Matsushige, who was 32 at the time, lived 2.8 kilometers from ground zero. Blown off his feet by the nuclear blast and bleeding from shards of broken window panes, he grabbed his camera and headed to the city.
A toddler clung to its mother who could not move. A woman kept shouting her child's name.
Faced with hordes of people with burnt skin and hair, Matsushige hesitated to release the shutter.
'Please forgive me,' he murmured in his heart as he steeled himself to do his job.
The results are five black-and-white photographs that can be seen today.
The silent witnesses show us a perspective that is decisively lacking from any aerial photo of the mushroom cloud taken from above.
Matsushige's photos embody the 'suffering Hiroshima' its citizens gazed up at from under the mushroom cloud, not the Hiroshima as seen from the sky by the people who dropped the bomb.
Some people may wonder about the scarcity of photos that remain. But far too many lives were wiped out by the bomb. The Chugoku Shimbun lost one-third of its workers—or 114 people.
After World War II, the military incinerated many pictures, the disposal of some was regulated by the General Headquarters for the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (GHQ).
At the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, an exhibition of rare, valuable photos opened on May 31.
Titled 'Hiroshima 1945: Special Exhibition 80 Years after Atomic Bombing,' it highlights these weighty words of one of the photographers: 'As a record, may our photographs remain final forever.'
—The Asahi Shimbun, June 3
* * *
Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Mainichi
3 hours ago
- The Mainichi
Hitachi holds memorial for workers killed in WWII bombing to mark 80 yrs since war's end
HITACHI, Ibaraki -- Industrial giant Hitachi Ltd.'s factory here held a memorial service on June 10 for workers who lost their lives during air raids in the final stages of World War II. Marking the 80th anniversary of the end of the war this year, the firm invited surviving family members to a large-scale ceremony for the first time in about three decades. Hitachi President Toshiaki Tokunaga and other company executives also attended the memorial. On the morning of June 10, 1945, more than 100 U.S. B-29 bombers flew over Hitachi. Over 500 one-ton bombs were dropped on the company's coastal factory -- a major military production facility at the time -- killing 634 employees who were either caught up in the bombing or buried alive in collapsed air raid shelters. The attacks continued into July, when naval bombardments and incendiary bomb raids took many additional lives. Every year, the production site observes June 10 as "war damage day," holding a moment of silence throughout the plant starting at exactly 8:51 a.m., the time when the air raid began. The facility's executives also regularly pay their respects at the "martyrs' monument," erected on the site of an air raid shelter. This year, the firm additionally organized a major memorial event at a hotel in Hitachi, establishing a special altar for the victims. About 200 people, including families of the deceased and company personnel, offered prayers amid Buddhist chanting. In an address at the event, Tokunaga reflected, "I myself was born and raised in Hitachi, and since childhood have often encountered records and remnants of wartime destruction that happened in this city." He continued, "Even now, wars still relentlessly break out around the world. But we will continue to pause and remember the precious sacrifices of those we've lost, commit to sharing their stories with future generations, and renew our resolve to contribute toward the peaceful development of the world." Katsumi Yashiro, 89, vice chairman of the Hitachi City bereaved families association, lost his father Michio -- then head of the Ose electrical manufacturing section -- in the bombings. Yashiro said Michio was buried alive when an air raid shelter collapsed and was found dead several days later. "My father's steel helmet was found covered in dirt. I imagine he was desperately digging to try to escape and survive," he said. "Every year I've seen news reports showing current employees paying silent tribute to the fallen workers at the memorial ceremony, and each time I'm moved to tears. I would deeply appreciate it if the company continues passing down the memory to future generations." (Japanese original by Takahiro Tauchi, Hitachi Local Bureau)
Kyodo News
a day ago
- Kyodo News
4 Japan SDF members hurt in blast near U.S. Kadena Air Base
KYODO NEWS - 13 hours ago - 21:34 | All, Japan Four Japan Ground Self-Defense Force members were slightly injured in an explosion on Monday while handling an unexploded bomb at a depot near the U.S. military's Kadena Air Base in the southern Japanese prefecture of Okinawa, local and Defense Ministry officials said. The ministry officials said the explosion occurred around 11:20 a.m. at a GSDF storage facility for unexploded bombs in Kadena Ammunition Storage Area near the base. The four members from the 101st explosive ordnance disposal unit, which defuses bombs left over from World War II, were removing rust and mud from an unexploded bomb in preparation for disposal. They suffered non-life-threatening injuries such as burns, in the first such incident experienced by the unit during their work. No evacuation order was issued for nearby residents. The U.S. Air Force and Marine Corps are in charge of the ammunition storage area, covering about 26 square kilometers as of March 2024. According to local authorities, the depot was set up by the prefecture in the storage area for the GSDF to engage in disposal of unexploded bombs. "It is crucial to take measures as many unexploded bombs are believed to be still buried in Okinawa. We will conduct disposal steadily," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said at a press conference. The Self-Defense Forces carried out 1,852 disposal operations for unexploded bombs, dealing with a total of about 35 tons nationwide in fiscal 2023, including 441 operations involving about 19.7 tons in Okinawa, equivalent to about 57 percent of the total. Okinawa remains home to the bulk of U.S. military facilities in Japan even after its 1972 reversion from U.S. control following Japan's defeat in World War II.
The Mainichi
a day ago
- The Mainichi
A-bomb trees carrying on aging survivors' legacy as silent witnesses
HIROSHIMA (Kyodo) -- Looking at the leafy weeping willow standing on the banks of a serene river in Hiroshima, one would never guess it endured the blast of the U.S. atomic attack on the city almost 80 years ago in the closing days of World War II. At around 370 meters from the explosion on Aug. 6, 1945, the willow is recognized by the city government as the closest surviving tree to the hypocenter. Like many other trees, it was reduced to little more than a charred stump or bare roots at the time but demonstrated a remarkable will for life by regrowing. As atomic bomb survivors age and fewer are able to share their experiences, increasing attention has turned to these surviving trees as silent witnesses. For some, the trees may also offer a more approachable way to engage with Hiroshima's painful past. "When people talk about the atomic bombing, it often comes across as very harsh and raw -- it's a powerful and direct subject. Sometimes those stories are necessary, too. But when we use trees as a kind of buffer in the conversation, the message comes across more gently and softly," said Chikara Horiguchi, the 80-year-old master gardener of so-called atomic-bombed trees in Hiroshima. Horiguchi, a native of Miyazaki Prefecture in southwestern Japan, became Hiroshima Prefecture's first certified arborist in 1992. While he initially hoped to work with private gardens, he realized that overseeing greenery in the city is itself an act of advocating for peace. Currently, around 160 trees standing within 2 kilometers of ground zero are registered by the Hiroshima city government as remaining "survivors" of the blast, based on the testimonies of residents and on-site investigations. Demonstrating the impact of the weapons of mass destruction, a study conducted more than a decade ago found that the vast majority of single-trunk trees leant toward the hypocenter due to slower growth on the more exposed side. In some cases, the trees have served as a beacon of hope for people who experienced the tragedy. Chinese parasol trees, now taking root in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, became symbolic of survival following the testimony of Suzuko Numata, who lost her left leg in the wake of the blast and her fiance in the war. Numata, who died in 2011 at the age of 87, had devoted herself to telling visitors of how the tree had given her the will to continue living after seeing it bud again following the bombing. At that time, it was located in the courtyard of the Hiroshima post and telecommunications bureau where she worked. The "aogiri" tree, as the species is named in Japanese, was transplanted to the memorial park in 1973 from its original location 1.3 km away from the hypocenter, and became the catalyst for distributing seeds and saplings throughout the city and abroad. Efforts to spread the trees' message of peace beyond Japan have continued for over a decade under a global volunteer initiative called Green Legacy Hiroshima, which is backed by entities including a U.N. training arm in support of sustainable development goals. "I think no other living thing can convey some of the spirit of the hibaku-jumoku," said Nassrine Azimi, a co-founder of the initiative who formerly served as the first director of the Hiroshima office of U.N. Institute for Training and Research, referring to the Japanese word meaning "atomic-bombed trees." "You send a seed, you put it in a package, off it goes, and then six months later we get photos from the world," she said during a recent interview in Hiroshima. Green Legacy Hiroshima has delivered seeds of such trees to around 140 locations in over 40 countries while working with partners around the world, including an anti-nuclear weapons group in Oregon launched by Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor Hideko Tamura-Snider. The 91-year-old recalled the challenges when trying to get the seed-planting project started in the northwestern U.S. state of Oregon, where she lives, noting during an online interview that "nobody was interested" at first. Thanks to her perseverance, however, there are now over 55 second-generation atomic-bombed trees planted in Oregon -- reportedly the densest population outside Japan. Tamura-Snider was just 11 years old on the day of the atomic bombing, which took the life of her mother. She moved to the United States after high school where she earned various degrees and served as a clinical social worker. Drawn into advocating peace and nuclear non-proliferation, she founded One Sunny Day Initiatives in 2007 as part of efforts to serve as a bridge between Japanese and Americans, who fought a bitter war after Japan's surprise assault on Pearl Harbor in 1941, resulting in the world's first nuclear attack. "Americans carry wounds from Pearl Harbor, and Japanese carry wounds from everything, from the war...I wanted the Americans and the Japanese to get to know each other in such a way, not as a visitor from a foreign country, but a human being," said Tamura-Snider, who has also spoken at universities and events in the United States about her wartime experience. Collaborating with Green Legacy Hiroshima since 2017 to plant seeds of peace, she said her love for trees goes back to childhood, when her grandfather, who headed a multinational corporation, had a "huge, huge garden that was like a paradise in spring." To mark the 80th anniversary of the bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki this year, Green Legacy Hiroshima spearheaded a planting of two saplings from Hiroshima at the U.N. headquarters in New York in May, with plans to also conduct a similar planting at the former Japanese internment camp in Manzanar in California in September. "Until recently, most of Hiroshima's efforts have been verbal or human-centered, and I think it's very nice to bring a new dimension," said Azimi. Drawing renewed attention to the surviving greenery, the Hiroshima city government has launched a new project this year to use pruned branches of atomic-bombed trees to make products that convey peace, accepting proposals from interested individuals and organizations. Beyond caring for atomic-bombed trees in Hiroshima and educating visitors to the city through tours, Horiguchi has traveled across the world, including the U.N. office at Geneva, to advocate for peace through their enduring legacy. "Every country has its own unique relationship between trees and people, but I get the sense that there's always some emotional closeness. I believe that connection is universal," said Horiguchi. "I hope people can feel, through trees, that peace is important, and that nuclear weapons are wrong." (By Donican Lam)
