SHARING MEMORIES ABOUT HIROSHIMA

Fern Jacoby
Far Rockaway High School
Queens, New York City

Aim:
Why is it important that we share personal memories and testimonials about Hiroshima?

Introduction:
The following lesson should be taught after the students have studied the background behind the world's first atomic bombing at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The survivors of that horror tell their own stories, including their fierce desire for world peace. Students will read the narratives, a poem, and an e-mail from an American responding to a Hiroshima website in order to better understand what happened on that fateful day and why many people constantly appeal that nuclear weapons are incompatible with human life.

It is interesting to note that not only Japanese people suffered in Hiroshima. Many Koreans living there at the time were killed by the bomb, as well as exchange students from China and other Southeast Asian countries. Ironically, ten American prisoners of war were among the casualties.

The reading material can be used as an entire-class exercise or four groups can present the four selections to the class. Each selection is accompanied by questions leading to a critical analysis of the events of August 6, 1945, as well as to appreciation of the selection's literary value.

Sources:
Eyewitness Testimonies: Appeals from the A-Bomb Survivors. Hiroshima: Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, 1999. Ed. 2.

*** (The reading selections are taken from this book.)

A variety of information is available online at the following website: http://www.coara.or.jp/~ryoji/abomb/

"What Does It Mean to Live in Hiroshima?"
by Akihiro Takahashi

What would you like to forget that you cannot? Why not?

1. What struck you as heroic while reading this account? Would you have acted as Mr. Takahashi did? What might you have done? Why do you think tragedy sometimes brings out the best in people?
2. Why does the saying, "Like meeting the Buddha in Hell" really apply here (p. 93)? Can you remember a time when this saying might have applied to you in a particular situation? Explain.
3. Why does Takahashi believe it was important that he survive (p. 94)?
4. What does he believe Hiroshima represents today (p. 95)? Knowing what you do now, do you agree or disagree with him? Why?
5. What do you believe is the message this account conveys?
6. What would you like to say to Mr. Takahashi?

"What I Want to Say Now"
by Akiko Takakura

1. How does the author use colors to express what August 6, 1945 meant to her (e.g., red, brown, yellow, black, blue)?
2. Why does she say, "I'm going to live. I've got to live"? What does this statement say about Ms. Takakura?
3. Read Akiko Takakura's poem.
a. How does the poem begin? What impressions about the day does it convey?
b. Look at the 2nd and 3rd verses. How does the poetess show the horror of that day?
c. What has the experience of being in Hiroshima on August 6th done to Ms. Takakura?
4. Which piece of writing did you find more powerful - the narrative or the poem? Why?

E-mail from Brian S. Brumfield
(http://www.coara.or.jp/~ryoji/abomb/)

1. Why do you think Mr. Brumfield was compelled to write this e-mail to the web site?
2. Why is the story of the U.S.S. Indianapolis such an ironic one?
3. What is the real message of this e-mail?
4. Write an e-mail in reply to Mr. Brumfield's e-mail.

"Born and Bred in Hiroshima"
by Yuki Furushou

1. How did Yuki feel growing up in Hiroshima, especially on August 6th?
2. Why did she feel differently once she moved to Oita?
3. Why was it difficult to speak about Hiroshima to her friends?
4. Why does she say that the message of Hiroshima often seems to get lost, especially in Hiroshima itself?
5. Look at the final paragraph. How do you feel about her mission? Would you change it in any way? Why or why not?

*** Note: This account is written by a native Japanese speaker. Her written English appears just as it was submitted to the website.

Summary Questions
1. You are planning your first time trip to Japan. Would you include Hiroshima as part of your itinerary? Why or why not?
2. You are in Hiroshima visiting the Peace Museum and Peace Park (see photographs below). You strike up a conversation with a Japanese teenager. What might you say to one another regarding your feelings about Hiroshima, the memorial, and the fact that your countries were once enemies?
3. Write an e-mail to the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation website (http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/peacesite/peaceculture/). Be very honest in expressing your feelings about Hiroshima, nuclear war, or war in general.
4. Do you think the citizens of Hiroshima should have built the memorial and the museum? Why or why not?

Application:
1. Re-read Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr. Why do you think this simple children's story has become so beloved? What is its message to you?
2. Examine the drawings in Unforgettable Fire (see below). Why do you think there was such an overwhelming response when the Japan Broadcasting Company asked survivors to share their memories? How did these drawings make you feel? Do you think these drawings are more powerful than photographs of this event? Why or why not?

Photographs:
Hiroshima Peace Museum 1, Hiroshima Peace Museum 2, Hiroshima Peace Park , Unforgettable Fire 1 , Unforgettable Fire 2