President Obama in Hiroshima and other Thoughts of the Week
I don't know how this has been taken up in other countries - but, this week, President Obama visited Hiroshima as the first in-office President of the USA to do so in the 71 years since the nuclear bombing. He visited the memorial museum which is so important to really see the true horror of nuclear bombs, and then went to the Peace Memorial Park and made a speech about a future world without war and without nuclear weapons. The Japanese media pointed out tonight that despite such words, Obama still carries around the black case in which is contained the means to start a nuclear war in minutes. The victims that attended the ceremony, however, were overwhelmed with their appreciation for Obama even coming to Hiroshima and for his kind words and hugs. They had been begging him to come since his inauguration and considering his Nobel Peace prize I think it was his duty to come I tear up when I see the visuals on TV.
A news show just pointed out again that there were more deaths in the great bombing of Tokyo than in the nuclear bombing in Hiroshima. Both were toward innocent citizens as well - and although the US army insisted that they "thought" there were military factories in these areas, it is quite clear that they knew otherwise. But lets not go into that right now. Such is war. The point is of course the amount of damage from one single bomb as opposed to the thousands of the Tokyo bombing, and also the radiation which caused a lot more damage after the attack. How much devastation one nuclear bomb can cause, not just on the location but on the world as a whole. The Japanese victims are more interested in showing the importance of not letting such devastation happen again - ANYWHERE. EVER. - so Obama's speech was quite enough.
Writing of such bombings of civilian centers reminds me that I went to the Hachioji Local Resource Museum for the first time this week. All the elementary kids have to go as part of their school education so Alex and Julian and even hubby had gone when he was in school. Our new classroom is right across the street from it so hubby and I thought, after a rather stuffing lunch, that it would be nice to walk around the facility for a while since it is free.
While we were walking around looking at various artifacts from various ages of history, a bunch of retired folks came in who seemed to be on a tour of historical sites and asked for someone to give them a tour of the museum. So we tagged along and listened to the explanation as well :D
Hachioji, a city that is part of the Greater Tokyo Metropolitan Area and also where we live, has been known to be populated since the Jomon period(from between 14,500 and 12,000 BC to about 300 BC) but has only been known as Hachioji since the Edo period. Before the WW, it was extremely modern, possibly because of it's ties with foreign influence and with the wealth of its business in silk and other merchandise. They have their very own silk road<3 In 1930s, they already had a tram in the city and a train running through it, which had the exact same names of stations as it does now! 1930s is around the time of my husband's mother being born in downtown Tokyo. This amazed me.
The museum personnel explained ruefully that unfortunately, Hachioji never recovered from the bombing during the War which destroyed the city (and also happened to kill many children who were sent to Hachioji to escape the bombings of downtown Tokyo). It never became the modern city it once was, and settled into a strange "proud country bumpkin" atmosphere. The town in Hachioji where we live is a bit different/unique) in that there are many people who moved from other parts of Tokyo for it's natural environment as a good place to raise kids, and as far as social/educational consciousness is concerned, is probably the most modern area of Hachioji. I can really tell the difference when I go to different parts of Hachioji.
In another section of the museum they had a showcase on the Tokyo Olympics of 1964. Hubby was born in 1955 and was 9 when the cycling races were held in Hachioji. He has fond memories of going to the races and waving his little Japanese flag as the racers went by.
We got other interesting historical explanations - some about how the lords of the castles in Hachioji protected their castles during the Sengoku or Waring Tribes age, the fighting style that was developed here in Hachioji and is well-known now as a sword fighting style, etc. And of course this was all interesting, but I'm not very good with remembering names and events in Japanese history so to me, imagining what Hachioji had been like when Hubby's mom was young (and seeing evidence of history in the present day train line, temples etc.), as well as seeing posters and flags and other paraphernalia that Hubby would have seen and used when he experienced the Olympics was the most interesting part of it.
I've heard so many stories from his mom about her childhood before the war as a child of a wealthy merchant selling western goods and their own Worcestershire sauce brand in downtown Tokyo, how schooling changed during the War and she could not receive the education she would have otherwise because everything became geared to supporting the war effort, how her younger sister was sent to the country to avoid the dangers of bombing (luckily not to Hachioji), how her home was destroyed in the Great Tokyo Bombing and her father gave up on making his sauce and pretty much everything else etc. I love hearing about personal experiences - it just makes history so much more personal, and made my walk through the museum that much more meaningful as well.
Here are some pictures from the museum, which gave permission to take pictures in these outer rooms. There is more interesting stuff upstairs and in the inner rooms, which we unfortunately could not view that day.
Kuruma-ningyo - puppets for a Japanese puppet play style called Ningyo Jyoruri. These are famous from Hachioji
Making silk from silk worms in the olden days - all third graders in Hachioji bring home a silk worm to take care of until it makes it's cocoon and turns into a moth - I guess to remember Japanese tradition. They have to go and gather some special leaves growing in the area to feed the little caterpillar. Then once the moth is grown, they make little dolls out of the silk cocoons in art class
Picture of what the silk road looks like now on the right - We've walked down a bit of the road here. Also a poster of the silk merchandise I guess.
Hachioji weaving.
Medical documents copied from western medicine texts (English in the middle, Japanese translations around it.)
Art of the Bakumatsu period, Tama sword fighting - it used to be more than just a sword fighting method but the third in line only got certification for the sword part so that's the only part that got carried on.
Hachioji Sen-nin-doshin. Laymen fighters called the Sennin doshin (one thousand men) hired to protect the lord instead of professionals so that the lords around the area would not be threatened into starting a war.
A map of the road into the castle area. It has 90 degree turns to protect the castle from invasion (slows the invading force down aye?)
Yayoi Period artifacts
Jomon artifacts
The Hachioji weaving wheel and clothing
Probably early showa or earlier room deco - there were some old fashioned kids magazines on the little table that kids can look through.
The Olympics poster
Shoes and helmet used in the cycling races
On the left, new textbooks used in schools after the War.
The Hachioji Air Bombing, city destroyed. You can see a big building in the right side of the picture - that is a bank and the same bank is still there in that exact spot - of course, rebuilt.
the trams in the city before the War. Showing how modern and developed the area was.
The map of the trainline that STILL IS TODAY :D Mount Takao on the right - now in the Michelin guide book LOL
A news show just pointed out again that there were more deaths in the great bombing of Tokyo than in the nuclear bombing in Hiroshima. Both were toward innocent citizens as well - and although the US army insisted that they "thought" there were military factories in these areas, it is quite clear that they knew otherwise. But lets not go into that right now. Such is war. The point is of course the amount of damage from one single bomb as opposed to the thousands of the Tokyo bombing, and also the radiation which caused a lot more damage after the attack. How much devastation one nuclear bomb can cause, not just on the location but on the world as a whole. The Japanese victims are more interested in showing the importance of not letting such devastation happen again - ANYWHERE. EVER. - so Obama's speech was quite enough.
Writing of such bombings of civilian centers reminds me that I went to the Hachioji Local Resource Museum for the first time this week. All the elementary kids have to go as part of their school education so Alex and Julian and even hubby had gone when he was in school. Our new classroom is right across the street from it so hubby and I thought, after a rather stuffing lunch, that it would be nice to walk around the facility for a while since it is free.
While we were walking around looking at various artifacts from various ages of history, a bunch of retired folks came in who seemed to be on a tour of historical sites and asked for someone to give them a tour of the museum. So we tagged along and listened to the explanation as well :D
Hachioji, a city that is part of the Greater Tokyo Metropolitan Area and also where we live, has been known to be populated since the Jomon period(from between 14,500 and 12,000 BC to about 300 BC) but has only been known as Hachioji since the Edo period. Before the WW, it was extremely modern, possibly because of it's ties with foreign influence and with the wealth of its business in silk and other merchandise. They have their very own silk road<3 In 1930s, they already had a tram in the city and a train running through it, which had the exact same names of stations as it does now! 1930s is around the time of my husband's mother being born in downtown Tokyo. This amazed me.
The museum personnel explained ruefully that unfortunately, Hachioji never recovered from the bombing during the War which destroyed the city (and also happened to kill many children who were sent to Hachioji to escape the bombings of downtown Tokyo). It never became the modern city it once was, and settled into a strange "proud country bumpkin" atmosphere. The town in Hachioji where we live is a bit different/unique) in that there are many people who moved from other parts of Tokyo for it's natural environment as a good place to raise kids, and as far as social/educational consciousness is concerned, is probably the most modern area of Hachioji. I can really tell the difference when I go to different parts of Hachioji.
In another section of the museum they had a showcase on the Tokyo Olympics of 1964. Hubby was born in 1955 and was 9 when the cycling races were held in Hachioji. He has fond memories of going to the races and waving his little Japanese flag as the racers went by.
We got other interesting historical explanations - some about how the lords of the castles in Hachioji protected their castles during the Sengoku or Waring Tribes age, the fighting style that was developed here in Hachioji and is well-known now as a sword fighting style, etc. And of course this was all interesting, but I'm not very good with remembering names and events in Japanese history so to me, imagining what Hachioji had been like when Hubby's mom was young (and seeing evidence of history in the present day train line, temples etc.), as well as seeing posters and flags and other paraphernalia that Hubby would have seen and used when he experienced the Olympics was the most interesting part of it.
I've heard so many stories from his mom about her childhood before the war as a child of a wealthy merchant selling western goods and their own Worcestershire sauce brand in downtown Tokyo, how schooling changed during the War and she could not receive the education she would have otherwise because everything became geared to supporting the war effort, how her younger sister was sent to the country to avoid the dangers of bombing (luckily not to Hachioji), how her home was destroyed in the Great Tokyo Bombing and her father gave up on making his sauce and pretty much everything else etc. I love hearing about personal experiences - it just makes history so much more personal, and made my walk through the museum that much more meaningful as well.
Here are some pictures from the museum, which gave permission to take pictures in these outer rooms. There is more interesting stuff upstairs and in the inner rooms, which we unfortunately could not view that day.
Kuruma-ningyo - puppets for a Japanese puppet play style called Ningyo Jyoruri. These are famous from Hachioji
Making silk from silk worms in the olden days - all third graders in Hachioji bring home a silk worm to take care of until it makes it's cocoon and turns into a moth - I guess to remember Japanese tradition. They have to go and gather some special leaves growing in the area to feed the little caterpillar. Then once the moth is grown, they make little dolls out of the silk cocoons in art class
Picture of what the silk road looks like now on the right - We've walked down a bit of the road here. Also a poster of the silk merchandise I guess.
Hachioji weaving.
Medical documents copied from western medicine texts (English in the middle, Japanese translations around it.)
Art of the Bakumatsu period, Tama sword fighting - it used to be more than just a sword fighting method but the third in line only got certification for the sword part so that's the only part that got carried on.
Hachioji Sen-nin-doshin. Laymen fighters called the Sennin doshin (one thousand men) hired to protect the lord instead of professionals so that the lords around the area would not be threatened into starting a war.
A map of the road into the castle area. It has 90 degree turns to protect the castle from invasion (slows the invading force down aye?)
Yayoi Period artifacts
Jomon artifacts
The Hachioji weaving wheel and clothing
Probably early showa or earlier room deco - there were some old fashioned kids magazines on the little table that kids can look through.
The Olympics poster
Shoes and helmet used in the cycling races
On the left, new textbooks used in schools after the War.
The Hachioji Air Bombing, city destroyed. You can see a big building in the right side of the picture - that is a bank and the same bank is still there in that exact spot - of course, rebuilt.
the trams in the city before the War. Showing how modern and developed the area was.
The map of the trainline that STILL IS TODAY :D Mount Takao on the right - now in the Michelin guide book LOL