Latest news with #HiroshimaPeaceMemorialMuseum
Yomiuri Shimbun
7 days ago
- General
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Nobel Committee Chairman Visits Hiroshima, Japan, for the First Time; Jorgen Watne Frydnes Tours Peace Memorial Museum, Meets Survivors
Observing the passage of 80 years since atomic bombs were dropped on Japan, Jorgen Watne Frydnes, 40, Chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which selects the Nobel Peace Prize, made his first visit to the Peace Memorial Park in Naka Ward, Hiroshima, on Tuesday. After touring Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, he placed flowers at the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims and met with A-bomb survivors. He said he was deeply impressed by the survivors' testimonies and the exhibits at the museum. Last October, the Oslo-based committee selected Nihon Hidankyo (the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations) as the winner of the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize. Frydnes spent about an hour at the museum on Tuesday, gazing intently at exhibits like a panoramic display recreating the moment of the atomic bombing. In the museum guest book, he wrote in English, 'we pay tribute to all who were lost, to all survivors — and to all those who turned pain into hope, and memory into a force for peace.' Afterward, he met with about 20 people, including Hidankyo representative Toshiyuki Mimaki, 83, who attended the award ceremony in Oslo last December, and children of A-bomb survivors and high school students. Frydnes said that he was encouraged by the opportunity to meet with those who are teaching new generations about the reality of the atomic bombings. 'We are aiming for a world without nuclear weapons, and I hope that you will convey this message to the world from Norway as well,' said Mimaki. Frydnes told the press that he hopes the world will once again listen to the voices of the A-bomb survivors saying that nuclear weapons must never be used again.
Yomiuri Shimbun
20-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yomiuri Shimbun
2025 Expo Osaka: Digitally Re-Created Hiroshima Artifacts Displayed at Expo; Artists' Sculptures Link Past Tragedy to Vision for Future
Digitally crafted re-creations of items that belonged to victims of the Hiroshima atomic bombing are on display at the 2025 Osaka–Kansai Expo. A pocket watch 30 centimeters wide, 30 centimeters deep and 60 centimeters high, and a fountain pen 20 centimeters wide, 20 centimeters deep and 60 centimeters high, were created by New York–based artist Cannon Hersey, 48, and Tokyo-based artist Akira Fujimoto, 49. Hersey is the grandson of Pulitzer Prize-winning author John Hersey, whose 1946 book 'Hiroshima' revealed the devastation to the and Fujimoto believe that the Expo's vision of the future cannot be separated from the past, and they hope the installation will help keep memories of the bombing alive. Since 2019, the pair have produced artwork using 3-D data from artifacts held by the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Pasona Group Inc. proposed a new commission last autumn for its pavilion at the Expo, and Hersey accepted, saying it would be meaningful to exhibit at an event visited by so many people. The artifacts were photographed at high resolution early this year, and 3D data were used in a Toyama Prefecture studio to craft the sculptures. Aluminum casts made from 3D-printed molds were hand-polished to reproduce fine details, and each piece was enlarged for easier pocket watch's hands are frozen at 8:15 a.m. — the moment the bomb was dropped — and its dial is melted inward. The fountain pen, discovered in Noboricho near the hypocenter, has a snapped nib, vividly conveying the force of the blast. Fujimoto chose the pocket watch because 'the atomic bombing can be said to have stopped the flow of time; by seeing the hands fixed at 8:15, people can sense the time that was lost.' Hersey selected the fountain pen as a symbol capable of influencing society. The artists visited the Pasona pavilion for the first time on Tuesday. Hersey remarked that without understanding the past, a better future cannot be created. 'Visitors from all over the world will come to the Expo,' said Yoshifumi Ishida, director of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. 'These highly precise works give people a meaningful opportunity to consider and empathize with the damage caused by the atomic bomb.' After the Expo ends in October, the sculptures will be exhibited in Hiroshima City. The Pasona pavilion — whose displays also include life-science innovations such as sheet-shaped cardiac muscle grown from iPS cells — accepts advance reservations, though visitors may also enter by lining up on-site.
The Mainichi
14-07-2025
- General
- The Mainichi
Boy, 12, guides foreign visitors to Hiroshima in English, conveys suffering of war
HIROSHIMA -- "We want to convey the message that even when the war has ended, the suffering that remains with people lasts a lifetime," says Shun Sasaki, 12, a sixth-grade student at Hiroshima municipal Gion Elementary School. He is one of the two children to read out this year's Children's Commitment to Peace on the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on Aug. 6. His great-grandmother was a hibakusha, or A-bomb survivor, and he has worked as a volunteer guide, speaking fluently in English to tourists visiting Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in the city's Naka Ward. In early July, as the harsh sun beat down on Peace Memorial Park, Shun approached a foreign family and greeted them with a "Hello" and began guiding them. Holding materials in one hand and gazing toward the Atomic Bomb Dome, he informed them that the city had decided to preserve the building to ensure that the tragedy of the atomic bombing is never repeated. The family, who had initially appeared confused, began to listen intently. When a foreign man tried to hand Shun 1,000 yen (about $6.80) to thank him, he responded, "Time is money" and declined to take it. More people began to gather, and before long a large circle of listeners had formed. Shun finished his guiding by handing out handmade paper cranes and urged people to tell their friends what they had heard. Shun began listening to infant-oriented English educational materials "as play tools" when he was just 7 months old, and by the age of 4 he had gotten to the stage where he was able to convey his thoughts in English. The English materials were free samples that his mother Mio, 40, had gotten from a magazine. He began to take an interest in Peace Memorial Park when he was in his first year of elementary school. He looked at the Atomic Bomb Dome and wondered, "Why do they keep it when it's so dilapidated? They should tear it down and build something new." When he asked his mother about it, she said, "Let's look it up together," and they got information online and at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, learning about the history of the bombing and reconstruction. When Shun saw foreigners at places he visited, he would approach them without shyness, and actively talk to them. But one time after he told a foreign tourist standing in front of the Atomic Bomb Dome about the history of the structure, he was unable to answer a question, which left him frustrated. With further study, his knowledge increased, and his mother suggested, "Why don't you be a guide at Peace Memorial Park?" He made his debut on Aug. 6, 2021, the 76th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing. He was in his second year of elementary school at the time. Now, twice a month, he guides foreign tourists at seven locations within the park, including the Atomic Bomb Dome and the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims. To engage visitors, he incorporates quizzes and recommends local "okonomiyaki" pancake restaurants. During his tours, Shun shares the experience of his great-grandmother Yuriko, an A-bomb survivor, through photographs. Yuriko was 12 years old at the time and was at her home 1.5 kilometers from the hypocenter when the bomb exploded. She was trapped under the rubble of the home, but was rescued by her father, and together they fled to a place in what is today known as the Itsukaichi-cho district of Hiroshima's Saeki Ward, about 10 kilometers away. Yuriko contracted breast cancer at the age of 38 and bowel cancer at the age of 60, and passed away at the age of 69. Her name is said to be included in the register of A-bomb victims. Shun learned about Yuriko's experience as a survivor of the bombing from his grandfather after starting to guide. "I never thought there'd be a hibakusha in my family. It was a shock to know someone close to me experienced the tragedy," he said. "At the same time, he felt a growing responsibility, thinking, "Now that I know, I must share it." This was also the first time Shun's parents learned about Yuriko's past. In March this year, Shun encountered a tourist who remains in his memory. It was an American man aged around 40. After Shun guided him, the man revealed he had thought that nuclear weapons could prevent war, but hearing Shun changed his mind and he agreed that nuclear weapons should be abolished. A Dutch man standing nearby, meanwhile, said he had learned that nuclear weapons had ended the war but he now felt this was wrong. Shun says, "I learned that when I'm guiding, people's hearts can be moved," and he felt what he was doing was worthwhile. At the same time, he said of the unending wars around the world, "It's really scary. Wars happen because people can't accept differences in other countries' cultures and ways of thinking. Even in daily life I guess it's important to search for the good in other people, not just the bad things." As this year's anniversary of the atomic bombing approaches, Shun was one of two children chosen from 10,465 sixth graders in the city of Hiroshima who wrote opinion essays, to serve as representatives for the Children's Commitment to Peace. "Many people don't know the true nature of the tragedy. Rather than what's right or wrong, I want people to know the facts," Shun says. Through the pledge, he hopes to convey his message to the world. (Japanese original by Takehiko Onishi, Osaka Photo and Video Department)
Gulf Today
07-07-2025
- General
- Gulf Today
Hiroshima teens relay atom bomb horror with art
Trudging through the ruins of Hiroshima after the US atom bombing four days before in 1945, five-year-old Masaki Hironaka clutched his mother's hand and silently vowed to protect her. It's one of many scenes from 80 years ago this August still etched in the octogenarian's memory — and now depicted vividly by Japanese teenagers on canvas. For almost 20 years, Motomachi High School in Hiroshima has tasked its art students with interviewing hibakusha — atom bomb survivors — and turning their harrowing testimonies into paintings. Showcased recently by the school ahead of the August 6 anniversary were 15 new artworks, including of scorched soldiers writhing in pain, and a horror-stricken girl surrounded by an inferno. 'I think the painting very accurately captures my feelings at the time,' Hironaka said, nodding with satisfaction at one such piece that immortalised an 'unforgettable page of my life'. 'It's authentic, and very well drawn.' Schoolgirl Hana Takasago's evocative art shows a young Hironaka looking up at his mother as they plod through what remains of Hiroshima on August 10, 1945, with fires still lingering. A few days before, his father had come home heavily burned by the blast and asked Hironaka to yank out a glass shard stuck deep into his flesh. He died soon afterwards. The widowed mother, clasping Hironaka's tiny hand and with his younger sister strapped on her back, is depicted gazing down and mumbling to him about her fears. 'In that moment, I was gripped by the strong determination to help and support her, young as I was. That's the feeling captured here,' said Hironaka. The 'Little Boy' bomb dropped on Hiroshima killed around 140,000 people, including many who died from radiation. Motomachi High is now an integral part of what was originally the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum's initiative, which has over the years birthed more than 200 artworks. The idea is to keep memories of the bombing relevant for younger generations. In the last eight months or so, witnesses including Hironaka sat down with students every few weeks to review their works in progress, sometimes requesting a drastic re-do. 'I originally had Mr. Hironaka and his mother face straight ahead, but he told me that their looking ahead doesn't really convey her inner struggle at the time,' Takasago, 17, told AFP. 'Since I've seen none of these described scenes myself, I was never confident that my depictions were accurate,' she said in the school's cluttered art room. The same went for Yumeko Onoue, 16, whose art depicts pumpkins that Hironaka remembers were covered in soot from radioactive 'black rain'. Having initially drawn the fruit's leaves to face upward with vitality, she 'completely re-drew them to wilt,' to match Hironaka's memory. 'While photos from that era were mostly black and white, paintings can add colour and emphasise key elements, making them, I think, ideal for expressing intended messages,' Onoue said. Many of these teens relied on their imagination and perused historical documents. Immersing themselves in the carnage took a toll on some such as Mei Honda, 18, who described the 'emotionally draining' task of depicting charred skin and flesh dangling from people's arms. Based on what one hibakusha witnessed, her painting showed one such woman gulping water. 'I initially depicted her arms pressed against her torso, but skin contact would have hurt her badly because of the burns,' Honda said. Recent data showed that the number of survivors from the bombings is now below 100,000, with the average age 86 years old. 'We are probably the last generation to have the opportunity to listen face-to-face to the experiences of hibakusha,' Aoi Fukumoto, a 19-year-old Motomachi High alumna, told AFP. This sense of crisis was instilled by the project in other participants this year — including Takasago. 'Before I embarked on this project, what the atomic bomb did had always felt distant to me even as a Hiroshima native,' she said. Agence France-Presse
Malaysian Reserve
06-07-2025
- General
- Malaysian Reserve
Hiroshima teens relay atom bomb horror with art
HIROSHIMA – Trudging through the ruins of Hiroshima after the US atom bombing four days before in 1945, five-year-old Masaki Hironaka clutched his mother's hand and silently vowed to protect her. It's one of many scenes from 80 years ago this August still etched in the octogenarian's memory — and now depicted vividly by Japanese teenagers on canvas. For almost 20 years, Motomachi High School in Hiroshima has tasked its art students with interviewing hibakusha — atom bomb survivors — and turning their harrowing testimonies into paintings. Showcased recently by the school ahead of the August 6 anniversary were 15 new artworks, including of scorched soldiers writhing in pain, and a horror-stricken girl surrounded by an inferno. 'I think the painting very accurately captures my feelings at the time,' Hironaka told AFP, nodding with satisfaction at one such piece that immortalised an 'unforgettable page of my life'. 'It's authentic, and very well drawn.' Schoolgirl Hana Takasago's evocative art shows a young Masaki Hironaka (pictured) looking up at his mother as they plod through what remains of Hiroshima on August 10, 1945 (AFP) Schoolgirl Hana Takasago's evocative art shows a young Hironaka looking up at his mother as they plod through what remains of Hiroshima on August 10, 1945, with fires still lingering. A few days before, his father had come home heavily burned by the blast and asked Hironaka to yank out a glass shard stuck deep into his flesh. He died soon afterwards. The widowed mother, clasping Hironaka's tiny hand and with his younger sister strapped on her back, is depicted gazing down and mumbling to him about her fears. 'In that moment, I was gripped by the strong determination to help and support her, young as I was. That's the feeling captured here,' said Hironaka. The 'Little Boy' bomb dropped on Hiroshima killed around 140,000 people, including many who died from radiation. Motomachi High is now an integral part of what was originally the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum's initiative, which has over the years birthed more than 200 artworks. The idea is to keep memories of the bombing relevant for younger generations. In the last eight months or so, witnesses including Hironaka sat down with students every few weeks to review their works in progress, sometimes requesting a drastic re-do. Motomachi High School is now an integral part of what was originally the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum's initiative, which has over the years birthed more than 200 artworks (AFP) 'I originally had Mr. Hironaka and his mother face straight ahead, but he told me that their looking ahead doesn't really convey her inner struggle at the time,' Takasago, 17, told AFP. 'Since I've seen none of these described scenes myself, I was never confident that my depictions were accurate,' she said in the school's cluttered art room. The same went for Yumeko Onoue, 16, whose art depicts pumpkins that Hironaka remembers were covered in soot from radioactive 'black rain'. Having initially drawn the fruit's leaves to face upward with vitality, she 'completely re-drew them to wilt,' to match Hironaka's memory. 'While photos from that era were mostly black and white, paintings can add colour and emphasise key elements, making them, I think, ideal for expressing intended messages,' Onoue said. Many of these teens relied on their imagination and perused historical documents. Immersing themselves in the carnage took a toll on some such as Mei Honda, 18, who described the 'emotionally draining' task of depicting charred skin and flesh dangling from people's arms. Based on what one hibakusha witnessed, her painting showed one such woman gulping water. 'I initially depicted her arms pressed against her torso, but skin contact would have hurt her badly because of the burns,' Honda said. Recent data showed that the number of survivors from the Hiroshima bombings is now below 100,000, with the average age 86 years old (AFP) Recent data showed that the number of survivors from the bombings is now below 100,000, with the average age 86 years old. 'We are probably the last generation to have the opportunity to listen face-to-face to the experiences of hibakusha,' Aoi Fukumoto, a 19-year-old Motomachi High alumna, told AFP. This sense of crisis was instilled by the project in other participants this year — including Takasago. 'Before I embarked on this project, what the atomic bomb did had always felt distant to me even as a Hiroshima native,' she said. But that changed after she lived vicariously through Hironaka's story. 'I can no longer remain a bystander,' she said. –AFP
