There are 2 stones here about 6 metres apart and apparently if you can make it from one stone to the other with your eyes closed, it is a sign that you will be fortunate in love. Those who need assistance in making the crossing will require an intermediary to help them find their mate. Somehow, I managed to make it all the way across (unlike some people we saw!).
When we arrived in Hiroshima, there were some TV people on the platform waiting for us (kindof weird hey?). They followed us around for the rest of the day but because I couldn't put up with being filmed awkwardly as I exited the station, I decided to film them back:
.. Lets see how they like that. Anyways we went to the museum and saw the place where people dedicate the peace cranes:
There were also thousands of people doing some kind of march while we were there:
And here is where the ceremonies will be later this week:
Our seminars today went well. One of my peace family members (having served in the army and having a POW grandfather) expressed his gratitude to our third speaker who discussed the dozen or so allied POWs who were hit by the hiroshima bomb. We also learned about the States and nuclear nonproliferation which might be happening less than people think and the role of the Korean forced labor hibakusha after the war.
Going to the museums, listening to the hibakusha, participating in the discussions, going to seminars sometimes feels like too much for me to think about and handle. I've been thinking though that even though this is the case, its really important to be listening and understanding from the hibakusha who will no longer be with us shortly.
today's winner is rachel from vancouver (yay!). You'll be contacted soon about the prize. In case people stuck thinking of things to comment about... let me know your opinions on the justification of the dropping of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs! I think that there are bits left out (or emphasized) depending on where you study, which makes collaboration with a number of different countries represented useful!
Wow, huge debate-worthy topic. I'm not well read on the issue, but my two cents is that it's nearly impossible to justify the deaths of that many people with any sigular action such as the dropping of a bomb.
ReplyDeleteOn a lighter note, looks like your trip is going well and you're learning a lot. Can't wait to have you home and chat about all the interesting things you've learned and seen!
Hello!
ReplyDeleteWe're mostly taught in the US that they at least thought they were justified in dropping the atomic bombs; they needed to finish the war and that was the quickest way to convince the Japanese to surrender. However, this year in IB History the teacher expanded on the topic, and according to him, I think, a part of it was misunderstanding - when asked to surrender the Japanese said something like they were considering it, but it was translated as a no, causing the Americans to act and drop the bombs instead of wait and negotiate more. Also, the Americans wanted to have the war finish before the Soviet Union could really become involved and take over much land (a rather selfish reason).
I learned that an invasion of Japan would be very costly in lives on both sides, so that is a valid reason as to why they perhaps thought of the atomic bomb as a potentially less horrible option. However, in class it was also said that the main remaining reason the Japanese wouldn't surrender was that they required their Emperor to continue being Emperor as a condition to surrendering - which later the US did allow- , so the Americans changed their mind, or seemed to, which seems somewhat dishonest or something similar.
It seems you are learning lots and having an interesting an full time on your trip, Sydney. This blog is nice and informative, and I hope it's fun writing it. Have a good time on the rest of your trip!
It's an incredibly complicated topic, even for those who have read histories and accounts of World War II. I'm with Matt in saying that there's virtually nothing which could truly justify killing so many *civilians*. If they're soldiers who are actually attacking you, I suppose self-defense isn't a bad argument. :)
ReplyDeleteRetribution is defined as being a punishment that is considered to be morally just and fully deserved. Without being entirely educated on the subject, I'm still sure the American government at the time considered the bombings retribution for Pearl Harbor (which I think we'll agree was also a rather unfortunate act).
But this is also worthy of discussion in another context: capital punishment. Should the government be empowered to take a life in retribution for murder or other serious crimes? I have my doubts, I'm not a hundred percent certain...but I think my answer would be no.
Jesus taught us to love our enemies, even though justice is enacted on people who do wrong. But we humans have a funny way about us: as individuals it's possible, though sometimes difficult, to control ourselves when we feel these strong emotions like hate or love; but put us in a mob and it's nearly impossible to do so. It's hard enough for us to love one person who's hurt us. How much harder it is then for an entire nation to do so towards another.
P.S. Sydney, have you ever heard of/read George Weller? He was an American journalist during WW2 and claimed to be the first Westerner allowed into Nagasaki after the bombing. He wrote reports but they were censored by the US military, and published only recently. I haven't read them, but I was wondering if you had.
@ matt.. yes you're right.. its likely that i will have enough fuel after this trip for many conversations!
ReplyDelete@ amanda: I think its really cool your IB teacher has been doing that! A lot of what you said is the same as many things the speakers have been presenting in the last couple of days. I was talking with a Chinese student today and its amazing how different the textbooks in different countries are. I think for a lot of my schooling I didn't realize how biased some of our books can be! If you don't mind, I would like to share your learning experience with some of my Japanese friends. They would be highly interested in hearing about your class.
@ Steven: In the case of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, civilians composed the vast majority of the casualties. We've been talking a little bit about retribution on the part of the US in our trip. If a nuclear war were to break out however, the general feeling of our tour participants is that with weapons such as this, neither side can really win.
As for capital punishment, I'm also not entirely sure. I'm struggling to think of a situation where it would be justified to take a life of an individual-- something interesting to think about: would the crew of the Enola Gay (that dropped the hiroshima bomb) be tried as war criminals in the event of the loss of WWII?
No actually I haven't read his reports. The other canadian student on this trip is working on her thesis with Nagasaki and censorship. One of the reasons she is thinking that censorship was so high in Nagasaki was because of the huge christian presence there. In Hiroshima, there is a structure near the hypocentre called the atom bomb dome which serves as a reminder of the extreme damage done to the city. Though there was a similar movement to preserve a similar building in Nagasaki, it seems as though this initiative was halted. She will be doing more research into this as there is a chance she thinks that this perhaps has something to do with this building, the Urakami Cathedral, being the largest church East Asia at the time of its construction.
Mm, I think I could have been a little clearer. When I wrote my first paragraph I was trying to agree with Matt while also narrowing my own statement of it down to civilians specifically. The soldiers-attacking-you sentence wasn't referring to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but to an abstract concept. In that scenario, if people are trying to kill you and won't stop no matter what, I think you're somewhat justified in defending yourself with as much force as you can.
ReplyDelete(Self-editing is difficult without an edit button on the comments!)
But with regards to the sheer number of people killed, it might be interesting to do a little research and crunch the numbers to find out how many enemy soldiers were killed by the Allies vs. how many people died in the bombings or directly because of them... but this is all leading me to much more complicated thoughts that should be processed before I write them out here!
oh icic okay my bad--
ReplyDeleteAs far as actual numbers go for the atomic bombings, its only a couple hundred thousand, which is VERY minor.
Around 60 million people were killed in the war in total.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_war_ii_casualties
and yes. It isn't simple. One of the things with nuclear weapons that makes it perhaps different than past weapons is that never before the use of these weapons has the human race as a whole been at such risk. Not only are nuclear weapons unique in the amount of damage doable by a single bomb, but also if a war broke out with the use of nuclear weapons, there is a chance of nuclear winter