Impressions on “The Splendor of the Mighty One”: The Atomic Bomb and its Legacy

Year 2014, Issue: 39, 83 - 88, 01.04.2014

Işıl Tipioğlu

Abstract

When one thinks of Japan these days, the first thing that will come to their minds might be fast cars on Tokyo lanes, skyscrapers, geishas, or cherry blossoms, or the atomic bombs dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. When I went to Japan, the last-named of these was first on my list of thoughts. Having the good fortune to meet Peter Kuznick, Professor of History at American University, Washington DC., and cowriter of the documentary series The Untold History of the United States, I participated in a two-week study tour entitled “Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Beyond” designed to look into and explore the atrocities in war-time Japan; the physical and psychological devastation wrought upon Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the atomic bomb; how both the Japanese and the Americans perceive this event in hindsight; and the efforts from both sides to reduce nuclear armaments. To have a chance to listen to first-hand accounts of the experiences of the hibakusha – the atomic bomb survivors – and visit the peace museums in Kyoto, Hiroshima and Nagasaki; to attend the memorial ceremonies on the anniversaries of the atomic bombings; and to hear what my Japanese and American peers thought of the entire event were all memories that made this tour a precious one.

References

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