Simply Beautiful! - and worth a thousand words.... (Jun/07/2009 )
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no . . look beyond what you see. . .
googling costs a lot of energyよ.
story of sadako . . peace day . . . . the memorial function . . . innocent casualties of war. . .nuclear-free world. . . all of those. . hakuna matata .. . look beyond what you can see. . just hype . . ..
-Nabi-
"hakuna matata" that phrase saved my life various times back in uni 
this site also contains nice pics taken by a colleague
http://justsitback.deviantart.com/?title=G...gallery:Greippi
-toejam-
Nabi on Aug 6 2009, 12:25 AM said:
no . . look beyond what you see. . .
googling costs a lot of energyよ.
story of sadako . . peace day . . . . the memorial function . . . innocent casualties of war. . .nuclear-free world. . . all of those. . hakuna matata .. . look beyond what you can see. . just hype . . ..
googling costs a lot of energyよ.
story of sadako . . peace day . . . . the memorial function . . . innocent casualties of war. . .nuclear-free world. . . all of those. . hakuna matata .. . look beyond what you can see. . just hype . . ..
hype? almost a quarter of a million dead and Hiroshima targetted for its location (depot, city protected by mountains etc) and not only for the psychological effect (to force the unconditional surrender of Japan, hence the end of the Pacific war) but for the demonstration of the awesomeness and the power of the bomb. Many died upon impact and later like Sadako, from the effects of the radiation.
What hype よ? You see this topic in the news or being discussed there everyday till you puke, except of course the days leading to this memorial day? Have you heard them whine about it....that they have been compensated for all the sufferings, that they've gotten an apology for being a field test? But it effectively ended the war so there's that- whether it would've happened with or without the bombs is another topic for debate. In the end tho, it was still a deciding factor...but you're there, is that how the people see it?
-casandra-
I missed this . . sorry for the delay . .
people whom I meet here . . many have lost their someone in the war (in Hiroshima or out of Hiroshima) and all the stories are sad.
What I meant by hype is the memorial functions . . its too much politicized. 64 years of this event and they have achieved nothing I feel. It is just my personal opinion and yeah, I do have respect for the innocent victims and am against nuclear warfare.
But, is Japan really taking the stand? Funny but, last weekend I was with an Ojiisan and was talking baseball. I wonder what he heard when I said there are so many Tigers fan in Hiroshima but he started his slow, long, and sad venting about Japan being under nuclear umbrella of US and recent news that Japan has at times let US use its soil/sea for something that had to do with nuclear bombs.
A friend wrote in his blog about the memorial day and wanted me to comment on it . . copy pasting it here :
I have gone to this event every year for last 3 days. I personally don't want to go to the morning events because the whole ceremony attended by diplomats is more of a diplomatic ceremony than paying respect to the dead. The whole afternoon, 1000s of people from different places in Japan and around the world come to the Peace Park to pay their respect for real. This is more important than the ceremony in the morning.
The peace museum is full of visitors and U may see many weeping looking at the pictures put there.
What I do not like is that though the whole function and the place is supposed to be an icon of peace, it also creates some tension in many ways. Inviting Obama as the president of US to Hiroshima to recognize Hiroshima bombing as a horrible event is one of them. If he does come, is it an apology for something that US thought was right thing to do at that time? If he does not accept the invitation, does it mean that he does not respect those who lost lives that day? I may want Obama to come apologise but another 10 people might not want that to happen. Isn't putting Hiroshima in this fight a crime itself and disrespect to the dead itself?
Putting Hiroshima as an icon of peace is looking at the story from one side and there are half of the world who will not agree. For peace and humanity, should there not be a neutral ground for agreement?
. . .
War in itself is not bad but why the war was fought is more important. So, I believe end of war is not the answer for ever lasting peace.
The bombing destroyed the city and killed many but I respect the spirit of those people who rebuilt the city. The story that started after the bombing is what should be remembered - those people who ran the street car within hours of the bombing gave hope to the grieving hopeless survivors telling that the city was not dead yet. That is story that should be told. Every single person contributed to make the city what it is now. Birth of Hiroshima Carp (the baseball team of Hiroshima) and building the old stadium are other stories of unity in rebuilding the city to put it where other cities of Japan already was.
The peace museum is full of visitors and U may see many weeping looking at the pictures put there.
What I do not like is that though the whole function and the place is supposed to be an icon of peace, it also creates some tension in many ways. Inviting Obama as the president of US to Hiroshima to recognize Hiroshima bombing as a horrible event is one of them. If he does come, is it an apology for something that US thought was right thing to do at that time? If he does not accept the invitation, does it mean that he does not respect those who lost lives that day? I may want Obama to come apologise but another 10 people might not want that to happen. Isn't putting Hiroshima in this fight a crime itself and disrespect to the dead itself?
Putting Hiroshima as an icon of peace is looking at the story from one side and there are half of the world who will not agree. For peace and humanity, should there not be a neutral ground for agreement?
. . .
War in itself is not bad but why the war was fought is more important. So, I believe end of war is not the answer for ever lasting peace.
The bombing destroyed the city and killed many but I respect the spirit of those people who rebuilt the city. The story that started after the bombing is what should be remembered - those people who ran the street car within hours of the bombing gave hope to the grieving hopeless survivors telling that the city was not dead yet. That is story that should be told. Every single person contributed to make the city what it is now. Birth of Hiroshima Carp (the baseball team of Hiroshima) and building the old stadium are other stories of unity in rebuilding the city to put it where other cities of Japan already was.
And, I always get surprised when I ask my friends native of Hiroshima and who have lost someone in Hiroshima whether they have ever been to the peace park on Aug 6. Most of them haven't even though they were born in Hiroshima city. They never tell me why but there must be some reason.
-Nabi-
no pictures recently. . .
-Nabi-
Nabi on Aug 12 2009, 10:07 PM said:
I missed this . . sorry for the delay . .
people whom I meet here . . many have lost their someone in the war (in Hiroshima or out of Hiroshima) and all the stories are sad.
What I meant by hype is the memorial functions . . its too much politicized. 64 years of this event and they have achieved nothing I feel. It is just my personal opinion and yeah, I do have respect for the innocent victims and am against nuclear warfare.
people whom I meet here . . many have lost their someone in the war (in Hiroshima or out of Hiroshima) and all the stories are sad.
What I meant by hype is the memorial functions . . its too much politicized. 64 years of this event and they have achieved nothing I feel. It is just my personal opinion and yeah, I do have respect for the innocent victims and am against nuclear warfare.
and now you posted with a vengeance...
...I got what you meant but I think that politicization of ceremonies like these is inevitable. It's not only to commemorate the bombing and the devastation but the end of the war and japanese fanaticism/imperialism from a western perspective. But has it really achieved nothing? At least we have one less player in the nuclear arms race...and if the ojiisan is actually right, it was one of the conditions of the surrender- no nuclear armament buildup, unfortunately, that's the price they have to pay (i.e. their vulnerability, considering the north korean threat).....but we're probably thinking of different things here.And, I always get surprised when I ask my friends native of Hiroshima and who have lost someone in Hiroshima whether they have ever been to the peace park on Aug 6. Most of them haven't even though they were born in Hiroshima city. They never tell me why but there must be some reason.
I think it's still taboo i.e. a very touchy subject that the old (the ones who suffered thru it all-the war, the defeat, the aftermath) don't wanna talk about it and therefore the young probably don't have a lot of clues. They were born into prosperity and the hi-tech era after all. So talks about the war only comes up during these memorial days or when demands for compensation for all their wartime atrocities are brought up....my two cents...
....nice pics, BB-san... -casandra-
Nabi on Aug 13 2009, 12:07 PM said:
And, I always get surprised when I ask my friends native of Hiroshima and who have lost someone in Hiroshima whether they have ever been to the peace park on Aug 6. Most of them haven't even though they were born in Hiroshima city. They never tell me why but there must be some reason.
Thanks for forwarding your friend's blog, in particular the idea that peace is not the absence of war. And as for why many residents have not been to the memorial, there are many reports of veterans being so scarred by their wartime experiences that they totally clam up about them, to the point of virtual denial. Imagine how much more severe the reaction would be from civilians, even without taking cultural inhibitions into account.
Slightly off-topic, but there was a story reported recently about one Japanese man who lived in Nagasaki, but went to Hiroshima on business just before the A-bomb raid. He somehow managed to survive the explosion, escape the aftermath of the firestorm and destruction, and return home a couple of days before Nagasaki was bombed, thus being the only (known) person to survive not one, but two atomic bombs...
Back on-topic...
-swanny-
Yes, swanny, there is such a person http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsutomu_Yamaguchi
present day Hiroshima
-Nabi-
Woodstock............40 years this weekend:
-casandra-
jst a week older than that. sweet!
-Nabi-