White Light, Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Hiroshima, Japan is on the "to see" list this weekend.  This summer I will be leaving Korea and before I do I have a short list of "to sees".  One of those is the Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima, Japan.  I started looking into it shortly after my return from Rwanda.  Getting their from Korea doesn't seem difficult.  I can go and return in 4 days.  So here I go!  The trip will involve high-speed trains in Korea and Japan and a hydrofoil ferry from Busan, Korea to Fukuoka, Japan.  We'll see if I get sea sick.  

 A few weeks ago I watched a documentary called, "White Light and Black Rain".  It was released in 2007 by HBO.  I am impressed by the films portrayal of all sides--Japanese and American.  It presented the real tensions faced by the United States (and the world) in 1942.  I've lived in Korea for 4 years and visited other Asian countries who know first hand how evil Japan's Imperialism was during those years.  Masses were dying.  The innocent were being raped and slaughtered.  I can see the reason for and the hope to stop the destruction.  

Then there is the story of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and all of the innocent who were killed unexpectedly by an instrument never before used on humanity.   People were walking the streets one moment and vanished "in thin air" the next moment.  The survivors came down with symptoms(radiation sickness) the medical professionals had never seen before.   Everyone lost someone.  Most lost almost everyone!

Survivors face shaming within their own culture and country for decades. It sounds like Japan is similar to Korea in how it uses shame as a "power".  In such a culture survivors continue to be victimized.  (This sounds like the treatment of women and children who survived the genocide of 1994 but were infected with HIV/AIDS by their perpetrators.)  White Light, Black Rain portrays a people who harbored their story for decades for fear of mistreatment and shunning.  Can you imagine not talking about what you had seen and experienced? But the stories have been shared.  And Japan has begun to care for the survivors who today in their 60's and 70's continue to have great health problems.    

There has been movement within the survivors to share their stories, to go public, and to compel the next generation to remember.  This call to remember and listen is what compels me to jump on a few trains and a ferry this weekend.  More to come.