"Hiroshima and Nagasaki are the World's Conscience"
- PAPA ALPHA
- PAPA ALPHA
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| Hiroshima after the Atomic Bomb. |
On August 6th 1945 at 8:15 AM, exactly 66 years ago, the United State Army Air Forces dropped the atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima. The atomic boy "Little Boy" directly killed an estimated 80,000 innocent people. In the following years, injuries and the radiation brought the total casualties to 90,000 to 140,000. Approximately 69% of the city's buildings were completely destroyed, and 7% were severely damaged.
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| Before. |
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| After. |
Hiroshima was rebuilt after the war. In 1949, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial City Construction Law passed and it provided financial assistance for reconstruction, along with land donated that was previously owned by the government that was used for military purposes.
The Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall was the closest surviving building from where the bomb dropped, it thus was designated the Genbaku Dome (Atomic Dome), it is a part of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum was opened in 1955.
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| Recreation of what it felt like to be in Hiroshima after the bomb. |
Hiroshima was proclaimed a City of Peace by the Japanese parliament in 1949. As a result, the city of Hiroshima received more international attention as a desirable location for holding international conferences on peace as well as social issues. The city government continues to advocate the abolition of all nuclear weapons and the Mayor of Hiroshima is the president of Mayors for Peace - an international moyoral organization mobilizing cities and citizens worldwide to abolish and eliminate nuclear weapons by the year 2020 (Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign).
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Click Here to Read the 2010 Peace Declaration.
Every year a new Peace Declaration is announced on the anniversary of the Atomic Bomb.
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| The Mayor of Hiroshima always writes a letter of protest to other Nations who test Nuclear Weapons. Beginning almost 60 years ago, there are 594 letters and continuing. |
Being both American and Japanese, I felt the combination of guilt and utter sadness. I personally don't think the Atomic bomb should have been dropped, to kill and destroy so many innocent lives is just not morally right. That is why my dad said the quote at the very top, "Hiroshima and Nagasaki are the World's Conscience". No other places in the world has had to face the horrors of the atomic bomb and therefore both cities probably have higher morals than any other city in the world. If only others could see and experience the museum and understand how terrible these warheads are, maybe they'll finally understand that nuclear weapons are not the answer - they will wipe out the world and everything on it. It's tragic to see how hard the Mayor of Hiroshima works in trying to protest, and yet, it is all going to waste.
Give back my father, give back my mother;
Give grandpa back, grandma back;
Give me my sons and daughters back.
Give me back myself.
Give back the human race.
As long as this life lasts, this life,
Give back peace
That will never end.
- Sankichi Toge
Leader of Peace Movements.
Died at the age of 36 from tuberculosis.
Our prayers and hearts go out to Hiroshima and the victims of the Atomic bombs and their families. I truly hope that one day we can see a world free of nuclear weapons. I really do want world peace.
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| 1000 Paper Cranes Represents Prayers for Peace and Sadako Sasaki |
Love,
ALPHA
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