Reflections on Hiroshima
I've wanted to write this entry for a while now, and I'm still not exactly sure how to start. There's a lot that I've been processing since the seminar on the bombing of Hiroshima began, and visiting the city took it up a notch.
The Atomic Bomb Dome - the gutted remains of a factory left from the explosion - wasn't shocking in the least bit, and my host mother said as much before I left. Rain has worn away most of the soot and human shadows left from the incineration. It's a UN Heritage Site, but I was surprised and a little disgusted to find it's treated as just another tourist destination. I couldn't count the number of people posing in front of it for pictures, both Japanese and foreigners.
After spending a few minutes at the Dome, we went into the museum to have a special audience with one of the hibakusha, an atomic bomb survivor. For someone who saw the things he saw, he was really friendly and even jovial, which caught me a little off guard. But he told his account unflinchingly, and I admire the kind of courage that must take.
Next was the museum, and that's where the information finally became too much to bear. When I saw a watch stopped at 8:15am, I just wanted to cry. From this point on, I stopped feeling so self-conscious about being an American, I think because of the magnitude of what happened. It sort of belittles discomfort like that.
My reactions to the museum and the seminar is still mainly disappointment. About the tourists taking pictures, about how quickly the seminar students moved on, about the lack of conclusion to the exhibit. The response everyone has is that this is a shocking and a horrible event in history, it should not be repeated, we should continue to debate against the use of nuclear weapons, etc.
The aftermath of the bombing may be shocking, but I do not think it's surprising. We have something of a mythos of World War II being a righteous retaliation in which the use of the atomic bomb stands out like a sore thumb, when it's not that simple. We never had a Hitler or a Tojo, but Patton's not a great response. And worse than the use of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was, in my opinion, the use of incendiary bombs in Tokyo, a densely-packed city of wooden houses. American commanders knew and counted on this - in a single night of bombing, 100,000 people died. These bombings were a widespread policy in Japan, and to a lesser extent, Germany.
I know criticizing the Allied Powers is usually construed as justifying the actions of the other side, but I mean to do no such thing. I think the most horrible story I've heard about the war is the crimes by the Japanese army against the Okinawans at the close of the war, something the government here is trying to remove from textbooks. I really wish the Japanese people were as repentant of their government's actions as the Germans are, it would go a long way in healing historical wounds.
The reason that this isn't surprising is that it reflects the desires of the governments and the peoples of that era. You can see it in the propaganda from both sides and a way of thinking that in many ways continues today. And we say this is just part of human nature, that war is hell and people do evil things, but I think the degree of immorality and horror instead points to something that is inconsistent with human nature. It's not how we're supposed to live and we know it. It's not a perfect world in which generals consider human rights and governments pursue war prevention (tied intrinsically to poverty reduction) more aggressively than victory. This is a necessary world, the bare minimum.
Finally, a question I think is more important than the morality of the bombing of Hiroshima is the morality of of "total war," inflicting as much damage on a civilian population to end a war quickly on your terms. It's a tradition that goes back at least to Sherman in the Civil War and I'm sure goes back many more centuries. Doesn't this violate the so-called just war theory? It sure violates pacifism. Maybe this is something people can agree on and speak out against.
The Atomic Bomb Dome - the gutted remains of a factory left from the explosion - wasn't shocking in the least bit, and my host mother said as much before I left. Rain has worn away most of the soot and human shadows left from the incineration. It's a UN Heritage Site, but I was surprised and a little disgusted to find it's treated as just another tourist destination. I couldn't count the number of people posing in front of it for pictures, both Japanese and foreigners.
After spending a few minutes at the Dome, we went into the museum to have a special audience with one of the hibakusha, an atomic bomb survivor. For someone who saw the things he saw, he was really friendly and even jovial, which caught me a little off guard. But he told his account unflinchingly, and I admire the kind of courage that must take.
Next was the museum, and that's where the information finally became too much to bear. When I saw a watch stopped at 8:15am, I just wanted to cry. From this point on, I stopped feeling so self-conscious about being an American, I think because of the magnitude of what happened. It sort of belittles discomfort like that.
My reactions to the museum and the seminar is still mainly disappointment. About the tourists taking pictures, about how quickly the seminar students moved on, about the lack of conclusion to the exhibit. The response everyone has is that this is a shocking and a horrible event in history, it should not be repeated, we should continue to debate against the use of nuclear weapons, etc.
The aftermath of the bombing may be shocking, but I do not think it's surprising. We have something of a mythos of World War II being a righteous retaliation in which the use of the atomic bomb stands out like a sore thumb, when it's not that simple. We never had a Hitler or a Tojo, but Patton's not a great response. And worse than the use of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was, in my opinion, the use of incendiary bombs in Tokyo, a densely-packed city of wooden houses. American commanders knew and counted on this - in a single night of bombing, 100,000 people died. These bombings were a widespread policy in Japan, and to a lesser extent, Germany.
I know criticizing the Allied Powers is usually construed as justifying the actions of the other side, but I mean to do no such thing. I think the most horrible story I've heard about the war is the crimes by the Japanese army against the Okinawans at the close of the war, something the government here is trying to remove from textbooks. I really wish the Japanese people were as repentant of their government's actions as the Germans are, it would go a long way in healing historical wounds.
The reason that this isn't surprising is that it reflects the desires of the governments and the peoples of that era. You can see it in the propaganda from both sides and a way of thinking that in many ways continues today. And we say this is just part of human nature, that war is hell and people do evil things, but I think the degree of immorality and horror instead points to something that is inconsistent with human nature. It's not how we're supposed to live and we know it. It's not a perfect world in which generals consider human rights and governments pursue war prevention (tied intrinsically to poverty reduction) more aggressively than victory. This is a necessary world, the bare minimum.
Finally, a question I think is more important than the morality of the bombing of Hiroshima is the morality of of "total war," inflicting as much damage on a civilian population to end a war quickly on your terms. It's a tradition that goes back at least to Sherman in the Civil War and I'm sure goes back many more centuries. Doesn't this violate the so-called just war theory? It sure violates pacifism. Maybe this is something people can agree on and speak out against.
posted by James at
7:49 AM
2 Comments:
I love you.... maybe that's embarassing, but it felt like an approriate response. Missing you a TON over state side.
LOLA
Aww, thanks Karen. :-)
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