The Enola Gay exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum: An Exhibit Denied: Lobbying the History of Enola Gay by Martin Harwit; Judgment at the Smithsonian, edited by Philip Nobile; and “The Battle of the Enola Gay” by Mike Wallace, and other commentaries about the exhibit, in Hiroshima’s Shadow, edited by Kai Bird and Lawrence Lifschultz. The initial and the final revised script drafts are available at http://www.nuclearfiles.org.
The disputes over the National Air and Space Museum exhibit occurred in the context of other controversies surrounding the fiftieth anniversary of the end of World War II. For example, the U.S. Postal Service planned to issue a commemorative stamp with the image of a mushroom cloud. After Japanese protests, the stamp was canceled; in opposition to that decision, veterans’ groups printed their own version. See, for example, “The Legacy of Commemorative Disputes: What Our Children Won’t Learn” by Lane R. Earns, Crossroads 3; “Patriotic Orthodoxy and U.S. Decline” by Michael S. Sherry, Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars 27:2; and “Apologizing for Atrocities: Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of World War II’s End in the United States and Japan” by Kyoto Kishimoto, American Studies International 42:2/3.
The Smithsonian curators’ negotiations with Japan for exhibit materials were detailed in An Exhibit Denied by Martin Harwit. See also “Artifacts Requested from the Hiroshima and Nagasaki Museums, September 30, 1993” and the letter from Motoshima to Harwit, December 7, 1993, in Correspondence with Japan, box 8, folder 7; and the letter from Ito to Crouch, April 26, 1994, in Unit 400-432, box 8, folder 5, all in accession number 96-140, NASM Enola Gay Exhibition Records, Smithsonian Institution Archives. The consideration of Yamahata Yosuke photographs for the exhibit was noted in “Making Things Visible: Learning from the Censors” by George H. Roeder Jr. in Living with the Bomb, edited by Laura Hein and Mark Selden; and “Notes on Nagasaki Journey” by Chris Beaver, Positions: Asia Critique 5:3. See also “Pictures eliminated, June Script, Unit 400,” box 3, folder 7, in accession number 96-140, NASM Enola Gay Exhibition Records, Smithsonian Institution Archives.
For the Air Force Association’s critiques of the planned exhibit, see John T. Correll’s articles: “War Stories at Air & Space,” Air Force Magazine, April 1994; “‘The Last Act’ at Air and Space,” Air Force Magazine, September 1994; and The Activists and the Enola Gay, AFA Special Report, August 21, 1995, accessed 2012, http://airforcemag.com. For one historian’s analysis of the imbalances within the initial exhibit plan, see “History and the Culture Wars: The Case of the Smithsonian Institution’s Enola Gay Exhibition” by Richard H. Kohn, Journal of American History 82:3.
Curator Tom Crouch was quoted in “War and Remembrance” by Hugh Sidey and Jerry Hannifin, Time, May 23, 1994.
Controversies over war memory in Japan and Nagasaki: “Exhibiting World War II in Japan and the United States Since 1995” by Laura Hein and Akiko Takenaka, Pacific Historical Review 76:1; and “Commemoration Controversies: The War, the Peace, and Democracy in Japan” by Ellen H. Hammond in Living with the Bomb, edited by Laura Hein and Mark Selden. See also “Nagasaki Museum Exhibits Anger Japanese Extremists,” Vancouver Sun, March 26, 1996; and “Today’s History Lesson: What Rape of Nanjing?” by Nicholas D. Kristof, New York Times, July 4, 1996.
The U.S. Senate’s September 19, 1994, resolution condemning the Smithsonian exhibit, and excerpts from the May 1995 hearings before the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, including remarks by Senator Ted Stevens, are available in “History and the Public: What Can We Handle? A Round Table About History After the Enola Gay Controversy,” Journal of American History 82:3.
Reactions to the NASM exhibit cancellation: The letter to the editor from veteran Dell Herndon was quoted in An Exhibit Denied by Martin Harwit, chap. 29. A copy of the protest letter sent by the Historians’ Committee for Open Debate on Hiroshima to Smithsonian secretary I. Michael Heyman is available at http://www.doug-long.com/letter.htm. For Prime Minister Murayama’s statement, see “Smithsonian Action Saddens Japanese: They Saw Enola Gay Display on A-Bomb as a Reminder,” Seattle Times, January 31, 1995. Mayor Motoshima’s comment on the exhibit’s cancellation was quoted in “Introduction,” Crossroads 3.
For the results of the 1995 Gallup poll that revealed Americans’ overall ignorance about the atomic bombs, see a “Nation of Nitwits” by Bob Herbert, New York Times, March 1, 1995. The poll also found that over 20 percent of respondents “knew virtually nothing about an atomic bomb attack. They didn’t know where—or, in some cases, even if—such an attack had occurred.”
Yoshida interviewed by Jon Krakauer: “The Forgotten Ground Zero—Nagasaki, Reduced to Ashes by an Atomic Bomb, Rises Again in Beauty, Grace and Good Will,” Seattle Times, March 5, 1995. Response to the article: “Japan—Forget the Sympathy for Hiroshima, Nagasaki,” letter to the editor, Seattle Times, March 26, 1995.
Smithsonian secretary I. Michael Heyman’s preference to leave the human impact of the bombs “to the imagination” was quoted in “The Battle of the Enola Gay” by Mike Wallace in Hiroshima’s Shadow, edited by Kai Bird and Lawrence Lifschultz.
Akizuki Tatsuichiro: Dr. Akizuki’s belief that the threat of nuclear weapons “transcended all other issues” is quoted from “Nagasaki: A Phoenix from the Holocaust” by Tony Wardle, Catholic Herald, December 17, 1982, reprinted in Beijin kisha no mita Hiroshima Nagasaki [Hiroshima and Nagasaki Through the Eyes of American Reporters], Akiba Project 1982 (Hiroshima: Hiroshima International Cultural Foundation, 1983). Akizuki expressed his sympathy for the victims of Japan’s wartime atrocities in his speech “The Nagasaki Testimony Movement,” printed in Literature Under the Nuclear Cloud, compiled by Ito Narihiko et al. He described his identity as “an atomic bomb doctor” and his wife, Sugako, recalled his 1992 asthma attack and hospitalization in Natsugumo no oka [Hill Under the Summer Cloud] by Yamashita Akiko, translated into English for the author’s use.
CHAPTER 9: GAMAN
NAGASAKI AND THE HIBAKUSHA TODAY
For photographs and information about the memorials and atomic bomb sites throughout Nagasaki, see the city’s “Peace & Atomic Bomb” site at http://www.city.nagasaki.lg.jp/peace/english/map/.
Estimates of the number of Koreans who died in the Nagasaki atomic bombing vary considerably due to incomplete wartime records of the Korean forced laborers in the city on August 9. The Committee for the Compilation of Materials on Damage Caused by the Atomic Bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki concluded that approximately fifteen hundred to two thousand Koreans were killed. See Hiroshima and Nagasaki, p. 474. In contrast, through its own thorough investigation, the Nagasaki Association for Protecting Human Rights of Korean Residents in Japan estimates ten thousand Korean victims; see “Hiroshima and Nagasaki at 65: A Reflection” by Satoko Norimatsu, Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, http://www.japanfocus.org/-Satoko-NOR IMATSU2/3463.
Many survivors describe living with bouts of anxiety, stress, guilt, and fear related to their atomic bomb experiences. Miyazaki Midori revealed that she cannot forget the cries of children trapped beneath the rubble in “Nagasaki noto [Nagasaki Notes]: Miyazaki Midori” by Ito Sei, Asahi Shimbun, February 23, 2010.
Dr. Kinoshita Hirohisa at the Department of Neuropsychiatry of Nagasaki University Hospital provided information about the lasting psychological impact of the bombing and the support services available for hibakusha today. For recent research on the psychological effects of the bombing, see “Psychological Effect of the Nagasaki Atomic Bombing on Survivors After Half a Century” by Yasuyuki Ohta et al., Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences 54; “Mental Health Conditions Among Atomic Bomb Survivors in Nagasaki” by Sumihisa Honda et al., Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences 56:5; “Resilience Among Japanese Atomic Bomb Survivors” by A. Knowles, International Nursing Review 58; and “Persistent Distress After Psychological Exposure to the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Explosion” by Yoshiharu Kim et al., The British Journal of Psychiatry 199.
Do-oh’s description of how the bombing “capsized” her life is quoted from her title essay in Ikasarete ikite [Allowed to Live, I Live], edited by Keisho bukai (Do-oh Mineko iko shuu) hensho iinkai [Legacy Group (Do-oh Mineko Posthumous Collection) Editorial Committee], translated into English for the author’s use. In the same volume, the young student’s response to Do-oh’s presentation appears in “Reaction from Students and Teachers After a Presentation.” Do-oh’s tanka poetry was provided by her sister Okada Ikuyo.
For President Barack Obama’s remarks outlining his aims for a world without nuclear weapons in Prague on April 5, 2009, see the White House press release, “Remarks by President Barack Obama, Hradcany Square, Prague, Czech Republic, 4-5-09,” at http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-By-President-Barack-Obama-In-Prague-As-Delivered.
Taniguchi expressed his optimism about President Obama’s nuclear stance in a letter to the author. His complaint about the Obama administration’s continued nuclear testing is quoted from “Looking Directly at the Truth of Nuclear Suffering,” Mainichi, October 30, 2012.
For worldwide nuclear stockpiles as of December 1, 2014, see the Federation of American Scientists’ “Status of World Nuclear Forces,” at http://fas.org/issues/nuclear-weapons/status-world-nuclear-forces/; and the more detailed report “Worldwide Deployments of Nuclear Weapons, 2014” by Hans M. Kristensen and Robert S. Norris, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 70:5.
For Nagasaki’s protests against nuclear tests, see “Nagasaki Asks Communities to Protest India N-tests,” Chugoku Shimbun, May 19, 1998; and “Nuclear Free Local Authorities in Japan Protest a New Type of Nuclear Weapons Testing by the U.S.,” Dispatches from Nagasaki, no. 4, by the Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition (RECNA) at Nagasaki University, at http://www.recna.nagasaki-u.ac.jp/en-dispatches/no4/.
Information on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is available through the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs; see http://www.un.org/disarmament/WMD/Nuclear/NPT.shtml. For the 2010 NPT Review Conference conclusions, see “Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Adopts Outcome Document at Last Moment,” United Nations Press Release, May 28, 2010, at http://www.un.org/press/en/2010/dc3243.doc.htm.
For a report on Fukahori Yoshitoshi’s retrieval of Nagasaki photographs from the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, see “Photos Found in U.S. Show Life, Activity in Nagasaki Soon After Atomic Bombing” by Shohei Okada, Asahi Shimbun, August 7, 2014, http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201408070003.
ENDURING EFFECTS
For an overview of the updated dosimetry system used to calculate radiation dose estimates for atomic bomb survivors, see Radiation Effects Research Foundation: A Brief Description. The full report, Reassessment of the Atomic Bomb Radiation Dosimetry for Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Dosimetry System 2002, edited by Robert W. Young and George D. Kerr, is available at http://www.rerf.jp/library/archives_e/scids.html.
Materials and information about the ongoing and anticipated medical concerns for aging atomic bomb survivors were provided by Dr. Akahoshi Masazumi, director of the Department of Clinical Studies at the Radiation Effects Research Foundation in Nagasaki, and Dr. Tomonaga Masao, director of the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Hospital.
Recent studies on the long-term medical effects of the bombings: “Electron-Spin Resonance Measurements of Extracted Teeth Donated by Atomic-Bomb Survivors . . .” by Nakamura et al., at http://www.rerf.or.jp/library/update/rerfupda_e/dosbio/tooth.htm; “Radioactive Rays Photographed from Nagasaki Nuclear ‘Death Ash,’” Japan Times, August 8, 2009; “Long-Term Radiation-Related Health Effects in a Unique Human Population: Lessons Learned from the Atomic Bomb Survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki” by Evan B. Douple et al., Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness 5:S1; “Risk of Myelodysplastic Syndromes in People Exposed to Ionizing Radiation: A Retrospective Cohort Study of Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivors” by Masako Iwanaga et al., Journal of Clinical Oncology 29:4; “Longevity of Atomic-Bomb Survivors” by John B. Cologne and Dale L. Preston, Lancet 356; and “Genetic Effects of Radiation in Atomic-Bomb Survivors and Their Children: Past, Present and Future” by Nori Nakamura, Journal of Radiation Research 47:SB. For a 2014 study investigating fallout effects from the 1945 Trinity test, see the notes for chapter 4.
For ongoing research and activities at the Radiation Effects Research Foundation and the Atomic Bomb Disease Institute in Nagasaki, see the materials, overviews, and publications available at http://www.rerf.jp and http://www-sdc.med.nagasaki-u.ac.jp/abdi/index.html.
MEMORIALS AND LEGACIES
Journalist Yamashita Akiko described Dr. Akizuki’s funeral in her biography of the atomic bomb doctor, Natsugumo no oka [Hill Under the Summer Cloud], translated into English for the author’s use.
Do-oh Mineko’s sister Okada Ikuyo provided a copy of Do-oh’s final shikishi.
Yoshida Katsuji’s posthumous name, and its meaning, was provided by his son Yoshida Naoji.
For the Nagasaki National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims, see http://www.peace-nagasaki.go.jp/. The names of hibakusha who died in the previous year are dedicated each August 9, following the city’s annual commemoration at Peace Park.
Yoshida’s kamishibai can be viewed at the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum’s “Kids Heiwa [Peace] Nagasaki” Web site, http://www1.city.nagasaki.nagasaki.jp/peace/english/kids/digital/index.html. The presentation of his kamishibai at the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum was described in the article series “Nagasaki noto [Nagasaki Notes]: Yoshida Katsuji” by Oˉkuma Takashi, Asahi Shimbun, August 5, 2010, through August 24, 2010. For Hayashida Mitsuhiro’s presentation on behalf of Yoshida at the United Nations NPT Review Conference, see “High School Student to Recite A-Bomb Survivor’s Story in New York” by Takashi Oˉkuma, Asahi Shimbun, May 1, 2010, http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201004300415.html; and “Sending Voices from Atomic-Bombed Areas to the World” (in Japanese), Asahi Shimbun, May 12, 2010.
Yoshida said that he borrowed the phrase “The basis of peace is for people to understand the pain of others” from a former Hiroshima Peace Memorial administrator. He felt the words captured the most important message he could convey out of his experience.
Information about the hibakusha legacy campaigns of the Nagasaki Foundation for the Promotion of Peace and the citywide peace education programs came from “All Elementary and Junior High School Students in Nagasaki Learn About Peace and the Atomic Bombing for Nine Years,” Dispatches from Nagasaki, no. 2, RECNA, Nagasaki University, http://www.recna.nagasaki-u.ac.jp/en-dispatches/no2/; “New Generation of Youth Get Active in Campaign to Abolish Nukes” by Yosuke Watanabe, Asahi Shimbun, November 25, 2013; Devotion of Nagasaki to the Cause of Peace, printed by the city of Nagasaki; and materials provided by Sakata Toshihiro, vice principal, Shiroyama Elementary School.
Taniguchi described how his skin can’t breathe during the summer in “My Back Won’t Let Me Forget That Day,” Mainichi, August 8, 2009.
HIBAKUSHA SOURCES AND SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
I. FEATURED HIBAKUSHA SOURCES
Interviews
Do-oh Mineko, 1 interview, 2003
Nagano Etsuko, 6 interviews, 2007–2011
Okada Ikuyo (Do-oh Mineko’s sister), 4 interviews, 2007–2011
Taniguchi Sumiteru, 6 interviews, 1986–2011
Wada Hisako (Wada Koichi’s wife), 2 interviews, 2007–2009
Wada Koichi, 6 interviews, 2003–2011
Yoshida Katsuji, 3 interviews, 2007–2009
Yoshida Kenji (Yoshida Katsuji’s brother), 2 interviews, 2010–2011
Yoshida Naoji (Yoshida Katsuji’s son), 2 interviews, 2010–2011
Yoshida Tomoji (Yoshida Kats
uji’s son), 2 interviews, 2010–2011
Other Sources (Selected)
DO-OH MINEKO
Do-oh, Mineko. “Hibaku taiken kowa” [Lecture on Atomic Bomb Experience],’98 Shugaku ryoko, Asahikawa fuji joshi koto gakko [School Field Trip, Asahikawa Fuji Girls’ High School]. Privately printed, October 18, 1998. Copy provided by Do-oh Mineko.
———. Interview. The Children of Nagasaki. DVD. Produced by Nippon Eiga Shinsha, Ltd. City of Nagasaki, March 2005.
Ito, Sei. “Nagasaki noto [Nagasaki Notes]: Do-oh Mineko-san, 1930–2007.” Pts. 1–10, Asahi Shimbun, April 24, 2009–May 3, 2009.
Keisho bukai (Do-oh Mineko iko shuu) henshu iinkai [Legacy Group (Do-oh Mineko Posthumous Collection) Editorial Committee], ed. Ikasarete ikite [Allowed to Live, I Live]. Nagasaki: Nagasaki heiwa suishin kyokai keisho bukai [Nagasaki Foundation for the Promotion of Peace Legacy Group], 2009.
“Ms. Mineko Douo.” In “My Unforgettable Memory: Testimonies of the Atomic Bomb Survivors.” Nagasaki Shimbun, March 14, 1996; updated October 19, 2005. Translated by Seiun High School. http://www.nagasaki-np.co.jp/peace/hibaku/english/05.html.
“Nyusu Nagasaki Eye [Nagasaki Eye News] No. 610.” DVD. NHK (Nippon Hoso Kyokai) broadcast, July 9, 2009.
NAGANO ETSUKO
Nagano, Etsuko. “Fifty Years from the End of World War II: My Experience of the Atomic Bombing.” In The Light of Morning: Memoirs of the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivors, 97–106. Nagasaki: Nagasaki National Peace Memorial Hall, 2005.
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