Screening the film “White Light /Black Rain”
Sponsored by NPO Meguro UNESCO Association
Supported by Meguro City, Meguro Board of Education, National Federation of UNESCO Associations in Japan
Date: July 4th, 2009 / Place: Meguro Persimmon Hall (Small Hall)l
Part 1 : Speech : ‘Losing my family in Hiroshima’
by Yoshiko ISHIBASHI, Director of Meguro UNESCO Association, Former Chairman of Meguro City Assembly
Ms Ishibashi was born and bred in a house（hospital）which was located only 40 meters from the hypocenter. By the A-bomb attack all the lives of her parents, relatives, doctors and nurses and the inpatients were lost in a flash. She was safe as she herself was out of Hiroshima with husband and children in Seoul. But the life afterward was hard to live. She lost her husband and one of the sons to sickness soon after their returning to Japan. It’s often said that for those who really had severe lives it’s almost impossible to speak out their experiences to others. This is true to many of her friends and acquaintances. Ms Ishibashi still hesitates to visit the Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima. We really thank her for telling us the inmost feelings which will never be cured.
Part 2 : Screening the film “White Light /Black Rain”
- Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Steven Okazaki, the director, spent 25 years to complete this documentary film, interviewing up to 500 hibakusha. He chose 14 of them to appear in the film, and added 4 Americans who carried out the atomic bombing of Hiroshima or Nagasaki to testify. The film showed the scenes and their witnesses quietly but faithfully. Radiation effects with the atomic bomb are not only the acute disorders, but also various disorders continuously threaten the health of survivors for several decades causing leukemia, various cancers or sometimes disorders due to exposure in mothers’ womb. Furthermore, it’s hard to believe, but even discrimination to hibakusha sometimes exists! After finishing screening the film of 86 min, the deep silence prevailed. I believe it was a moment for everybody in the place to be united to pray for peace.
In the documents distributed at the venue and the speech by Ms Ishibashi, peace programs by Meguro City were introduced. Also, the exhibition by JIM-NET (Japan Iraq Medical Network) caught the eyes of participants at the entrance hall. It is said that not a few children in Iraq suffer from leukemia caused by depleted uranium bomb.
This year both at home and abroad, voices appealing ‘no more Hibakusha’ and campaigns against nuclear war were louder than ever before, especially in August in Japan. That would be greatly owing to the speech of President Obama in Prague in April, declaring America’s commitment to seek the peace and security of the world without nuclear weapons. Cases of radio-active pollution and victims of them at the US and Russian testing grounds etc. are coming disclosed one by one recently after a longtime concealment. What a tragedy!
When we think back the starting point of UNESCO after World War��, wishing for the world without war, we feel we should act together for the peace with friends all over the world!
*1000 paper cranes folded by the participants, and later by foreigners of Japanese classes, were offered at the foot of Children’s Peace Monument, by the Elementary & Junior High Peace Messengers of Meguro on Aug.6th with our message “Wishing for the world without nuclear weapons for the future of all the children”.
-written and translated by Fumiko Harada
