1,000 Paper Cranes
I have dreamed about going to Japan just about as far back as I remember.
Their culture has fascinated me to a point of mild obsession. Of course I am an anime fan (sub only), play jRPGs (FF7 is the greatest game of all time), and love the food (I make the best ramen around) but Japan is so much more than that to me. I was finally able to visit this special place in July of 2019 as a chaperone for a film camp I'm a part of for high schoolers. We traveled through Tokyo, Hakone, Kyoto, and Osaka. It was everything I had dreamed it would be and more.
The Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto.
However, near the end of the trip we had a scheduled tour of Hiroshima. I was not excited about this, in fact it filled me with dread. I knew this would be a somber day for an otherwise joyous time. I thought I already knew and understood all I needed to know about Hiroshima and the horrible events that occurred there. I didn’t.
When we pulled into the city I felt my stomach drop and my throat hurt trying not to cry. We met with our tour guide, an in utero survivor of the bombings, and I absorbed every word he said. We made our way past memorials and preserved parts of the city but when we approached the A-Bomb Dome was when my breath caught and I couldn't stop the tears from falling. I listened and gave myself over to the experience.
The A-Bomb Dome.
The A-Bomb Dome is the skeletal ruins of the former Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall. It is the building closest to the hypocenter of the nuclear bomb that remained at least partially standing.
The tour continued to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Walking through the museum and soaking in the exhibits was probably one of the most devastating things I’ve ever done. I learned so many things I was never taught in school and I ached for these people and what they went through 74 years prior.
The museum is filled with the lives lost and destroyed due to the bombings. There are final words, biographies, and scraps of the clothes left behind. There are pictures, videos, and so, so much art. There is pain and suffering and it is unlike anything I could have imagined. I had to keep reminding myself that this wasn't a horror movie, it was real and its effects are still being dealt with to this day. As I walked through, a hot ball of fire formed in my chest and I felt an extreme call to action.
The Memorial Cenotaph
Near the center of the park is a concrete, saddle-shaped monument that covers a cenotaph holding the names of all of the people killed by the bomb. The arch shape represents a shelter for the souls of the victims. The monument is aligned to frame the A-Bomb Dome and the Peace Flame.
The Peace Flame has burned continuously since it was lit in 1964, and will remain lit until all nuclear bombs on the planet are destroyed and the planet is free from the threat of nuclear annihilation.
One of the most famous victims (referred to as hibakusha in Japanese which means “bomb-affected person”) is Sadako Sasaki. There is quite an extensive part about her in the museum once you get to the aftermath and lasting effects portion of the exhibit. Sadako was only two years old when the bombs were dropped about a mile from her home. The immense blast that came from the bomb threw her from her house although when her mother found her she seemed uninjured. They ended up being caught in the black rain but otherwise they seemed okay.
When she was 11 years old she developed swelling and purple/red spots on various parts of her body. She was shortly thereafter diagnosed with acute malignant lymph gland leukemia, which many in Hiroshima refer to as atomic-bomb disease. Radiation exposure had caused a huge spike in the disease, especially among children. She was admitted to the hospital in February of 1955 and given no more than a year to live.
In August of 1955, her father told her the Japanese folk legend of paper cranes, that if you fold 1,000 cranes you will be granted one wish. Sadako was determined to make 1,000 and get her wish. She lacked paper so she made cranes out of any she could find including paper from fellow patients’ get-well gifts and used, discarded medicine wrappings. She not only met her goal of 1,000 paper cranes, she actually exceeded it by another 300. In October of 1955, she died, just over 10 years since the bombings. Sadako was only twelve. Her story has been told in novels and children’s books as a symbol of hope and peace.
The Children's Peace Monument
This statue dedicated to the memory of the children who died as a result of the bombing. The statue is of a girl with outstretched arms with a folded paper crane rising above her. The statue is based on the true story of Sadako Sasaki. To this day, people (mostly children) from around the world fold cranes and send them to Hiroshima where they are placed near the statue. The statue has a continuously replenished collection of folded cranes nearby
After taking some time to calm down and begin to process some of what we had learned, we were taken to the Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bombs Victims where we heard a lecture. The woman who spoke, Michiko Yamaoka, didn’t know English but had learned her entire speech phonetically so that she could deliver it to English speakers. Ms. Yamaoka’s speech was beyond powerful. She talked not only of her family's story but also about the circumstances surrounding the attack. Her mother survived. Her aunt did not. The most important part of her lecture was about how we must learn from history so we do not repeat it. Michiko Yamaoka’s entire lecture (in English) can be found here.
Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims
It opened in August, 2002, to mourn the lives lost in the atomic bombing and pray for everlasting peace as a country. It aims to deepen the understanding of people around the world of the tragedy caused by the atomic bomb, and to hand down Hiroshima's experience of the A-bombing to future generations.
At the end of her speech, she mentioned that she would be traveling to the states in September to give a lecture in Ohio. I felt a burning need to do something. My instinct as a filmmaker is always to film. I got her contact information and we met up during her visit. I hired a translator and was able to interview her in Japanese. It was the best interview I have ever done. I have been working on a documentary about Hiroshima since getting back home, using footage from when I was in Japan and of course the interview I did with Ms. Yamaoka in September. I’m not sure when it will be finished but it’s something I need to do.
Shortly after returning to America I attended a remembrance event for Hiroshima on the 74th anniversary of the bombings.
Here at Wicked Obscura we are all about bringing our travel adventures into our business. We take inspiration from the world around us and create products that reflect our experiences. When I came back from Japan I knew that I needed to make a candle in reverence of Hiroshima. We don’t usually do blog posts to reveal new candles but this one needed a full explanation. This is a deeply personal candle for us. We will be donating 15% of proceeds to the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.
Tanabata, or the Star Festival, involves a Japanese tradition in which people write their wishes on small, colorful strips of paper (tanzaku) and hang them on the branches of a small decorative bamboo tree. This was also apart of the rememberance event I attended in Northern Kentucky.
Paper Crane, our newest candle, will be out later this month just in time for the 75th anniversary of the Hiroshima atomic bombing. It will be topped with a single paper crane, hand folded by me. Now more than ever we need to be empathetic to our fellow human beings. The message of Hiroshima is one of peace. No more war. No more nuclear weapons. No more Hiroshimas.