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Hiroshima survivors to visit Northfield

By David Gonnerman '90
September 28, 2006

Four Japanese survivors of the Hiroshima atomic bombing of Aug. 6, 1945, will visit Northfield next week to talk about their experiences during and after the war. The survivors, called Hibakusha in Japanese, will take part in two public forums Sunday, Sept. 24: at 9:30 a.m. at St. John's Lutheran Church in Northfield, and at 3:30 p.m. at the Northfield Middle School called "Voices of the Past/Voices for the Future: The Human Cost of War." The four also will make presentations at St. Olaf College Monday, Sept. 25, at 10:10 a.m. in Boe Memorial Chapel (followed by a reception) and in the Gould Library at Carleton College Thursday, Sept. 28, at 4:30 p.m.

HiroshimaGenbaku
The Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome) was the only structure left standing in the area where the atomic bomb exploded Aug. 6, 1945. It has been preserved in the same state as immediately after the bombing. Photo by Andrea Woudenberg '05.
The events are a continuation of Northfield's community-wide celebration of the International Day of Peace on Sept. 21.

Although St. Olaf Assistant Professor of Japanese Rika Ito has seen Hiroshima survivors on TV, she's never had an opportunity to hear their stories in person. So she jumped at the opportunity to host the group in Northfield. "I--and I know many others--would like to hear these stories to help understand what happened in the past, where we are right now and what we should do for the future," she says. And the visit is a good fit for St. Olaf's current "Global Citizenship" theme, she adds.

"Given the present status of nuclear awareness in our world," says Karil Kucera, the Luce Assistant Professor of Asian Visual Culture at St. Olaf, "it is vital for people to hear what the impact of a nuclear event could be. The most effective way to do this is to hear about it from eyewitnesses." And as the Hibakusha generation ages, she explains, there will not be many--if any--opportunities to hear them in the United States again.

THE SURVIVORS
The four survivors who will visit Northfield include two men, Kimiyoji Kawasaki and Tadahiko Murata, and two women, Junko Kayashige and Myako Yano.

Kawasaki, the oldest of the group, was a 16-year-old student who helped care for wounded and dying bomb victims at his home for weeks after the event. Yano, who was 14 at the time, was ill the day of the bombing and did not report to her job. The 654 students who had reported to her workplace died instantly. Kayashige, age 6 in 1945, lost two of her sisters in the bombing, while Murata, one year younger, lost three sisters. Murata also will talk about how he was studied afterwards by American and Japanese authorities.

St. Olaf sponsors for the event are: Asian Conversations; Community Life and Diversity; the departments of Asian Studies, history and Political Science; the social sciences faculty; the interdisciplinary and general studies faculty; the Kloeck-Jensen Scholarship for Peace and Justice; the Leraas Fund; and the Office of International Studies. Carleton College sponsors are: Asian Languages and Literature, Asian Studies, the Mellon Faculty Lifecycles grant and Perlman LTC. The organization Northfield People for Peace and Goodwill is an additional sponsor.

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.