World War II: Hiroshima

[hiraikotsu]

Unlike what was first feared, this thread has turned out to be both interesting and informative

[richvh]

I visited Hiroshima a few times during my turn of duty in Japan. Big(ish) city, not a lot of tall buildings so far as I can recall, big park downtown (Peace Park) with a museum about the bomb blast and its aftermath and A-Bomb Dome (building under the center of the blast whose steel skeleton survived the blast) is nearby.

[two_heads_talking]

prep_girl_Nessa wrote:


Wikipedia... why did I totally forget I could wikipedia that? I mean, Google would have returned a lot of nothing, I think, but wikipedia I should have known. .

because wikipedia isn't always the most accurate. and google only shows what gets the most hits while paying for advertising it's page.. it's all a market out there.

[Hiroshi]

Thank you for all of your responses. The information here will definitely help in my research. More opinions are of course still welcome.

[chikara]

prep_girl_Nessa wrote:
Ok, real question - What does the Hiroshima of today look like? Because I ... just assumed it didn't exist anymore.....

You're joking, right?

Have you ever even looked at a map of Japan? Never heard of or seen pictures of the 原爆ドーム (A-Bomb Dome)?

BTW Nagasaki still exists also.

[Mike Cash]

chikara wrote:
BTW Nagasaki still exists also.

I visited Nagasaki while I was in the US Navy....in uniform.

Now that was an interesting experience.

[prep_girl_Nessa]

chikara wrote:

prep_girl_Nessa wrote:
Ok, real question - What does the Hiroshima of today look like? Because I ... just assumed it didn't exist anymore.....

You're joking, right?

Have you ever even looked at a map of Japan? Never heard of or seen pictures of the 原爆ドーム (A-Bomb Dome)?

Well, sorry. I wasn't sure if the maps label the city or just where it was, and I've never heard of the A-Bomb Dome. Until about 2 or 3 years ago, I cared very little about anything outside of the States, and I've been trying to play catch-up since then.

Growing up in my house I wasn't exposed to much international stuff. (Don't even ask my Dad'd view on the whole international thing... he has some pretty funny ideas though xD)

[two_heads_talking]

Mike Cash wrote:

chikara wrote:
BTW Nagasaki still exists also.

I visited Nagasaki while I was in the US Navy....in uniform.

Now that was an interesting experience.

visited a few years back for a joint mission with the jietai.. japanese and americans in uniform paying homage.. it was a different experience for the soldiers than it was for those that were not military.. I can vouch for that anyways.

[Hiroshi]

Japan had already submitted plans of surrender almost a month before the bombing occured, yet the US stilled dropped the bomb in August. Is this knowledge known by Japanese people, and does this affect their opinions toward the bombing?

[clay]

Submitted to whom?

[witega]

Submitted by whom?

It was my understanding that the Emperor's actual surrender message, the one broadcast after the bombs, had to be smuggled out of the Imperial Residence because certain hard-line elements in the military leadership were still not prepared to accept surrender and would have attempted to block its promulgation.

[Hiroshi]

Military leadership did not want to surrender, but the Emperor had contacted the USSR to mediate peace negotiations between Japan and the US.

[clay]

Your first post implied the US had knowledge in hand of Japan's surrender and decided to drop the bomb anyway. You should be careful about implications you may inadvertently make.

[coco]

Hiroshi wrote:
Is this knowledge known by Japanese people,

I think many people who are interested in modern history know about it.

clay wrote:
Your first post implied the US had knowledge in hand of Japan's surrender and decided to drop the bomb anyway.

日本の外交暗号はほぼ解読されていた(The MAGIC Documents)ので、和平交渉の動きがあったことは既に知られていたのではないかと思いますが…。

Yudan Taiteki wrote:
No offense to the poster, but I would suggest that admins watch this carefully and lock this at the first sign of trouble in respect to the "no politics" rule. I have never seen a discussion about Hiroshima not result in bad feelings all around at the end.

おっしゃるとおり、扱いが難しい話題です。
--
(↓)
戦争終結のために原爆投下は必要だったと考える人の気持ちも理解できます。私自身、アメリカ国民であれば同じ気持ちを持ったかもしれないと思うので。

[Yudan Taiteki]

(EDIT: I think what I posted probably is not good for the thread...)