A Cloudy Day in Hiroshima

Today in Hiroshima, I went to the museum about the city's history and bombing and how it affected the Japanese people. There were lots of interesting perspectives on the event and it was fascinating to hear about it from another perspective, although much more sad to hear about. One of the most memorable things to me though, was how much the cloud that resulted from the atomic bomb was discussed, portrayed, and photographed.

It was remarkable just how often I would see these photos of the resulting cloud. In fact, there was an entire hall dedicated almost exclusively to photos of the clouds from the dropping of the atomic bomb. This in particular was significant because it felt like the mushroom cloud of the atomic bomb had almost become a symbol to the Japanese people. It was close enough to home to be a reminder, widely seen even by people not caught in the bomb, and also just barely impersonal enough to not cause the same emotional pain that other artifacts of the bombing could bring.

This way of remembering and talking about the atomic bomb was a very interesting reflection on how the Japanese people were trying to deal with the difficult history that was the atomic bombing. Like many other countries and events, they didn't want to forget this major historical event. It was a part of their history that shaped a part of Japan into what it is today. Yet, at the same time they wanted to make it something a little bit more digestible for their every day lives, even if there were specific places, times, experiences, or memories relating to this event that could bring shorter term but poignant pains. It almost feels like a memorial and symbol that reflects Japan's need at the time to force their way forward, recover, and survive.