Hiroshima, the Bomb and Obama: I was in Kyoto 3 weeks ago with a day to spare and a lifelong promise to fill so I took the Shinkansen (Bullet Train) down to Hiroshima, a journey of...

eden

I was in Kyoto 3 weeks ago with a day to spare and a lifelong promise to fill so I took the Shinkansen (Bullet Train) down to Hiroshima, a journey of about 2 hours. It is spring now in Japan but this was one of those rainy overcast cool days that reminded you more of the past winter than spring. Hiroshima looks like a lot of other Japanese cities, clean, bustling, serenely businesslike. You take a Number 6 Tram from the central Railway Station downtown to the Peace Park where there is a Tram stop right outside.
There is a curious contrast of normalcy outside the Park with shops, offices and people, traffic up and down the street in both directions, but seemingly oblivious to the ghastly event of 70 years ago. That normalcy fades into an audible backdrop once you step through the gate. The stark presence of the bombed building is visceral, almost overpowering with its vaporized windows, burnt masonry walls and skeletal dome atop what was once the atrium. Physically the structure has been left intact as it was just after the blast with nothing repaired or replaced. You cannot enter but you can walk around the landscaped perimeter of the former Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall. It is a time to pause and read the commemorative plaques but it is also a time to muse on the event, the larger geopolitical reasoning, the military rationale, the debate that continues to today about the necessity of bombing a military target with the full knowledge of the massive civilian casualties that would ensue. Beyond the muse is a reflection on the unfortunate human habit of warfare and its stark consequences.
There were many people there that day, despite the rain and the cold. The usual groups of foreigners but also a lot of very ordinary looking Japanese, some in groups of children that looked like school tours with adults leading them from plaque to monument, pausing to read, take pictures and smile for the camera. Nearby me was a small group of what looked like an extended family with several children of mixed ages led by a much older man whom I would have guessed to have been around 10 years old at the time of the bombing. He spoke quietly while the children listened in respectful silence. My Japanese was too rusty to follow him but from his gestures to the sky and the building it was not difficult to understand the narrative. After a moment he stopped speaking and just stood there looking out into the gray western sky, paused in reverie it seemed, of that event so long ago but as near in this moment as yesterday. After 30 seconds or so he seemed to collect himself and led his charges away.
President Obama will visit this site on Friday and as the first sitting US President to do so,will no doubt make one of his profound iconic speeches but he is the wrong person to be here in one sense. Better that the aspirants to his job (from all sides) come here and breath some of this air, listen to the rain and ponder the nature of humans and our deeply flawed tribal responses to threat and loss and disempowerment.
Is warfare necessary? Based on my own life I am obliged to concede it is an occasional necessity.
What is not necessary is the unsk**led, reactive and un evolved way we enter conflicts. Can we as a species act with restraint, resorting to such action only as a last resort, putting ourselves in our supposed enemies shoes? Can America walk softly again?

Perhaps that was the silent wish of the old man in the park.

Hemiman Loc: Communist California

eden wrote:

I was in Kyoto 3 weeks ago with a day to spare and a lifelong promise to fill so I took the Shinkansen (Bullet Train) down to Hiroshima, a journey of about 2 hours. It is spring now in Japan but this was one of those rainy overcast cool days that reminded you more of the past winter than spring. Hiroshima looks like a lot of other Japanese cities, clean, bustling, serenely businesslike. You take a Number 6 Tram from the central Railway Station downtown to the Peace Park where there is a Tram stop right outside.
There is a curious contrast of normalcy outside the Park with shops, offices and people, traffic up and down the street in both directions, but seemingly oblivious to the ghastly event of 70 years ago. That normalcy fades into an audible backdrop once you step through the gate. The stark presence of the bombed building is visceral, almost overpowering with its vaporized windows, burnt masonry walls and skeletal dome atop what was once the atrium. Physically the structure has been left intact as it was just after the blast with nothing repaired or replaced. You cannot enter but you can walk around the landscaped perimeter of the former Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall. It is a time to pause and read the commemorative plaques but it is also a time to muse on the event, the larger geopolitical reasoning, the military rationale, the debate that continues to today about the necessity of bombing a military target with the full knowledge of the massive civilian casualties that would ensue. Beyond the muse is a reflection on the unfortunate human habit of warfare and its stark consequences.
There were many people there that day, despite the rain and the cold. The usual groups of foreigners but also a lot of very ordinary looking Japanese, some in groups of children that looked like school tours with adults leading them from plaque to monument, pausing to read, take pictures and smile for the camera. Nearby me was a small group of what looked like an extended family with several children of mixed ages led by a much older man whom I would have guessed to have been around 10 years old at the time of the bombing. He spoke quietly while the children listened in respectful silence. My Japanese was too rusty to follow him but from his gestures to the sky and the building it was not difficult to understand the narrative. After a moment he stopped speaking and just stood there looking out into the gray western sky, paused in reverie it seemed, of that event so long ago but as near in this moment as yesterday. After 30 seconds or so he seemed to collect himself and led his charges away.
President Obama will visit this site on Friday and as the first sitting US President to do so,will no doubt make one of his profound iconic speeches but he is the wrong person to be here in one sense. Better that the aspirants to his job (from all sides) come here and breath some of this air, listen to the rain and ponder the nature of humans and our deeply flawed tribal responses to threat and loss and disempowerment.
Is warfare necessary? Based on my own life I am obliged to concede it is an occasional necessity.
What is not necessary is the unsk**led, reactive and un evolved way we enter conflicts. Can we as a species act with restraint, resorting to such action only as a last resort, putting ourselves in our supposed enemies shoes? Can America walk softly again?

Perhaps that was the silent wish of the old man in the park.

I was in Kyoto 3 weeks ago with a day to spare and... (show quote)

Maybe the old man was telling the children how many American lives this saved,I noticed you didn't bother to mention it,but then why would you,right?

eden

Hemiman wrote:

Maybe the old man was telling the children how many American lives this saved,I noticed you didn't bother to mention it,but then why would you,right?

Maybe this kind of thing is simply wasted on people who don't bother to read the full text of my posts and settle instead on their own kneejerk response to anything they can twist to fit their own narrative. If you dont get it why should I bother explaining?

Hemiman Loc: Communist California

eden wrote:

Maybe this kind of thing is simply wasted on people who don't bother to read the full text of my posts and settle instead on their own kneejerk response to anything they can twist to fit their own narrative. If you dont get it why should I bother explaining?

I did ,what did I miss.

valkyrierider Loc: "Land of Trump"

To my knowledge this saved many lives on both sides of the fence and it was done to stop a senseless war. I read the book on Hiroshima and Nagasaki many years ago. It should be required reading for all high school and college graduates. This book lets you know how much thought went into this action against the Japanese and what entailed in the aftermath. This was an apporatate action and the results were needed at the time. The USA had leadership in those days. we do not have leadership in todays government.
We need someone like Trump in the Whitehouse.

Hemiman Loc: Communist California

valkyrierider wrote:

To my knowledge this saved many lives on both side... (show quote)

plainlogic

Or could it be, the old man wondered why Hirohito would have caused it's people such destruction. The Bomb, did save thousands of lives on both sides.

The problem today is: war is supposed to be terror and horror, this should keep nations from starting them. War is k*****g, mayhem, leading to atrocities by some. Civilians of all ages are put in harms way; by using political correctness on the battlefield changes the dynamic of warfare to a feckless military in the eyes of the world.

There is nothing wrong for leaders of the world to tour the remains of the A-Bomb destruction in Japan. It should bring to mind to all nations what the atomic age brought and what the proliferation of these type weapons could bring at any time if uncontrolled. Are nations paying attention? No! If history is not used for guidance of mistakes made, they will repeat them.

Ricko Loc: Florida

eden wrote:

I was in Kyoto 3 weeks ago with a day to spare and a lifelong promise to fill so I took the Shinkansen (Bullet Train) down to Hiroshima, a journey of about 2 hours. It is spring now in Japan but this was one of those rainy overcast cool days that reminded you more of the past winter than spring. Hiroshima looks like a lot of other Japanese cities, clean, bustling, serenely businesslike. You take a Number 6 Tram from the central Railway Station downtown to the Peace Park where there is a Tram stop right outside.
There is a curious contrast of normalcy outside the Park with shops, offices and people, traffic up and down the street in both directions, but seemingly oblivious to the ghastly event of 70 years ago. That normalcy fades into an audible backdrop once you step through the gate. The stark presence of the bombed building is visceral, almost overpowering with its vaporized windows, burnt masonry walls and skeletal dome atop what was once the atrium. Physically the structure has been left intact as it was just after the blast with nothing repaired or replaced. You cannot enter but you can walk around the landscaped perimeter of the former Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall. It is a time to pause and read the commemorative plaques but it is also a time to muse on the event, the larger geopolitical reasoning, the military rationale, the debate that continues to today about the necessity of bombing a military target with the full knowledge of the massive civilian casualties that would ensue. Beyond the muse is a reflection on the unfortunate human habit of warfare and its stark consequences.
There were many people there that day, despite the rain and the cold. The usual groups of foreigners but also a lot of very ordinary looking Japanese, some in groups of children that looked like school tours with adults leading them from plaque to monument, pausing to read, take pictures and smile for the camera. Nearby me was a small group of what looked like an extended family with several children of mixed ages led by a much older man whom I would have guessed to have been around 10 years old at the time of the bombing. He spoke quietly while the children listened in respectful silence. My Japanese was too rusty to follow him but from his gestures to the sky and the building it was not difficult to understand the narrative. After a moment he stopped speaking and just stood there looking out into the gray western sky, paused in reverie it seemed, of that event so long ago but as near in this moment as yesterday. After 30 seconds or so he seemed to collect himself and led his charges away.
President Obama will visit this site on Friday and as the first sitting US President to do so,will no doubt make one of his profound iconic speeches but he is the wrong person to be here in one sense. Better that the aspirants to his job (from all sides) come here and breath some of this air, listen to the rain and ponder the nature of humans and our deeply flawed tribal responses to threat and loss and disempowerment.
Is warfare necessary? Based on my own life I am obliged to concede it is an occasional necessity.
What is not necessary is the unsk**led, reactive and un evolved way we enter conflicts. Can we as a species act with restraint, resorting to such action only as a last resort, putting ourselves in our supposed enemies shoes? Can America walk softly again?

Perhaps that was the silent wish of the old man in the park.

I was in Kyoto 3 weeks ago with a day to spare and... (show quote)

eden-your post brought back memories. Our actions in 1945 saved lives on both sides. Remember that we dropped Little Boy on Hiroshima on Aug 6 (15 kilotons) and the Japanese still refused to surrender. On Aug 9, we dropped Fat Man on Nagasaki (22 kilotons) and that brought them to the table. The Japanese attacked us probably thinking that we were an easy target since we were occupied fighting in Europe. I believe we made the right choice in ending the war as opposed to it lingering on for years. Six years later we tested four nuclear devices from the Enewetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The largest device was 220 Kilotons (220 thousand tons of TNT). Google Project Greenhouse, 1951, for a view of that blast. PS. It will be difficult for America to be docile as long as ISIS exists. Good Luck America !!!

GRB777

Brain washing has been quite effective in America. Dropping bombs on people doesn't save lives. The little boys in charge had a new toy and were going to use it no matter what the circumstances. America had to show Russia that they were insane enough to do the insane. Nothing has changed; there are just a new group of little boys pushing the buttons now. In GODS perfect justice, "you reap what you sow", you America will be the next recipient of nuclear murder. You haven't repented and you haven't learned a thing. You murder more people than the rest of the world combined, and then have the nerve to ask GOD to bless you for your depravity. If you knew your history you would know that it was your lunatic president FDR who started that war. You have a lunatic in that office today; what have you learned?

mongo Loc: TEXAS

eden wrote:

I was in Kyoto 3 weeks ago with a day to spare and a lifelong promise to fill so I took the Shinkansen (Bullet Train) down to Hiroshima, a journey of about 2 hours. It is spring now in Japan but this was one of those rainy overcast cool days that reminded you more of the past winter than spring. Hiroshima looks like a lot of other Japanese cities, clean, bustling, serenely businesslike. You take a Number 6 Tram from the central Railway Station downtown to the Peace Park where there is a Tram stop right outside.
There is a curious contrast of normalcy outside the Park with shops, offices and people, traffic up and down the street in both directions, but seemingly oblivious to the ghastly event of 70 years ago. That normalcy fades into an audible backdrop once you step through the gate. The stark presence of the bombed building is visceral, almost overpowering with its vaporized windows, burnt masonry walls and skeletal dome atop what was once the atrium. Physically the structure has been left intact as it was just after the blast with nothing repaired or replaced. You cannot enter but you can walk around the landscaped perimeter of the former Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall. It is a time to pause and read the commemorative plaques but it is also a time to muse on the event, the larger geopolitical reasoning, the military rationale, the debate that continues to today about the necessity of bombing a military target with the full knowledge of the massive civilian casualties that would ensue. Beyond the muse is a reflection on the unfortunate human habit of warfare and its stark consequences.
There were many people there that day, despite the rain and the cold. The usual groups of foreigners but also a lot of very ordinary looking Japanese, some in groups of children that looked like school tours with adults leading them from plaque to monument, pausing to read, take pictures and smile for the camera. Nearby me was a small group of what looked like an extended family with several children of mixed ages led by a much older man whom I would have guessed to have been around 10 years old at the time of the bombing. He spoke quietly while the children listened in respectful silence. My Japanese was too rusty to follow him but from his gestures to the sky and the building it was not difficult to understand the narrative. After a moment he stopped speaking and just stood there looking out into the gray western sky, paused in reverie it seemed, of that event so long ago but as near in this moment as yesterday. After 30 seconds or so he seemed to collect himself and led his charges away.
President Obama will visit this site on Friday and as the first sitting US President to do so,will no doubt make one of his profound iconic speeches but he is the wrong person to be here in one sense. Better that the aspirants to his job (from all sides) come here and breath some of this air, listen to the rain and ponder the nature of humans and our deeply flawed tribal responses to threat and loss and disempowerment.
Is warfare necessary? Based on my own life I am obliged to concede it is an occasional necessity.
What is not necessary is the unsk**led, reactive and un evolved way we enter conflicts. Can we as a species act with restraint, resorting to such action only as a last resort, putting ourselves in our supposed enemies shoes? Can America walk softly again?

Perhaps that was the silent wish of the old man in the park.

I was in Kyoto 3 weeks ago with a day to spare and... (show quote)

Back in the seventies, I was in Japan and had the pleasure of talking to an elderly man that was scarred from the blast. He expressed to me that even though he would have liked to have seen a different end to the war, the bomb was the only alternative at the time. The Japanese had most of their young men so brainwashed on honor through death that the war would have d**gged on for years. (Similar to isis.) But he said the affect it had on the population was devastating, but gave the citizens the opportunity to band together to get out from under government s***ery, structure and rebuild their country. The war stopped quickly after the bombing, and even though there is still mourning of the dead, the country prospered. They where an extremely hostile country, putting all their wealth into their military in an attempt to control first asia, then the world. Since then, they have concentrated on their citizens and had received large contracts from the United States that brought them the income to rebuild.
Everyone has an opinion on what could have been and what should have been, but the country is flourishing since that time of war regardless of any theories about it.

SEMPER FI

Ricko Loc: Florida

GRB777 wrote:

Brain washing has been quite effective in America.... (show quote)

GRB777-So your solution would have been to keep on fighting and losing more American lives in a war in which we were defending ourselves ! What is your solution for ISIS ? Should we just let them keep lopping heads off until they tire of so doing ? You sound like a peacenik who is far removed from the real world. Yes FDR did start the war but not against Japan. They attacked us and had we not used the "A" bombs the Japanese would have fought until the last one of their men fell which would have been years. The costs in both lives and treasure would have been more than our country could bear. Our current threat is Radical Islam. It looks like Great Britain, France, Germany, and Belgium have allowed these peace loving Muslims to enter their country in large numbers and they are now reaping the rewards. Good Luck America !!!

Hemiman Loc: Communist California

GRB777 wrote:

Brain washing has been quite effective in America.... (show quote)

What country has your allegiance,It doesn't sound like America the way you frame you're comments.

Ricko Loc: Florida

Hemiman wrote:

What country has your allegiance,It doesn't sound like America the way you frame you're comments.

Hemiman-GRB would have to be Great Britain. GRB777-says we have not learned much but they are the ones inundated with Muslims who have taken over parts of London where it is no longer safe for British citizens to enter. He/she is most likely a Limey. Good Luck America !!!

Hemiman Loc: Communist California

Ricko wrote:

Hemiman-GRB would have to be Great Britain. GRB777-says we have not learned much but they are the ones inundated with Muslims who have taken over parts of London where it is no longer safe for British citizens to enter. He/she is most likely a Limey. Good Luck America !!!

Yeah that fits,thanks.

eden

GRB777 wrote:

Brain washing has been quite effective in America.... (show quote)

Oh but if it were that simple... This less about any particular country as it is about the human condition. The fear driven need for power and control is a portable model that can applied to almost any culture and seasoned with religious extremism is a potential runaway train that threatens all life on the planet. Pray for cool heads in flawed governments
because calling on God has fallen on deaf ears so far ...