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Singer-songwriter HIPPY releases video in eight languages of Hiroshima’s present-day appearance, A-bomb survivor’s testimony, and music

by Aya Kano, Staff Writer

The singer-songwriter HIPPY, 40, who lives in Hiroshima’s Asaminami Ward, and Kohei Tatsutomi, 22, a senior at Hiroshima City University who lives in Nishi Ward, have completed production of a video based on the theme of the milestone 75th anniversary of the atomic bombing. HIPPY has organized an event held on the 6th of each month to provide the opportunity to listen to A-bomb survivors recounting their A-bombing experiences, in conjunction with the Hiroshima A-bombing anniversary on August 6. Along with a song that describes gratitude for daily life, the video includes testimony of the A-bombing experience recalled by Emiko Okada, 83, an A-bomb survivor who lives in Hiroshima’s Higashi Ward. To show the recovery of the present-day Hiroshima, a city where it was once believed that no grass or trees would grow for 75 years after the bombing, the video in eight languages has been posted on a video-sharing website.

The video is about eight-and-a-half minutes in length. It begins with a scene in which Ms. Okada and her granddaughter look over the city center of Hiroshima from the roof of a building, while HIPPY’s song “Hibi-no Harmony” (Harmony in Daily Life) plays in the background. Surfacing in Ms. Okada’s facial expressions is the distress felt waiting for the return of her missing older sister, who Ms. Okada wants to tell she is awaiting her return with the front door open. Never identified after the atomic bombing, her sister was 12 years old at the time and a first-year student at First Hiroshima Prefectural Girls’ High School (now Minami High School).

HIPPY is a member of a volunteer group that holds events to provide opportunities to listen to A-bomb survivors’ testimonies in the downtown area of Hiroshima’s Naka Ward. He took over management of the group after its founder, Yojiro Tomie, died from lung cancer in 2017 at the age of 37. Since March of this year, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the group’s events are now being held online.

As summer approached in the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombing, at a time when many people have not been able to listen to A-bomb survivors’ stories in person partly due to the coronavirus pandemic, HIPPY began to consider recording the completely changed appearance of Hiroshima as well as A-bomb survivors’ testimonies about the atomic bombing. He met with Mr. Tatsutomi, a university student producer of digital videos for companies and musical groups, and started making plans about the video’s content. Looking back on production of the work, Mr. Tatsutomi said, “While editing the recorded video, I went over Ms. Okada’s facial expressions and her testimonial again and again. She said the experience was something that happened 75 years ago already but that it wasn’t yet over. That message was gut-wrenching for me.”

Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui and Takahiro Arai, 43, a former player for the professional Hiroshima Carp baseball team, make an appearance in the second half of the video. They each speak about their impressions of the project and about their views of Hiroshima. Ms. Okada said, “We cannot change the past but it’s possible to change the future. I am happy that the group partners were able to convey a message about Hiroshima from their own specialties, namely music and video.” HIPPY said, “The landscape of Hiroshima has changed dramatically over the past 75 years, but the feelings in Hiroshima are unchanged. I want to communicate this to younger generations.”

The video has subtitles in English, Korean, Chinese, Spanish, German, French, and Portuguese, as well as in Japanese. The video is posted on “Hipi-do HIPPY,” the artist’s official channel on the video-sharing platform YouTube.

(Originally published on August 19, 2020)

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