New exhibits at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum tell tragedy of atomic bombing
Mar. 17, 2017
by Kanako Noda, Staff Writer
On March 16, an exhibition titled “Exhibition of Newly-donated Items,” which features A-bombed artifacts and personal effects of A-bomb victims that were donated to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in fiscal 2015 (from April 1, 2015 to March 31, 2016), opened in the east wing of the museum in Naka Ward. On display are 98 items, including a wristwatch, clothing, and a lunchbox, which A-bomb survivors themselves had kept or family members had treasured for many years. These items can convey to visitors the tragic nature of the atomic bombing. The exhibition will run until November 30 and no admission fee is required.
A scorched wristwatch, which lost its hands in the A-bomb blast; a broken seal on which the name “Yoshioka” seems to have been inscribed; eyeglasses with broken lenses; and more... These items once belonged to Shoji Yoshioka, who was 31 at the time the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. He worked for the public mobilization section of the Hiroshima Prefectural Police Department. He left his home in Kabe-cho (now part of Asakita Ward) for the city center on the morning of August 6, 1945, but never returned.
A week after the A-bomb attack, Mr. Yoshioka’s relatives came across his remains, and these items, during their search in Sakai-machi (now part of Naka Ward), where a hospital used to be located. It is believed that Mr. Yoshioka had dropped by this hospital on his way to work. Masako Arii, 71, Mr. Yoshioka’s first daughter and a resident of Asakita Ward, donated the items to the museum. She said, “I thought that having people from all over the world see these items and come to know the tragedy of the atomic bombing would allow my father’s soul to rest in peace.”
According to the Peace Memorial Museum, because 2015 was the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing, the museum received as many as 857 items between April 1, 2015 and March 31, 2016, which is four times the number of items it received over the same period of the previous year.
(Originally published on March 17, 2017)
On March 16, an exhibition titled “Exhibition of Newly-donated Items,” which features A-bombed artifacts and personal effects of A-bomb victims that were donated to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in fiscal 2015 (from April 1, 2015 to March 31, 2016), opened in the east wing of the museum in Naka Ward. On display are 98 items, including a wristwatch, clothing, and a lunchbox, which A-bomb survivors themselves had kept or family members had treasured for many years. These items can convey to visitors the tragic nature of the atomic bombing. The exhibition will run until November 30 and no admission fee is required.
A scorched wristwatch, which lost its hands in the A-bomb blast; a broken seal on which the name “Yoshioka” seems to have been inscribed; eyeglasses with broken lenses; and more... These items once belonged to Shoji Yoshioka, who was 31 at the time the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. He worked for the public mobilization section of the Hiroshima Prefectural Police Department. He left his home in Kabe-cho (now part of Asakita Ward) for the city center on the morning of August 6, 1945, but never returned.
A week after the A-bomb attack, Mr. Yoshioka’s relatives came across his remains, and these items, during their search in Sakai-machi (now part of Naka Ward), where a hospital used to be located. It is believed that Mr. Yoshioka had dropped by this hospital on his way to work. Masako Arii, 71, Mr. Yoshioka’s first daughter and a resident of Asakita Ward, donated the items to the museum. She said, “I thought that having people from all over the world see these items and come to know the tragedy of the atomic bombing would allow my father’s soul to rest in peace.”
According to the Peace Memorial Museum, because 2015 was the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing, the museum received as many as 857 items between April 1, 2015 and March 31, 2016, which is four times the number of items it received over the same period of the previous year.
(Originally published on March 17, 2017)
