Many people visit Peace Memorial Museum’s main building to view panoramic model and mannequins on final day
Apr. 26, 2017
by Gosuke Nagahisa and Kanako Noda, Staff Writers
There were many visitors at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, located in Naka Ward, on April 25, the final day before the main building was closed for renovations. Tourists and students on school trips viewed the personal effects of A-bomb victims and photos that depict the devastation wrought by the atomic bomb on August 6, 1945. It was the last chance to see the panoramic model which shows the state of Hiroshima before and after the atomic bombing and the mannequins that resemble A-bomb survivors in the aftermath of the blast.
Many dignitaries have visited the main building, including last year’s visit by then U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. In the morning of the final day, a group of 18 people from the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs of Bangladesh looked closely at the panoramic model of the devastated city after the atomic bombing and other items, guided by Yoshihiko Suwa, the deputy director of the museum. Minister of Liberation War Affairs Mozammel Huq wrote in the museum’s guest book, “We are deeply shocked to see these atrocities. The people affected are still suffering from the A-bomb attack. We condemn the attack.”
The museum was crowded with visitors right up to the closing time of six o’clock and many people were continually gathered in front of the mannequins that depict three A-bomb survivors wandering through the ruined city in the aftermath of the bombing. The City of Hiroshima, which plans to pursue a policy of exhibiting more actual artifacts in connection with full-scale renovations of the facility for seismic reinforcement work, decided to remove the mannequins in 2013. They will be stored but no longer kept on permanent display. Hisako Okayama, a company employee living in Nara, said, “Global conditions are now so unstable that I wish people both in and out of Japan could see the mannequins, which convey the horrific damage caused by a nuclear weapon at one glance.”
Seismic reinforcement work has begun at the main building, which is scheduled to reopen in July 2018. During this period, the personnel effects of A-bomb victims, such as a tattered dress and charred lunchbox, will be exhibited in the special exhibition room on the first floor of the east building. These items will be displayed along with memories written by family members, to communicate the lives of the victims. While most of the clothing is shown in flat display cases, some pieces are placed on stands so visitors can imagine how they were worn. A curator at the museum said, “We’ll try various ways of displaying this clothing, to give living proof of the people that wore them, and adopt these techniques for the main building.” The items will be replaced on a regular basis.
Mieko Ozaki, 61, a resident of Higashi Ward, was working as a volunteer guide on this day. Referring to the fact that the east building of the museum has added a new display which makes use of computer graphic projections, she said, “In the future, too, I’d like to play a role that a machine can’t play, like handing down the desire for peace to children.”
(Originally published on April 26, 2017)
There were many visitors at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, located in Naka Ward, on April 25, the final day before the main building was closed for renovations. Tourists and students on school trips viewed the personal effects of A-bomb victims and photos that depict the devastation wrought by the atomic bomb on August 6, 1945. It was the last chance to see the panoramic model which shows the state of Hiroshima before and after the atomic bombing and the mannequins that resemble A-bomb survivors in the aftermath of the blast.
Many dignitaries have visited the main building, including last year’s visit by then U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. In the morning of the final day, a group of 18 people from the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs of Bangladesh looked closely at the panoramic model of the devastated city after the atomic bombing and other items, guided by Yoshihiko Suwa, the deputy director of the museum. Minister of Liberation War Affairs Mozammel Huq wrote in the museum’s guest book, “We are deeply shocked to see these atrocities. The people affected are still suffering from the A-bomb attack. We condemn the attack.”
The museum was crowded with visitors right up to the closing time of six o’clock and many people were continually gathered in front of the mannequins that depict three A-bomb survivors wandering through the ruined city in the aftermath of the bombing. The City of Hiroshima, which plans to pursue a policy of exhibiting more actual artifacts in connection with full-scale renovations of the facility for seismic reinforcement work, decided to remove the mannequins in 2013. They will be stored but no longer kept on permanent display. Hisako Okayama, a company employee living in Nara, said, “Global conditions are now so unstable that I wish people both in and out of Japan could see the mannequins, which convey the horrific damage caused by a nuclear weapon at one glance.”
Seismic reinforcement work has begun at the main building, which is scheduled to reopen in July 2018. During this period, the personnel effects of A-bomb victims, such as a tattered dress and charred lunchbox, will be exhibited in the special exhibition room on the first floor of the east building. These items will be displayed along with memories written by family members, to communicate the lives of the victims. While most of the clothing is shown in flat display cases, some pieces are placed on stands so visitors can imagine how they were worn. A curator at the museum said, “We’ll try various ways of displaying this clothing, to give living proof of the people that wore them, and adopt these techniques for the main building.” The items will be replaced on a regular basis.
Mieko Ozaki, 61, a resident of Higashi Ward, was working as a volunteer guide on this day. Referring to the fact that the east building of the museum has added a new display which makes use of computer graphic projections, she said, “In the future, too, I’d like to play a role that a machine can’t play, like handing down the desire for peace to children.”
(Originally published on April 26, 2017)
