Panels at Honkawa Elementary School Peace Museum convey A-bomb experience of only survivor of atomic bombing in school at time of bombing
Apr. 20, 2020
(by Kyoko Niiyama, Staff Writer)
The Honkawa Elementary School Peace Museum, located in Hiroshima’s Naka Ward, has recently added panels that tell of the A-bombing experiences of Kiyoko Imori (née Tsutsui), who was at the former Honkawa National School at the time of the atomic bombing and the only student at the school to survive (she died in 2016 at age 82). The school enhanced its museum exhibit with collaboration from the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, also in Naka Ward.
The school was located about 350 meters from the hypocenter and, according to the Record of the A-Bomb Disaster published by the Hiroshima City government, at least 218 of the school’s students died in the atomic bombing. At the moment the bomb detonated, Ms. Imori, then a sixth grader, was on the first floor in the area where students took off their shoes before entering the building.
Newly installed are two panels measuring 75 centimeters tall and 1.5 meters wide. The panels describe a friend whose body was completely burned calling out for help, as well as the nearby river down which numerous dead bodies flowed, in Ms. Imori’s own speaking tone. The panels also show photographs of her father, who was killed in the atomic bombing, and the school building, which was burned to the ground.
The contents of the panels, including the written descriptions and layout, were finished by a curator at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum based on memoirs left by Ms. Imori and a book written by her husband, Hiroteru, 84, who now lives in Yokohama City and who helped Ms. Imori in the work of sharing her A-bombing experiences. Several school graduates and local residents lent their assistance to the creation of the panels.
Preserving part of the ferroconcrete school building that survived the atomic bombing, Honkawa Elementary School established the Peace Museum in 1988. The museum serves as an important base for school students to learn about peace, and is visited by many students on school trips and tourists from overseas. Since April 1, 2019, the museum had been open every day, including weekends and holidays, and approximately 31,000 people visited during that fiscal year. Now, however, the museum is temporarily closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
School principal Yuka Okada said, “I hope students will be able to talk about Ms. Imori’s A-bomb experiences and her thoughts and ideas about peace in their own words, because by doing so, they will gain a better understanding of what happened then at this school.”
(Originally published on April 20, 2020)
The Honkawa Elementary School Peace Museum, located in Hiroshima’s Naka Ward, has recently added panels that tell of the A-bombing experiences of Kiyoko Imori (née Tsutsui), who was at the former Honkawa National School at the time of the atomic bombing and the only student at the school to survive (she died in 2016 at age 82). The school enhanced its museum exhibit with collaboration from the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, also in Naka Ward.
The school was located about 350 meters from the hypocenter and, according to the Record of the A-Bomb Disaster published by the Hiroshima City government, at least 218 of the school’s students died in the atomic bombing. At the moment the bomb detonated, Ms. Imori, then a sixth grader, was on the first floor in the area where students took off their shoes before entering the building.
Newly installed are two panels measuring 75 centimeters tall and 1.5 meters wide. The panels describe a friend whose body was completely burned calling out for help, as well as the nearby river down which numerous dead bodies flowed, in Ms. Imori’s own speaking tone. The panels also show photographs of her father, who was killed in the atomic bombing, and the school building, which was burned to the ground.
The contents of the panels, including the written descriptions and layout, were finished by a curator at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum based on memoirs left by Ms. Imori and a book written by her husband, Hiroteru, 84, who now lives in Yokohama City and who helped Ms. Imori in the work of sharing her A-bombing experiences. Several school graduates and local residents lent their assistance to the creation of the panels.
Preserving part of the ferroconcrete school building that survived the atomic bombing, Honkawa Elementary School established the Peace Museum in 1988. The museum serves as an important base for school students to learn about peace, and is visited by many students on school trips and tourists from overseas. Since April 1, 2019, the museum had been open every day, including weekends and holidays, and approximately 31,000 people visited during that fiscal year. Now, however, the museum is temporarily closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
School principal Yuka Okada said, “I hope students will be able to talk about Ms. Imori’s A-bomb experiences and her thoughts and ideas about peace in their own words, because by doing so, they will gain a better understanding of what happened then at this school.”
(Originally published on April 20, 2020)
