Hiroshima Municipal Board of Education also removes description of Daigo Fukuryu Maru from peace materials for junior high school students
Mar. 2, 2023
by Fumiyasu Miyano and Yohei Yamamoto, Staff Writers
On March 1, it was learned the Hiroshima Municipal Board of Education, which decided to remove the manga Barefoot Gen from materials for elementary school students in its peace education program, would also remove from the materials for junior high school students a description of the Daigo Fukuryu Maru, (The Lucky Dragon No. 5) a tuna fishing boat in Shizuoka Prefecture that was exposed to radiation from a United States hydrogen bomb test. A member of the city board of education explained, “The learning content is not designed to ensure that the reality of radiation exposure around the world is passed on to the next generation.”
On March 1, 1954, the Daigo Fukuryu Maru was exposed to radioactive “ashes of death” from the hydrogen test at the Marshall Islands’ Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, and all 23 crew members were exposed to radiation. In the current materials, for third-year junior high school students studying the world’s current situation regarding nuclear weapons, the late radio chief Aikichi Kuboyama’s words, “I hope I am the last victim of atomic and hydrogen bombs,” are introduced with a photo.
According to the city board of education, it was pointed out at a meeting of experts on the program that only the description of the Fukuryu Maru’s exposure to radiation was included in the materials. In the new materials, it will be deleted, and instead, the world’s nuclear test-affected sites such as Bikini Atoll, will be shown on the map. A member of Teacher Supervisory Division II said, “The Fukuryu Maru is also covered in social studies textbooks in municipal junior high schools and can be related and taught in the class.”
On the other hand, Mari Ichida, a curator at the Daigo Fukuryu Maru Exhibition Hall in Tokyo, said, “Can the reality of radiation exposure be conveyed without a description of the Fukuryu Maru? I had the impression that the suffering of the A-bomb survivors would be left out.”
(Originally published on March 2, 2023)
On March 1, it was learned the Hiroshima Municipal Board of Education, which decided to remove the manga Barefoot Gen from materials for elementary school students in its peace education program, would also remove from the materials for junior high school students a description of the Daigo Fukuryu Maru, (The Lucky Dragon No. 5) a tuna fishing boat in Shizuoka Prefecture that was exposed to radiation from a United States hydrogen bomb test. A member of the city board of education explained, “The learning content is not designed to ensure that the reality of radiation exposure around the world is passed on to the next generation.”
On March 1, 1954, the Daigo Fukuryu Maru was exposed to radioactive “ashes of death” from the hydrogen test at the Marshall Islands’ Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, and all 23 crew members were exposed to radiation. In the current materials, for third-year junior high school students studying the world’s current situation regarding nuclear weapons, the late radio chief Aikichi Kuboyama’s words, “I hope I am the last victim of atomic and hydrogen bombs,” are introduced with a photo.
According to the city board of education, it was pointed out at a meeting of experts on the program that only the description of the Fukuryu Maru’s exposure to radiation was included in the materials. In the new materials, it will be deleted, and instead, the world’s nuclear test-affected sites such as Bikini Atoll, will be shown on the map. A member of Teacher Supervisory Division II said, “The Fukuryu Maru is also covered in social studies textbooks in municipal junior high schools and can be related and taught in the class.”
On the other hand, Mari Ichida, a curator at the Daigo Fukuryu Maru Exhibition Hall in Tokyo, said, “Can the reality of radiation exposure be conveyed without a description of the Fukuryu Maru? I had the impression that the suffering of the A-bomb survivors would be left out.”
(Originally published on March 2, 2023)
