Message to Hiroshima Summit: Morley Robertson, international journalist, pins hopes on citizens to communicate information about tragedy of atomic bombings
Jan. 4, 2023
by Michiko Tanaka, Senior Staff Writer
Morley Robertson, 59, spent the formative years of his youth in the city of Hiroshima. His father was an American physician who worked at the Radiation Effects Research Foundation (RERF), located in Hiroshima’s Minami Ward. Morley has kept his eye on international affairs over a span of many years. With worldwide attention focused on Hiroshima because of the upcoming summit meeting of the G7 (Group of Seven industrialized nations), he says Hiroshima citizens have the power to convey to the world a more accurate picture of the atomic bombings.
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I truly wonder how much information about Hiroshima will be communicated to the world by the leaders scheduled to gather at the summit. To be honest, I’m not expecting a whole lot. They all will place a priority on their own domestic affairs. They need to win elections and maintain their positions. All the leaders will say they intend to “take back home the reality of the atomic bombings,” but that is simply a platitude. In European countries, for example, the situation in Ukraine has caused electricity bills to skyrocket, making life harder for everyone. Even if the leaders were to mention the A-bombed cities, the public will likely say, “That’s fine, but reduce our electricity bills first.”
I actually am placing my hopes on the public. In this day and age, information is easily shared across the globe over the internet. Some people are still surprised to learn that people were forced to die miserable deaths due to the blast, thermal rays, and radiation from the atomic bombings. You might think, “Is that really true?” But so many people in the world do not take nuclear weapons seriously. Russian President Vladimir Putin doesn’t understand that there is no such thing as a nuclear weapon whose damage can be curtailed.
Mr. Robertson came to Japan when he was five with his father, who committed to work for the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission (ABCC), RERF’s predecessor organization. Morley returned to the United States when he was a second-year student at Shudo Junior High School, but later spent about one year at Shudo High School as an international exchange student.
I completely turned into a Hiroshima person. I read the manga series Barefoot Gen in real time. When I was in college in America, I reacted against the lack of awareness about nuclear weapons among the people around me. They simply thought, “They’re just a worse version of conventional weapons, right?”
In the 1980s, some television programs in the United States were warning people of the devastation caused by nuclear weapons. The programs were produced by people who were working to promote peace. Still, the shows did not reveal the terrible, hell-like scenes after the atomic bombings, and their content was woefully insufficient. As far as the atomic bombings were concerned, America was the aggressor nation, but that reality is not taught in schools there. I think reporting the reality of the situation was avoided because that would have forced the country to accept responsibility for the situation.
Mr. Robertson said he was moved by the sight of then-U.S. President Barack Obama standing in the A-bombed city in May 2016.
He represented the very first attempt by the U.S. to confront the reality of the atomic bombings. “You’ve finally opened the door,” I said to myself, moved to tears. That door has not been closed. I hope that Hiroshima’s citizens will take the opportunity presented by the summit to convey more graphic accounts of the reality of the atomic bombings and share that information with people around the world. Use of videos and animation now makes it easy to convey such information in an easy-to-understand manner.
If that can be done, more people would think, “Wow, this Russian aggression must be stopped.” The circle of solidarity surrounding that issue might grow larger. People might then hesitate to buy natural resources from Russia, even if their electricity bills are a bit more expensive. Or, they might decide to endure the cold by putting on one more sweater. I hope the messages from Hiroshima can also be communicated to the Russian people, including their soldiers.
Morley Robertson
Born in the U.S. state of New York to an American father and a Japanese mother in 1963, Morley Robertson attended Itsukaichi-minami Elementary School, Shudo Junior High School, and Shudo High School among others before getting into the University of Tokyo and Harvard University in his senior year of high school, in 1981. He graduated from Harvard University in 1988 and now works as a commentator and musician.
(Originally published on January 4, 2023)
Morley Robertson, 59, spent the formative years of his youth in the city of Hiroshima. His father was an American physician who worked at the Radiation Effects Research Foundation (RERF), located in Hiroshima’s Minami Ward. Morley has kept his eye on international affairs over a span of many years. With worldwide attention focused on Hiroshima because of the upcoming summit meeting of the G7 (Group of Seven industrialized nations), he says Hiroshima citizens have the power to convey to the world a more accurate picture of the atomic bombings.
===========================
I truly wonder how much information about Hiroshima will be communicated to the world by the leaders scheduled to gather at the summit. To be honest, I’m not expecting a whole lot. They all will place a priority on their own domestic affairs. They need to win elections and maintain their positions. All the leaders will say they intend to “take back home the reality of the atomic bombings,” but that is simply a platitude. In European countries, for example, the situation in Ukraine has caused electricity bills to skyrocket, making life harder for everyone. Even if the leaders were to mention the A-bombed cities, the public will likely say, “That’s fine, but reduce our electricity bills first.”
I actually am placing my hopes on the public. In this day and age, information is easily shared across the globe over the internet. Some people are still surprised to learn that people were forced to die miserable deaths due to the blast, thermal rays, and radiation from the atomic bombings. You might think, “Is that really true?” But so many people in the world do not take nuclear weapons seriously. Russian President Vladimir Putin doesn’t understand that there is no such thing as a nuclear weapon whose damage can be curtailed.
Mr. Robertson came to Japan when he was five with his father, who committed to work for the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission (ABCC), RERF’s predecessor organization. Morley returned to the United States when he was a second-year student at Shudo Junior High School, but later spent about one year at Shudo High School as an international exchange student.
I completely turned into a Hiroshima person. I read the manga series Barefoot Gen in real time. When I was in college in America, I reacted against the lack of awareness about nuclear weapons among the people around me. They simply thought, “They’re just a worse version of conventional weapons, right?”
In the 1980s, some television programs in the United States were warning people of the devastation caused by nuclear weapons. The programs were produced by people who were working to promote peace. Still, the shows did not reveal the terrible, hell-like scenes after the atomic bombings, and their content was woefully insufficient. As far as the atomic bombings were concerned, America was the aggressor nation, but that reality is not taught in schools there. I think reporting the reality of the situation was avoided because that would have forced the country to accept responsibility for the situation.
Mr. Robertson said he was moved by the sight of then-U.S. President Barack Obama standing in the A-bombed city in May 2016.
He represented the very first attempt by the U.S. to confront the reality of the atomic bombings. “You’ve finally opened the door,” I said to myself, moved to tears. That door has not been closed. I hope that Hiroshima’s citizens will take the opportunity presented by the summit to convey more graphic accounts of the reality of the atomic bombings and share that information with people around the world. Use of videos and animation now makes it easy to convey such information in an easy-to-understand manner.
If that can be done, more people would think, “Wow, this Russian aggression must be stopped.” The circle of solidarity surrounding that issue might grow larger. People might then hesitate to buy natural resources from Russia, even if their electricity bills are a bit more expensive. Or, they might decide to endure the cold by putting on one more sweater. I hope the messages from Hiroshima can also be communicated to the Russian people, including their soldiers.
Morley Robertson
Born in the U.S. state of New York to an American father and a Japanese mother in 1963, Morley Robertson attended Itsukaichi-minami Elementary School, Shudo Junior High School, and Shudo High School among others before getting into the University of Tokyo and Harvard University in his senior year of high school, in 1981. He graduated from Harvard University in 1988 and now works as a commentator and musician.
(Originally published on January 4, 2023)
