A-bomb victim’s blood-stained shirt represents plea for nuclear abolition: Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum begins exhibit of 150 newly arrived items
Sep. 15, 2023
by Kaoru Ota, Staff Writer
On September 14, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum initiated a new arrivals exhibit on the first floor of its East Building, introducing the personal belongings donated to the museum during fiscal 2021 of those who died in the atomic bombing. In the new arrivals exhibit are displayed 150 items, including a blood-stained shirt that the father of a 15-year-old teenage boy had put on his son as he lay dying. The exhibit is scheduled to continue through February 27 of next year. Admission is free.
Hiroshi Higaki, 15 at the time and a second-year student at Hiroshima Municipal Middle School (present-day Motomachi High School), experienced the atomic bombing in an area known as Koami-cho (now part of the city’s Naka Ward), located about 900 meters from the hypocenter. At the time of the bombing, Hiroshi had been working as a mobilized student on the demolition of buildings for the creation of fire lanes. He suffered severe burns over his entire body. The adult-size white shirt, which his father had put on his son before his death, is marked with stains from Hiroshi’s blood and from the medications that had been applied to his burns.
The displayed items also include the school backpack of Shigeko Maeoka, then a first-year student at Hiroshima First Municipal Girls’ School (present-day Funairi High School) who was killed in the atomic bombing in the present-day area of Nakajima-cho, located in the city’s Naka Ward. Ms. Maeoka’s body was never recovered. The exhibit also presents an image of a young girl painted by Minoru Ozaki, 91, an A-bomb survivor who lives in Hiroshima’s Minato Ward, alongside a desperate message for his younger sister, who died in the bombing. The message reads, “Why did my sister have only eight years to live?” Naoko Miyazaki, 50, a visitor to the museum from Tsushima City in Aichi Prefecture, said, “We have to learn more about the history of the dropping of the nuclear weapons.”
The museum reported that it had received a total of 744 donated items over the course of fiscal 2021. The museum’s curatorial division staff said, “Our hope is that visitors witness the reality of the atomic bombing as they learn about the feelings of the surviving family members.”
(Originally published on September 15, 2023)
On September 14, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum initiated a new arrivals exhibit on the first floor of its East Building, introducing the personal belongings donated to the museum during fiscal 2021 of those who died in the atomic bombing. In the new arrivals exhibit are displayed 150 items, including a blood-stained shirt that the father of a 15-year-old teenage boy had put on his son as he lay dying. The exhibit is scheduled to continue through February 27 of next year. Admission is free.
Hiroshi Higaki, 15 at the time and a second-year student at Hiroshima Municipal Middle School (present-day Motomachi High School), experienced the atomic bombing in an area known as Koami-cho (now part of the city’s Naka Ward), located about 900 meters from the hypocenter. At the time of the bombing, Hiroshi had been working as a mobilized student on the demolition of buildings for the creation of fire lanes. He suffered severe burns over his entire body. The adult-size white shirt, which his father had put on his son before his death, is marked with stains from Hiroshi’s blood and from the medications that had been applied to his burns.
The displayed items also include the school backpack of Shigeko Maeoka, then a first-year student at Hiroshima First Municipal Girls’ School (present-day Funairi High School) who was killed in the atomic bombing in the present-day area of Nakajima-cho, located in the city’s Naka Ward. Ms. Maeoka’s body was never recovered. The exhibit also presents an image of a young girl painted by Minoru Ozaki, 91, an A-bomb survivor who lives in Hiroshima’s Minato Ward, alongside a desperate message for his younger sister, who died in the bombing. The message reads, “Why did my sister have only eight years to live?” Naoko Miyazaki, 50, a visitor to the museum from Tsushima City in Aichi Prefecture, said, “We have to learn more about the history of the dropping of the nuclear weapons.”
The museum reported that it had received a total of 744 donated items over the course of fiscal 2021. The museum’s curatorial division staff said, “Our hope is that visitors witness the reality of the atomic bombing as they learn about the feelings of the surviving family members.”
(Originally published on September 15, 2023)
