American teacher in Japan makes documentary film on A-bomb survivors
Aug. 7, 2013
by Kyoko Niiyama, Staff Writer
Rebecca Irby, 32, an English teacher from the United States and a resident of Nagoya, has created a documentary film about a mother and child who experienced the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The film will be shown on August 6 at 10:00 a.m. at the Gallery Tengu Square in downtown Hiroshima. Admission is free.
Titled “That Day,” the roughly 30-minute film follows Kosei Mito, 67, a resident of Fuchu, Hiroshima Prefecture, who serves as a volunteer guide near the A-bomb Dome. Mr. Mito was in his mother’s womb at the time of the bombing and entered the world an A-bomb survivor. Ms. Irby also filmed his mother, Tomie, 95, recounting her experience of the bombing.
The documentary is Ms. Irby’s first film. In 2011, her second year in Japan, she visited Hiroshima as a tourist with her husband, Richard Mirocco, 35, and asked Mr. Mito to serve as their guide. She was impressed with the passionate efforts he has made over many years as an advocate for nuclear abolition.
Up to that time, she had been more aware of Japan’s role as an aggressor and the hardships it inflicted on other nations during World War II. One of Ms. Irby’s grandmothers is Indonesian and she often expressed bitterness toward Japan, which had occupied her homeland. Ms. Irby decided to make a film that would convey the survivors’ wish that humanity transcend hatred and create a peaceful world for all.
To make the film, Ms. Irby received technical support from a film production company in Tokyo and, after traveling to and from Hiroshima to shoot footage, starting in July 2012, she completed the film this past May. Mr. Mirocco serves as narrator. The film can be freely viewed at www.ThatDayFilm.com, from August 20.
(Originally published on August 6, 2013)
Rebecca Irby, 32, an English teacher from the United States and a resident of Nagoya, has created a documentary film about a mother and child who experienced the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The film will be shown on August 6 at 10:00 a.m. at the Gallery Tengu Square in downtown Hiroshima. Admission is free.
Titled “That Day,” the roughly 30-minute film follows Kosei Mito, 67, a resident of Fuchu, Hiroshima Prefecture, who serves as a volunteer guide near the A-bomb Dome. Mr. Mito was in his mother’s womb at the time of the bombing and entered the world an A-bomb survivor. Ms. Irby also filmed his mother, Tomie, 95, recounting her experience of the bombing.
The documentary is Ms. Irby’s first film. In 2011, her second year in Japan, she visited Hiroshima as a tourist with her husband, Richard Mirocco, 35, and asked Mr. Mito to serve as their guide. She was impressed with the passionate efforts he has made over many years as an advocate for nuclear abolition.
Up to that time, she had been more aware of Japan’s role as an aggressor and the hardships it inflicted on other nations during World War II. One of Ms. Irby’s grandmothers is Indonesian and she often expressed bitterness toward Japan, which had occupied her homeland. Ms. Irby decided to make a film that would convey the survivors’ wish that humanity transcend hatred and create a peaceful world for all.
To make the film, Ms. Irby received technical support from a film production company in Tokyo and, after traveling to and from Hiroshima to shoot footage, starting in July 2012, she completed the film this past May. Mr. Mirocco serves as narrator. The film can be freely viewed at www.ThatDayFilm.com, from August 20.
(Originally published on August 6, 2013)
