Documentary to be screened in Hiroshima on June 2
Jun. 1, 2015
by Takayuki Kamo, Staff Writer
Drawings done by children in Hiroshima two years after the atomic bombing and sent to a church in the United States are the subject of a documentary film that will be screened in Hiroshima. “Pictures from a Hiroshima Schoolyard” will be shown at the Hiroshima City Plaza for Town Development through Citizen Exchange (Gojinsha Wendy Hito-Machi Plaza) at 6 p.m. on June 2. Admission is free. The film tells the story of the pictures’ return to Hiroshima after about 60 years and their display here.
The drawings were sent to All Souls Church Unitarian in Washington, D.C. by students at Honkawa Elementary School in Naka Ward in 1947 to express their gratitude for school supplies that the church had sent. They include depictions of games being played at the school sports festival as well as the city’s rivers and other local scenes. The pictures were exhibited at the school in 2010.
Shizumi Shigeto Manale, 66, a performing artist who resides in the U.S. and knew of the exchange between the school and the church, interviewed people involved with the pictures and produced the 82-minute documentary. On the day of the screening, Ms. Manale and some of the graduates of the school who drew the original pictures will give a talk.
The event is sponsored by the U.S. consulate general in Osaka. Reservations are required. The first 100 people will be admitted. For further information, contact Ms. Sera at (090) 4651-4744.
(Originally published on May 27, 2015)
Story of exchange between Honkawa Elementary School and U.S. church
Drawings done by children in Hiroshima two years after the atomic bombing and sent to a church in the United States are the subject of a documentary film that will be screened in Hiroshima. “Pictures from a Hiroshima Schoolyard” will be shown at the Hiroshima City Plaza for Town Development through Citizen Exchange (Gojinsha Wendy Hito-Machi Plaza) at 6 p.m. on June 2. Admission is free. The film tells the story of the pictures’ return to Hiroshima after about 60 years and their display here.
The drawings were sent to All Souls Church Unitarian in Washington, D.C. by students at Honkawa Elementary School in Naka Ward in 1947 to express their gratitude for school supplies that the church had sent. They include depictions of games being played at the school sports festival as well as the city’s rivers and other local scenes. The pictures were exhibited at the school in 2010.
Shizumi Shigeto Manale, 66, a performing artist who resides in the U.S. and knew of the exchange between the school and the church, interviewed people involved with the pictures and produced the 82-minute documentary. On the day of the screening, Ms. Manale and some of the graduates of the school who drew the original pictures will give a talk.
The event is sponsored by the U.S. consulate general in Osaka. Reservations are required. The first 100 people will be admitted. For further information, contact Ms. Sera at (090) 4651-4744.
(Originally published on May 27, 2015)
