Websites that convey the message of Hiroshima

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Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum made a website for children called "Kids Peace Station." On the website you can learn about the terror of the atomic bombing through the experience of a girl called Sadako who contracted leukemia as a result of radiation from the atomic bomb. She died when she was just 12 years old. You can also post your impressions on the site.

In the section titled "Sadako and the Atomic Bombing" there is an introduction to Sadako's life. You can see some photos of the paper cranes that she made and also watch an animated movie called "Sadako Story 21", which tells the story of how a present-day 6th grade elementary school girl mysteriously experiences Sadako's life.

There is a bulletin board where children can express their views on peace. It is divided into three sections: "Talking about Peace," "Letters to Sadako," and "Peace Studies Presentation Room" where classes or schools can post reports about what they have been studying.

The Peace Memorial Museum has also put together a "Peace Database" where you can view videos of A-bomb survivors' testimonies and see photographs and drawings of the bombing. (Moeko Takaki, 13)

Shinobu Kikuraku, 50, has been in charge of Kids Peace Station since it was created in the year 2000. We asked her for her thoughts about the website.

One of the main themes of the website is the story of Sadako Sasaki, featured in "Sadako and the Atomic Bombing" and other sections of the website. The reason for this is "The website is mainly for higher grade elementary school students and I hope they can gain a deeper understanding of the terror of the atomic bomb through the story of Sadako, who was a similar age when she died."

The animation "Sadako Story 21" tells the tale of Mai, a 6th grade elementary school girl who people suddenly start calling "Sadako." Mai/Sadako has contracted leukemia and is afraid she is going to die. Because it is an animation, it helps us to more easily empathize with her and understand her desperate state of mind. However, because the animation has no spoken dialogue, we don't feel the story is entirely satisfactory. The Peace Memorial Museum plans to add more sound effects and character voices to make the animation more appealing.

There is a page where children can post information about their peace education studies, but Ms. Kikuraku said, "I felt it would be better if there were a place where it would be easier to post comments" so she made the "Letters to Sadako" section.

In the section titled "Talking about Peace," there are many threads such as "Why do people produce arms?" or "I think wars are caused by one nation attacking another nation first." In such discussions, children express their real feelings and post their responses directly. Ms. Kikuraku is happy to know that children are posting their thoughts about peace on the website.

She told us that she will increase her efforts to publicize the website by distributing leaflets to students who come to Hiroshima on school trips, for example. (Risa Kushioka, 17)

On the website of the NGO "Hiroshima Speaks Out," which focuses on A-bomb survivors, you can read the accounts of 76 survivors and view 20 drawings which depict the bombing.

The survivors' accounts are divided into three sections. The title of the first section is "Written Monument." It was compiled by 28 residents of a nursing home for A-bomb survivors. The title of the second section is "Floating Lantern," which was written by 35 parents who lost their children in the bombing. The title of the third section is "Record of the A-bombing--Hesaka," a collection of 13 stories written by residents of the Hesaka district as well as some military doctors who were based there. Hesaka is about six kilometers northeast of the hypocenter.

The accounts are written from raw personal experience and describe, for example, how after the bombing, people whose skin was burned and dangling down in strips from their bodies, and whose clothes were in shreds, continually passed by in a procession. Outdated words and phrases are explained in a way that is easy to understand, so upper-grade elementary school students should have no trouble reading the stories.

There is also a section for "The Facts of the A-bombing," which provides information and photographs to convey the scale of the devastation.

At this point, only two languages are available on the website, Japanese and English. One of the creators of Hiroshima Speaks Out, Michiko Hamai, 53, hopes to make other languages available. She is particularly eager to deliver the facts about nuclear weapons to people whose countries possess nuclear weapons. (Masashi Muro, 15)

"Voices of the Survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki" is a website where you can listen online to 284 survivors' stories. It is based on the CD series, "Hiroshima and Nagasaki: We Will Never Forget", which was produced by Akihiko Ito, 71, who worked as a journalist at the Nagasaki Broadcasting Company.

Most survivors speak calmly of the terrible things they witnessed. For example, one man tells us that he heard a voice crying "Help me!" from under the debris of a collapsed building, but he couldn't do anything to help. A woman explains that the only thing she could do was give water to survivors at a first-aid station. Their stories present our imagination with vivid images of that time. You can also read scripts of all the recordings, which makes it easier to gain a thorough understanding of the stories.

The total running time of the recordings is about 8 hours, 40 minutes. The stories about Hiroshima begin on the night before the bombing and continue until August 14th. In the case of Nagasaki, the stories continue until early September.

Mr. Ito started recording these accounts of the bombings in 1968. He felt that if the A-bomb survivors' stories were not preserved, it would be impossible to convey their experience to future generations. He produced the CD recordings at his own expense and then donated them to various libraries and other institutions. He created the website in order to make the information more easily available to the younger generation. (Ryota Matsuda, 14)

Honkawa Elementary School is located about 350 meters east of the hypocenter, the closest school. One part of the bombed school building has been preserved and is now Honkawa Peace Museum. The Honkawa Peace Museum website (Japanese only) is maintained by the school alumni association. On the website you can browse documents related to the atomic bombing and also read the story of a Japanese lacquer tree, the first tree to grow in the school grounds after the bombing.

In the section of the website called "School Documents" there is a photo of the original document which bears the Inscription of the Cenotaph in Peace Memorial Park: "Let all the souls here rest in peace; For we shall not repeat the evil." The document was donated by the late Yosaburo Yamasaki, who worked at Honkawa Elementary School for 15 years and collected documents related to the bombing.

In the section titled "Road to Reconstruction" there are some photos of children playing in the school grounds around 1950 and studying in a classroom whose windows have been blown out by the bomb blast. Takaya Kono, 55, who maintains this website, told us that he hopes people can gain insight into how children coped with the destruction of the bombing.

The Honkawa Peace Museum website is divided into two parts; one part is maintained by the alumni association, the other by the school. (Rika Shirakawa, 12)

Plan to preserve the "messages on the wall"

The Fukuromachi Elementary School Peace Museum, located about 460 meters east of the hypocenter, consists of three stories, two below and one above the ground. One of the damaged school buildings was renovated for the purpose of housing the museum. The museum website (Japanese only) describes how messages were written on the walls of the school in chalk by people searching for families and school children. The website also describes the conditions that prevailed at the school after the bombing.

The section titled "Let's study at the Peace Museum" explains how survivors wrote their messages not on blackboards, but on the burned and blackened walls. Vice Prinicipal Takuya Fujiwara says, "We want people to understand the anxiety that they felt for their families and friends and feel their desire for peace."

About 20,000 people, including students on school trips, visit the museum each year. The website was launched in December 2003. In September 2007, Mr. Fujiwara began to update the website to make it more informative as a resource for teachers planning school trips to Hiroshima, and he added more information about the messages that were written on the walls.

There are plans to make further improvements to the website in the near future, such as displaying each of the messages on the walls. (Rika Shirakawa, 12)

A page of FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) on the website of the Radiation Effects Research Foundation explains what radiation is and how it affects the human body. Thought was given to making sure the information can be easily understood by high school students.

The "What is radiation?" section offers explanations with diagrams about the difference between radiation and radioactivity, and about how radiation causes cellular damage. The FAQ page addresses some of the questions which are asked by visitors to the Foundation. It covers 12 questions on such topics as the number of people that died in the atomic bombing and whether radiation from the blast still remains in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Two cartoon characters named Hakase and Rado, along with many illustrations, help children understand the information. Even so, the content is still quite complex and difficult to take in. Chief Research Scientist, Dr. Nori Nakamura, 61, who has maintained the FAQ page since 1996 when the website was launched, told us that he wanted to make a new section which elementary school and junior high school students would be able to understand in five minutes. (Masahi Muro, 15)

The Hiroshima Peace Media Center website, published by the Chugoku Shimbun, features articles about nuclear weapons and peace-related issues, which can be read in both English and Japanese.

In the Peace Features section, you can read articles such as "Record of Hiroshima: Photographs of the Dead Speak," a series of stories and photos about those who died in the vicinity of the hypocenter, what is now Peace Memorial Park. Other photos show us what the neighborhoods looked like before the bombing. You can also read a series of articles entitled "Discounted Casualties," which looks at the human costs involved in the use of depleted uranium munitions.

Back on the home page there is a link to a section called "Peace Museum." In this section you can read articles about the various monuments in and around Peace Memorial Park. There is a map at the top of the page and an open book beneath it. When you click on a number on the map, the pages of the book "turn" to the appropriate section.

Commenting on the English version of the website, Akira Tashiro, Executive Director of the Peace Media Center, remarked, "We want to transmit our desire for 'No More Hiroshimas' all over the earth in the hope that we can realize a nuclear-free world." (Kotaro Tsuchida, 15)

"Nuclear Information" is a website that quickly delivers news and information about nuclear weapons and nuclear power plants. Sources include newspapers, magazines, and NGOs from around the world so it is able to obtain a wide range of information.

The website has 10 sections, one of which is "Countries Suspected of Developing Nuclear Weapons." This section focuses on North Korea's nuclear development program, including analysis of the size of the nuclear test in 2006, and an archive of articles covering the various statements made by North Korea.

The website is run by Masafumi Takubo, 57, an expert on nuclear issues. He began researching the effects of nuclear weapons testing facilities on both the environment and the human body after attending a conference held by the Japan Council Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs. At the conference he met people who lived near an American nuclear test site and the experience led him to launch the website.

Mr. Takubo wants to help prevent nuclear weapons proliferation and nuclear war by publishing information from overseas that is important to disseminate, but hard to find. (Ryota Matsuda, 14)

The website, "Let's study the atomic bomb dropped in Hiroshima", was set up by the vice-principal of an elementary school in Osaka, Setsuo Adachi, 51, with the aim of providing resources on this topic for elementary school and junior high school students. Photos and videos have been collected from other educational websites, and the horror of atomic bombs and war in general can be better understood.

The website is arranged into more than thirty sections with titles such as "Hiroshima before the atomic bomb" and "Why was Hiroshima chosen? About the atomic bomb." Each section has various links to other websites, including the website of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, to facilitate further research.

The section titled "Historical images" links to a website run by the Information-Technology Promotion Agency which contains various film clips, including footage of mushroom clouds.

In my opinion, the use of photos and videos, not just text, helps hold the interest of visitors at a website. (Kotaro Tsuchida, 15)