American actress Jane Fonda, 43, her husband, political activist Tom Hayden, 40, and their son Troy, who are on a trip to Japan, came to Hiroshima on May 6 and visited the Peace Memorial Museum. Fonda, who is known as an anti-war activist, spent nearly an hour looking with great interest at the displays in the museum and was greatly moved. She said she was happy to have had such a valuable experience along with her husband and son and that she would increase her efforts to stop the proliferation of nuclear arms.
Fonda and her family arrived in Hiroshima at 12:32 p.m. on the bullet train. After resting at their hotel, they arrived at Peace Memorial Park shortly after 3 p.m. Fonda entered the museum while visitors to the park snapped her photo. She stopped before each of the photographs and exhibits that convey the horror of the atomic bombing and examined them closely. As she stood before a panorama of the devastated Hiroshima as it looked after the bombing she could not conceal her shock and said, “What massive power.” Fonda asked Shiro Sasaki, chief supervisor at the museum who guided her through the facility, several questions including why some buildings were not destroyed despite having been near the hypocenter and then conveyed his answers to Troy.
On a visit to Hiroshima 10 years ago Fonda went to the A-bomb Dome, but this was her first visit to the museum. It was the first visit to Hiroshima for Hayden and Troy. Fonda, who says that Americans have an obligation to learn about Hiroshima, wore a serious expression throughout her tour of the museum. During an interview at an event afterwards, Fonda said the museum offered “valuable evidence of the greatest crime of the 20th Century and the 21st Century as well” and said that politicians like Secretary of State Haig should see it. She also said she will work to end the nuclear arms race between the Soviet Union and America. She added that she would like her son to represent the younger generation in the fight against nuclear weapons, based on his experience in Hiroshima.
In the guest book at the exit Fonda wrote, “This has been a moving experience. Thank you. Peace.” Hayden wrote “No More Hiroshimas.” The family later paid their respects at the cenotaph and viewed the A-bomb Dome.