WW2-ANNIVERSARY/JAPAN-NAGASAKI CATHEDRAL Nagasaki commemorates bomb anniversary with cathedral projection

Record ID: 144674

  • Title: WW2-ANNIVERSARY/JAPAN-NAGASAKI CATHEDRAL Nagasaki commemorates bomb anniversary with cathedral projection
  • Date: 8th August 2015
  • Summary: PROJECTION MAPPING IMAGE SHOWING NUCLEAR BLAST, MUSHROOM CLOUD SPECTATORS WATCHING VARIOUS OF PROJECTION MAPPING IMAGE ON CATHEDRAL WALL MAN TAKING PHOTO GIRL WATCHING SHOW VARIOUS OF PROJECTION MAPPING IMAGE ON CATHEDRAL WALL SPECTATORS CLAPPING
  • Embargoed: 23rd August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA9D7SLOJRJN7JCFRIALJ5E019
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: A Japanese artist used projection mapping technology to show an animation on a reconstructed cathedral in Nagasaki on the eve of the 70th anniversary of the bombing.
    Construction of the Urakami Cathedral was completed in 1925 by Japanese Christians who had withstood religious oppression.
    The brick Neo-Romanesque cathedral, however, was only 500 meters (546 yards) away from the hypocentre of the atomic bomb the United States dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. It was completely devastated by the blast.
    Despite the city government's suggestion to preserve the ruins as a heritage site, the Christian community wanted it rebuilt. The reconstruction was completed in 1959.
    Hiroshima, also bombed by a United States atomic bomb, has the famous Hiroshima Peace Memorial that has been preserved as the ruins of one of the buildings left standing after the attack.
    Nagasaki artist Kazuyoshi Sakai, 30-years-old, said it was a shame his city didn't have something similar, so he made this projection to remind people of the devastation.
    "Hiroshima has the A-bomb Dome to symbolise the devastation caused by the atomic bomb but Nagasaki doesn't have one. So, we reproduced an A-bomb wreck to tell the young generation the horror of the nuclear bomb," he said.
    Sakai, whose grandparent was a government-recognized A-bomb victim, launched the Urakami Cathedral Reproduction Project two years ago, supported by the city government and helped by dozens of volunteers. The result was a 10-minute-long projection mapping animation on the cathedral's wall, depicting the dropping of the atomic bomb, mushroom cloud and the reconstruction of the church.
    More than 5,000 people packed the screening, repeated eight times on August 6 and August 8.
    One of the spectators, a Hiroshima resident travelling Nagasaki, was full of praise for the event.
    "It's a brilliant idea. We all know how important the role of the Hiroshima A-bomb Dome is in telling what happened in the city. It's not a bad thing that Nagasaki doesn't have such a ruin but creating one in this way and giving people a chance to look back on the tragic event is truly a great idea," 22-year-old Nao Fukuoka said.
    "I could realise the fear of the nuclear bomb," said 13-year-old Nagasaki student Mai Suenaga.
    The U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima in August 1945 killed 140,000 people, and was followed by the bombing of Nagasaki which killed about 40,000 instantly.
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