WW2-ANNIVERSARY/JAPAN-HIROSHIMA CHILDREN Hiroshima prepares to commemorate 70 years since the a-bomb attack

Record ID: 145020

  • Title: WW2-ANNIVERSARY/JAPAN-HIROSHIMA CHILDREN Hiroshima prepares to commemorate 70 years since the a-bomb attack
  • Date: 5th August 2015
  • Summary: HIROSHIMA, JAPAN (AUGUST 5, 2015) (REUTERS) CHILDREN SEATED ON GROUND BEFORE HIROSHIMA A-BOMB DOME CHILDREN SEATED HIROSHIMA A-BOMB DOME CHILDREN LYING DOWN ON GROUND IN A "DIE-IN" EVENT BOY LYING ON GROUND MORE OF CHILDREN LYING DOWN ON GROUND (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) 12-YEAR-OLD GIRL FROM FUKUSHIMA PREFECTURE, YUKINA SHIMOJYU, SAYING: "I was able to imagine how those peopl
  • Embargoed: 20th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAB679S40NGUJSAL9LUPBB0U4F5
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: PLEASE SEE EDIT 0079 WW2 FILE-PART 2 SENT ON AUGUST 3, 2015 FOR FILE MATERIAL
    Children lay down in silence before the remains of Hiroshima's A-bomb dome on Wednesday (August 5), in an event ahead of the 70-year anniversary of the world's first nuclear attack.
    The event was held to remember victims who died in the bombing of 1945 when the city became the first civilian target of an atomic bomb attack.
    By the end of 1945, 140,000 out of the 350,000 who lived in the city at the time died either directly from the blast or later from radiation sickness.
    An anti-nuclear activist group, Gensuikin, hosted the event, called a "die-in" in order to educate children of the fear and suffering victims experienced.
    Over 170 children across Japan joined the one-minute event that had to be shortened due to the summer heat wave.
    "I was able to imagine how those people felt when they were blown away by the nuclear blast. I'm glad I could feel for them today," one of the participants, 12-year-old girl from Fukushima Prefecture, Yukina Shimojyu, said.
    Another participant said he realized the fear of death.
    "Among the victims - young or old - many children around my age also died without having their dreams fulfilled. I realized today that dying is a fearful thing," 12-year-old boy from Mie Prefecture, Hibiki Okumura said.
    On the other side of the historic dome, about a dozen Buddhist monks were beating drums and chanting prayers.
    The A-bomb dome, completed in 1915 and which housed a commercial exhibition hall before the end of the war, was the only building left standing near the hypocenter of the bomb's blast.
    Thousands will gather at a park next to the iconic dome on Thursday (August 6) for the Hiroshima Peace Memorial to commemorate one of the most painful days in Japan's history, including Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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