Up until this point, my encounters in Japanese have been relatively low stakes from my perspective. I haven’t felt at risk for wasting someone’s time or seriously frustrating someone with whom I can’t effectively communicate. However, tomorrow Justin and I will speak with Hayashi-san, one of the original artists who grew up in post-war Hiroshima and presumably experienced many of the difficulties that accompanied it. In particular, I’m feeling nervous about my ability to afford his story the gravity that I think it deserves. Furthermore, I’m still waiting on IRB approval, so the meeting that Nii-san kindly set up for Justin and me could be limited to introductions and briefly speaking about our project. Nevertheless, I’ll continue to practice interview questions and work on my language skills. As with all of my interactions here, I will do my best to convey my genuine curiosity in Hayashi-san’s story, even if I can’t communicate it as eloquently as I would like. I’ve listed some of the questions that I hope to ask below:

-A number of the original artists have been located by the Chugoku Shimbun newspaper company; however, only some of those artists have agreed to be interviewed. Why did you agree to this interview, and what expectations did you have coming into it?

-Do you remember drawing this picture? Can you walk me through a typical school day for you in Nth grade? What are your fondest memories from that time, and what did you want to be when you grew up?

-Do you often go to the Peace Memorial Park? You’ve probably noticed that the park is constantly filled with foreign tourists. Why do you think foreigners decide to come to the Peace Park, and what do you think about their travel to Hiroshima for that purpose?

-Next year, your drawing will be displayed at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art. How would you like it to be exhibited? Is there anything particular you’d like to convey to Americans who come to see your drawing?

To the part of me that still feels like a first-year Japanese student, the opportunity to learn from these questions borders on the surreal. I feel profoundly grateful to all of the individuals making it possible. I want to especially thank Barbara and Marc Garnick and the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, who are generously providing funding for this project.

Justin (left) is currently studying at Hiroshima University. We met through Bowdoin’s Oshietai Program, where we taught Japanese to local elementary students. Credits to Anna Aridome.

Most evenings, I spend time sitting on a bench in the Peace Memorial Park. I’ve found that people are much more willing to approach a lone traveller than a group, so this gives me an opportunity to think while also meeting interesting people from time to time.

Tonight, an older gentleman sat down next to me with his dog and said “Welcome to Hiroshima” in broken English. I told him I was from the US, and he pointed me towards the spot where Obama stood roughly a month and a half ago. As we chatted more and transitioned from English to Japanese, I asked him what he thought about President Obama’s recent visit to Hiroshima. In a way that I imagine many others feel, he expressed the opinion that Obama should have apologized for the bombing. The man also lamented the slowing speed of nuclear disarmament under the Obama administration, but he added that some progress is better than none.

Sitting nearby the Memorial Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims

As my opinion on nuclear weapons and energy continues to develop, I’m increasingly grateful for the opportunity to have these kinds of conversations. I recognize: like many others who travel to Hiroshima, my time in this city will bring me face-to-face with people who experienced the bombing and its aftermath. However, having some ability to speak Japanese is giving me the unique chance to hear their stories and learn from their experiences firsthand. And I couldn’t be more motivated by this opportunity, because there’s a lot to learn.

Today, thanks to Nii-san and Kawano-san, I was able to meet with the principal of Funairi Elementary School. As I approached the school’s gate, I could see children and a few parents squeezed around the entrance of the gym. They were buzzing with excitement, cheering for what looked like a dodgeball match that was going on inside. After walking past a few wide-eyed schoolchildren, probably not used to seeing foreigners at Funairi, Nii-san and I entered the school building and met Ookubo Sensei, the principal.

Approaching the front gate of Funairi Elementary

Even though I’ve been studying for almost two years now, I still feel nervous when using Japanese around new people. Less than a week has passed since my arrival, and my honorific language could have definitely used more brushing up, but I was happy with the way that the meeting turned out. Ookubo Sensei welcomed us wholeheartedly and shared fascinating stories about the school and its history. He spoke of one student who thought the bombing had happened south of the school instead of north, because the flash reflected so brightly off of an overhead weather satellite. After showing Nii-san and me student drawings of the school following the bombing, he gave me the opportunity to explain my project. With Nii-san’s help, I communicated that I wanted to interview 5^th and 6^th graders using the following guiding questions:

-When you grow up, what kind of job do you want to do?

-Have you been to the US, or do you have American friends? Do you think President Obama’s recent visit to Hiroshima was important? Why or why not?

-Do you like living in Hiroshima? I imagine you’ve been to the Peace Memorial Park before. When you’ve gone there, have you noticed a lot of foreigners? Why do you think so many foreigners come to the Peace Memorial Park? Upon seeing the Atomic Bomb Dome, what kind of thoughts do you have?

-Have you heard the phrase ‘nuclear power’ before? When you hear it, what comes to mind? When you hear the phrase ‘nuclear weapons,’ what do you think?

I explained that I plan to ask these same questions to schoolchildren in Hikone and subsequently compare the responses. Through this process, I hope to deepen my understanding of what it means to grow up in Hiroshima, with specific interest in how the effects of the bombing are retained in the social fabric of Hiroshima communities. As soon as I hear back from Bowdoin about Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval, we can begin to schedule interviews!

I’ve finished unpacking and am all settled into my apartment. For the next five weeks, I’ll be living in Tokaichimachi, a suburban area about five-minutes west of the Peace Memorial Park (by foot). The Chugoku Shimbun is also conveniently located nearby, so I’ll be spending a lot of time in this part of the city. Here’s what the apartment looks like:

I met with Nii-san and Justin today for the first time in order to discuss what we hope to accomplish while in Hiroshima. During the meeting, we communicated four of our primary goals:

1. Meet and conduct interviews with as many of the original artists as possible
2. Meet and conduct interviews with high school and middle school students in the Junior Writers program at the Chugoku Shimbun. From my understanding, many of these students are aspiring writers and have done a considerable amount of work surrounding the bombing, including interviews with nuclear bomb survivors.
3. Meet Professor Robert Jacobs, a professor who studies nuclear politics, which encompasses the ways in which the bombing continues to affect communities in Hiroshima today. I hope to interview Professor Jacobs about his work surrounding the bombing and experience living and working in Hiroshima. Additionally, I hope to ask him about the significance of post-WWII art exchanges in Hiroshima, especially those involving children.
4. Meet and conduct interviews with schoolchildren at elementary schools involved in the initial art exchange. By doing this, as well as interviews with schoolchildren in Hikone, we can begin to answer the questions I brought up in my last post.

Although I had some difficulty with my language skills, I think these goals were effectively communicated with Justin’s help. Fortunately, Nii-san has agreed to help us on all of these fronts. Regarding the original artists, three have already agreed to interviews, so during the next week we will establish the logistics for these meetings. Furthermore, Nii-san told us about an event on July 9th where Junior Writers will be listening to a classmate of Sadako Sasaki speak in front of the monument dedicated to Sadako. If the Junior Writers agree to it, we will be allowed to attend the event and speak with them afterwards. With regards to Professor Jacobs, Nii-san mentioned that he his a friend of hers, and she will do her best to put us in contact with him. It’s possible that he’s not in Hiroshima right now as a result of his research, but I’m hoping we’ll be able to speak with him by the end of the month. Finally, I will be going to Funairi Elementary School with Nii-san this Monday, the 4th, in order to speak with the principal about conducting interviews. One of the artists I will be interviewing attended Funairi, so I think it will be fascinating to see the environment at the school and learn about the space in which many of these drawings were created.

On a final note, Nii-san told me about the database of atomic bomb victims kept at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. After our meeting, for the first time, I was able to see pictures and learn information about my extended family who were lost in the bombing. I felt deeply moved by this experience, and it reaffirmed the resolution with which I hope to continue working on this project.