While this marks my first entry, I have been thinking constantly about this project for the past several weeks. During this time, I have been working alongside the Bowdoin College Museum of Art and Professors Aridome and Selinger in order to make the necessary preparations for my time in Hiroshima. My feelings fluctuate between overwhelming worry and eager curiosity; although I will be living alone in an unfamiliar city navigating linguistic and cultural barriers, this brings opportunity for exploration and inevitable growth.

In anticipation of challenging conversations to come, I am preparing what I think will be essential pieces of information. At a surface level, I have started compiling a list of vocabulary that I may encounter during interviews. This list only scratches the surface, but I’ve included it below. More substantial is knowledge about the Chugoku Shimbun, a newspaper company located in Hiroshima that, despite losing one-third of its employees and its entire headquarters to the bombing on August 6th, resumed publishing just three days later. Since then, the company has continued to cover happenings both domestic and abroad related to the bombings. One staff writer from the newspaper, Rie Nii, has kindly agreed to help us with this project, and I will be meeting with her upon arrival in Hiroshima. Additionally, I was able to receive DVDs about the Chugoku Shimbun from Nii-san, so I will be watching those in the coming days to continue learning about the company.