Spring Break
Paper cranes land in Joyner Library to promote peace
Ahmet Aksoy
Issue date: 3/3/09 Section: Features
|
The exhibit is sponsored by the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.
This collection of posters was developed to communicate the tragic reality of the atomic bomb and to heighten the importance of world peace.
Nobuaki Takahashi, Ph.D, a professor who teaches Japanese in the ECU Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, was instrumental in securing the exhibition for ECU.
"I thought the exhibit would be beneficial to students," said Takahashi. "It would inform all about the incident and how it affected those in a Japanese perspective, but not only that, but promote world peace for all."
Hiroshima, Japan was the primary target of the first nuclear bombing mission on Aug. 6, 1945. It was a key location to bombing due to the numerous amount of military camps located by the city.
About 140,000 people were killed in the attack on Hiroshima. Since then, thousands more have died from injuries or illness due to the exposure of radiation released by the bombs.
The exhibit contains aerial photos of the city of Hiroshima, before and after the atomic bomb. Other pictures show the mushroom cloud created by the atomic bomb, as well as graphic and disturbing photos of the human suffering.
Josh Botts, a senior majoring in construction management, visited the exhibit.
"Seeing the pictures and shadows of the burned children was horrible," he said. "I was shocked and sad that such an event like this had occurred."
Pictures such as "Shigeru's Lunch Box," the remains of Shigeru Orimen, a student at Second Hiroshima Prefectural Junior High School, was one of the photos displayed in the exhibit.
The exhibit heavily affected Kirsten Filbert, an ECU alumna.
"It was mind boggling and helped made me aware of what happened that day," she said. "I suggest that all students take the time to come and see this exhibit."
Paper cranes at the exhibit represent a Japanese myth about the wish-granting powers of cranes. The myth says that after making 1,000 paper cranes if a person made a wish, that wish would come true. The cranes in the exhibit represent the story of Sadako and the Thousand Paper cranes.
Sadako Saski was a Japanese girl who lived near Hiroshima when the bomb was dropped.
Ten years after the bomb, Sadako was diagnosed with leukemia. While hospitalized, she learned of the paper crane myth that inspired the young girl to begin folding. Before she died, she made 644 paper cranes.
"A project that my students and I are working on is to create and donate 1,000 cranes to [Hiroshima Peace Park]," Takahashi said. "Right now we have 850 cranes and are building more."
This writer can be contacted at features@theeastcarolinian.com.
Be the first to comment on this story