From Nippon.com:
On August 12, 1985, the crash of a Japan Airlines Boeing 747 in central Japan resulted in 520 fatalities. It was Japan’s deadliest air accident, as well as the deadliest air disaster in history involving a single aircraft and no additional deaths on the ground.
A sad tale. The TV program Mayday did an episode on this crash it is worth the watch. The fact that four people managed to survive is frankly amazing.
Shizuka Takebayashi from The Mainichi:
Oshiro, 84, who survived the atomic bombing of Nagasaki and now resides in Urasoe, Okinawa Prefecture, has lived in Okinawa since the year after World War II ended. Under U.S. rule until 1972, Okinawa lagged behind the Japanese mainland in providing support for hibakusha, or atomic bomb survivors. For many years, Oshiro did not speak about her experiences. What changed that was her connection with other hibakusha on the island.
Everyone should read the whole article to not only understand the life of an atomic bombing survivor but also the discrimination they faced in the decades after the war.
From The Guardian:
Twin cathedral bells rang in unison in Nagasaki for the first time in 80 years on Saturday, commemorating the moment the city was destroyed by an American atomic bomb.
The two bells rang out at Immaculate Conception cathedral, also called the Urakami cathedral, at 11.02am, the moment the bomb was dropped on 9 August 1945, three days after a nuclear attack on Hiroshima.
The imposing redbrick building, with its twin bell towers atop a hill, was rebuilt in 1959 after it was almost completely destroyed in the monstrous explosion just a few hundred metres away. Only one of its two bells was recovered from the rubble, leaving the northern tower silent. With funds from US churchgoers, a new bell was constructed and restored to the tower.
When talking about the atomic bombings of Japan, we often relegate Nagasaki to an afterthought following Hiroshima. But they both need to remembered as equally dark days for humanity. Never may we drop to this low again as a species.
Donican Lam from The Mainichi:
"Despite the current turmoil at the nation-state level, we, the people, must never give up," Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui said in the Peace Declaration read during the annual memorial ceremony, which took place after Japan's leading group of atomic bomb survivors was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year.
"Our youth, the leaders of future generations, must recognize that misguided policies regarding military spending, national security, and nuclear weapons could bring utterly inhumane consequences," he said. "We urge them to step forward with this understanding and lead civil society toward consensus."
We can only hope that we collectively learn from the past.
From Kyodo:
Over 70 percent of foreigners visiting the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum feel that the 1945 U.S. atomic bombings of the western Japan city and Nagasaki cannot be justified, a recent Kyodo News survey showed.
Of the 74.6 percent who said the bombings were unjustified, 6.2 percent said they had changed their view after seeing the exhibits, according to the survey of around 1,000 foreign visitors conducted this summer. Meanwhile, 7.2 percent said the bombings were justified, and 12.8 percent were unsure.
A very stat-heavy article, but I am still amazed that someone could come out of the Peace Museum in Hiroshima and still support what happened there in 1945.
Martin Fackler from The New York Times:
“I am the last one left,” Mr. Kiyozumi said in his home, showing fading photographs of the sub and himself as a young sailor.
As the 80th anniversary of the war’s end approaches, the number of veterans still alive is rapidly dwindling. There were only 792 Japanese war veterans still collecting government pensions as of March, half the number of a year earlier.
Now in their upper 90s and 100s, they will take with them the last living memories of horrors and ordeals, but also of bravery and sacrifice — powerful accounts that hold extra meaning now, as Japan builds up its military after decades of pacifism. Here are some of their stories.
A somber article well worth a read. The last Japanese soldiers from the Second World War speak about their experiences and the inhuman brutality of the war.
From Kyodo:
A military factory that was said to be the largest in the Orient was once in operation at a site now part of Osaka Castle Park at the center of the city of Osaka, and a researcher is calling for the remaining buildings to be preserved as a "negative legacy."
Osaka Army Arsenal, which manufactured artillery for the now-defunct Imperial Japanese Army, employed up to around 66,000 people, including mobilized students, across its approximately 6-million-square-meter site.
It is very easy to be critical of Japan when talking about smoothing over one's own history. Hopefully, those in charge do preserve a monument to the senseless destruction of humanity as an example to the future about the values of today.
From Kyodo:
Americans expressed mixed views on whether the atomic bombings of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were justified, a survey by a U.S. research group showed Monday, signaling a possible change in the country's prevailing view that the attacks were necessary to bring a quick end to World War II.
The nationwide survey, conducted by Pew Research Center, revealed that 35 percent of American adults think using nuclear weapons in 1945 was justified, while 31 percent thought otherwise. A third said they are not sure.
The troubling thing here is that if you combine the 'pro-nuke' cohort with the 'dunno' one, it is still a clear majority that are either clueless or in support of mass civilian death.
Andrew Sharp from Nikkei:
Even now, eight decades after his arrival, MacArthur's legacy casts a long shadow over Japan's politics, identity and security. For some, he was a reformer who laid the foundations of democracy, pacifism and prosperity. For others, he was a foreign dictator who imposed a constitution that stifled Japan's sovereignty. Either way, the U.S.-led occupation -- and the institutions it birthed -- continue to define Japan's postwar trajectory.
A good history of MacArthur, the drafting of the Japanese constitution, and how all of that could be undermined in our current world. Bonus points for the photo of the nasty chair at Dougie's desk.
Justin McCurry from The Guardian:
Dozens of shops, restaurants and bars lining the streets of Tateishi Nakamise, a covered shopping arcade – or shotengai – in the capital’s eastern suburbs will make way for a new development. It will transform the skyline, but also change beyond recognition an entire community whose roots lie in the destruction caused by the second world war.
Across Tokyo and other Japanese cities, shotengai that sprung up during the Showa era [1926-1989] are in a losing battle against property developers, depopulation and a consumer culture that demands convenience.
On one side of the local railway station, a tall screen partially hides cranes preparing the ground for apartment blocks, shops and a multi-storey local government office. On the other, families that have run shops, bars and restaurants for two or three generations are bracing for the inevitable arrival of the wrecking balls.
This one hits close to home as I live on a famous shotengai that luckily is still bustling. When supported and funded properly by cities, these areas are communities unto themselves and should be protected. So much connection is lost when these unique alleys are replaced by cookie cutter developments.