HIROSHIMA -- The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, located in the heart of the city, is now bustling more than ever with international travelers. In fiscal 2023, the number of visitors to the Peace Memorial Museum reached a record high of 1,981,782, with foreigners comprising one-third of the total.
What is drawing people to this city, where the U.S. dropped the first atomic bomb during World War II? From May to August this year, the Mainichi Shimbun interviewed overseas visitors to the park and heard many voices mirroring fears of a potential nuclear war.
"Close your eyes, and think about peace," said Takao Miyakaku, a 76-year-old Tokyo-based photographer, during a photo shoot with a Norwegian family on Aug. 2 at the northern side of the park. He was photographing Marie Gronlien, 55, and her 21- and 16-year-old sons Emil and Herman.
Miyakaku, whose grandfather and father survived the Aug. 6, 1945, atomic bombing, has taken thousands of photos of visitors before the Atomic Bomb Dome since 2000. He feels the number of foreign visitors has increased in recent years. During eight days in June, 33 of the 45 groups he photographed were from abroad, including countries in Europe, the Middle East and elsewhere.
Gronlien teaches history at high school in Norway, and said she was seeking to learn more about the A-bomb destruction, as well as the reconstruction of Hiroshima. But there was another purpose for her recent trip.
In Norway, military service is mandatory for men and women. Herman, who is in his first year in high school, also plans to serve in the military for a certain period after graduation. He told the reporter calmly, "I think the military seems fun and cool. A lot of my friends do too."
Norway, which shares a border with Russia, is apparently enveloped in heightened tension since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Gronlien says, "I want this trip to be a chance for my sons to see how Hiroshima is now, and how it was in the past after the city was destroyed by the atomic bombing. I want them to see this with their own eyes and choose what to do from there."
According to Miyakaku, many Europeans and Americans that he meets are feeling a strong sense of crisis and urgency regarding world leaders' threats of using nuclear weapons. "Japan is the only country that has experienced an atomic bombing, but now, as an island country, it has a physical distance with war. The sense of awareness among Japanese people is much lower than that of Westerners."
The reporter also approached visitors at the exit of the Peace Memorial Museum, which displays photos, burnt clothes, video records of survivors, and other material showing the damage caused by the atomic bombing. Lauri Laine, a 25-year-old from Finland, said, "Nuclear disarmament would be great, but currently Russia and China are threats, so the West need their nuclear arsenal full." Finland itself doesn't possess nuclear weapons, but is under the nuclear umbrella of NATO, which it joined in April 2023, following the Ukraine invasion. Laine said he feels fear when he encounters news of leaders and others in Russia suggesting the use of nuclear weapons, or threatening "demonstrative" bombings.
At the south side of the Atomic Bomb Dome, Kosei Mito, shares information on the atomic bombing with visitors in English. Mito was in his mother's womb during the atomic bombing. He has been standing before the dome almost every day since 2006, and has spoken with around 100,000 foreigners from around 180 countries.
In early July, Mito encountered a scene for the first time during his almost 20 years of standing in front of the Dome. Midway through Mito's explanation, a middle-aged Indian man interrupted and raised his voice, claiming, "I stand with nuclear deterrence. We must have nuclear weapons." A couple of families from Europe stepped in to stop the heckling, and this led to heated debate. "I feel that awareness of nuclear weapons is rising. It's important to first educate people on the facts of the atomic bombing destruction, and I try to give an accurate explanation," Mito said.
Further south in the peace park, seven "hibakusha" survivor groups gather about once every two months for a petition to gather signatures demanding the Japanese government join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Steven Pam, a 53-year-old office worker from Melbourne, Australia, expressed surprise that "those who survived the atomic bombing are still alive and taking action toward abolishing nuclear weapons."
In the basement room of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, Michiko Yamaoka, 73, was speaking with U.S. tourists. Yamaoka, who was inspired by Mito to take up learning English, started volunteering as a peace park guide in 2008. "Through my talks with overseas visitors, I'd like to open the first page for them to learn about the nuclear destruction of Hiroshima."
After being guided around the park by Yamaoka and visiting the Peace Memorial Museum, Emily Harmon, a 29-year-old high school teacher in Texas, said, "I learned how the devastation practically wiped all living things in its path, barely leaving structures behind. Firsthand accounts by hibakusha survivors struck my heart."
When asked about the current U.S. nuclear arms policy, Harmon said, "While I see the logic in the argument to have nuclear weapons as deterrents, we should focus on better options (such as nuclear disarmament). My time in Hiroshima is something I want to share with my students."
(By Chinami Takeichi and Kana Nemoto, Hiroshima Bureau)
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