Morris R. Jeppson talks about apologizing for the atomic bombings
The Mainichi recently interviewed Morris R. Jeppson, one of the last surviving members of the B-29 crew that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Here’s an excerpt in which he addresses the the issue of apologies:
Mainichi: In thirty or forty years, when those who experienced World War II have passed away, if the American President or many ordinary Americans decide the U.S. should apologize for Hiroshima and Nagasaki, how would you feel about that?
J: I think that one’s easy to answer. If it’s done once for an apology for something like that, think of all of the other things over history that should be apologized for, applying the same rule. It’s just not necessary. War is war. There was a good reason for it, put it into history books or whatever. But nobody down the road has any right to apologize for something that happened in the past.
This question comes up in the U.S. all the time. … (Like slavery,) it’s history. It’s all laid out. Why should anybody today apologize for anything that happened 150 years ago? It isn’t necessary. It’s giving somebody 150 years later a right to make this apology. No, they don’t have a right to make an apology.
Mainichi: So you think that even in the future, American presidents should not apologize.
J: No. Never.
Mainichi: But if any American president apologized in the future, you would not like it?
J: I would be indignant. It’s a matter of what right does he have to (apologize) for something that all these people fought for and died for on both sides. The Japanese thought (the war) was the right thing and doing good for them. It wasn’t the right thing for anybody. But it happened, and you don’t apologize for history.
Read the rest of the interview: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.
[hat tip to Zero]
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Categories: General Japan
Pre-bombing Hiroshima recreated with computer graphics
A brief clip from this morning’s “Mezamashi TV” showing a CG recreation of what Hiroshima looked like before it was destroyed by an atomic bomb:
The interview the creator of the CG project (who lived near ground zero but was away from the city on the day of the bombing) via telephone and he repeats an opinion one frequently hears about the issue: it is important to teach younger people that nuclear weapons are horrible. By creating a representation of what was lost in the bombing, he hopes to remind people that such a thing should never be repeated.
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Categories: General Japan
The story of A-bomb survivor Toshie Une
As some of you may already know, today was the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Here’s a partially-translated “NEWS ZERO” report about Toshie Une, a 90-year-old woman who still remembers the horrors she experienced on August 6, 1945:
An English language write-up of her experience can be found at the Spirit of Hiroshima homepage and her book can be found at Amazon Japan.
[The subbing of the video was done with great haste, so there may be errors. If you catch any, let me know and I'll attempt to fix them.]
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Categories: General Japan
Atomic-bomb roof tile auctioned off
A British man has sold a piece of burned roof tile from a temple in Hiroshima that was damaged by the atomic bomb:
John Watts, 81, said he had been given the roof tile by the priest of Sairenji Temple when he visited Hiroshima in 1952.
“I’m 81 now, single, and nobody from my family seems to want it,” Watts said last week when contacted in his Lincoln home. “Somebody might like it as a memento, and I didn’t want to throw it away.”
When news broke about his plan to auction the roof tile, there was a negative reaction from groups in Hiroshima who thought it was “not something you should sell or buy.” The tile ended up selling for only 42 pounds, but Watts plans to give a 200 pound donation to support groups for A-bomb survivors.
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Categories: General Japan
Bear stops playing with baseball bat
A bear that drew visitors with his bat-twirling antics has mysteriously stopped playing with his bat, much to the dismay of zookeepers:
Cloud, who resides at the Asa Zoological Park in Asa-Kita Ward here, was last seen twirling on Sept. 27.
Nicknamed the Kung-fu Bear, Cloud started spinning poles in 2003. By March this year, he would spin about 15 times a day for up to 15 minutes at a time. But by September, he was spinning just once or twice a day.
Categories: Animal Videos
US House speaker to visit Hiroshima A-bomb memorial
AFP reports that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is about to become the ighest-ranking sitting US official to visit the atomic bomb memorial in Hiroshima:
No sitting US president or vice president has ever paid respects to the dead of the US nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, a sore point for many survivors in Japan.
Pelosi will travel to Hiroshima for a meeting of parliament speakers from the Group of Eight major industrial nations. Pelosi, who is second in line to the presidency, is a member of Barack Obama’s Democratic Party.
On Tuesday, Pelosi and the other speakers will lay flowers at a memorial in Hiroshima, hear testimony from a bomb survivor and hold discussions on disarmament, according to Japanese officials.
Categories: Foreigners in Japan, Politics