|
|
Introduction
This exhibition will review the efforts to discover and analyze the effects of the atomic bomb beginning immediately after the bombing and continuing to the present.
After the atomic bombing, the Japanese government and military immediately dispatched survey teams to confirm that the weapon had, in fact, been an atomic bomb. Subsequently, numerous investigations have been conducted by numerous organizations and researchers. Beginning with the prominent Japanese researchers involved initially, many of the scholars who have studied this subject brought to it a good knowledge of the properties of an atomic bomb. Learning what they studied and how they managed to do so in the ruin that was Hiroshima gives us a deeper, more accurate understanding of the weapon and its implications.
To study A-bomb effects in the terrible confusion that followed the bombing and the end of the war, the investigators were forced to overcome tremendous obstacles, from shortages of food and materials to social turmoil and overt obstruction by the American occupation forces.
Nevertheless, determined efforts on the part of the researchers kept the A-bomb investigation ongoing. What were these researchers trying to do? What motivated them to do this research? What is the significance of this research for us today? We hope this exhibition will stimulate you to consider questions such as these.
The results of the surveys conducted to date appear on the surface to be a faceless mass of mechanically produced figures, words, and charts.
However, each and every piece of data is an insight taken from the flesh and blood experience of an A-bomb victim. We hope that these A-bomb surveys, the conditions the researchers encountered and the reports they produced will help you achieve a more profound understanding of the pain, grief, and rage of the survivors.
This exhibition has been made possible by the many groups and individuals who provided valuable information and artifacts. I am profoundly grateful for their generous assistance.
July 25, 2003
Minoru Hataguchi
Director
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum
|
The Special Committee for the Investigation of A-bomb Damages to begin their studies |
 |
 |
A girl waiting for her death with a serious A-bomb disease
 |
|
Researcher measuring radiation near the
hypocenter
|
|
