|
|
|
A-bomb documentary film by Japan Film Corporation
The Japan Film Corporation was a national corporation established to produce documentary films for news during the war and to heighten the public will to fight.
Immediately after the atomic bombings, a plan emerged within Japan Film to make a film record of conditions in the A-bombed cities. After considerable lobbying by Yoshio Nishina of the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research and the Japan Film executives, approval was obtained for cameramen to participate in the investigations conducted by the Special Committee. Japan Film staff entered Hiroshima toward the end of September and began filming with guidance from the experts. From the beginning, this film was designed to present an objective look at conditions after the bombing; it was to be a scientific record.
Film production proceeded through the devoted efforts of all involved, but suddenly, while filming on location in Nagasaki, they were ordered by GHQ police to stop.
After negotiating with the US authorities, they were accepted as members of the US Strategic Bombing Survey (USSBS) team that had come to Japan for its own investigation. They were allowed to continue filming under US supervision for the purpose of documenting the effects of the air raids.
In April 1946, the English version of a film entitled Effects of the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was completed and delivered to the US authorities. However, the film corporation was ordered also to submit all related materials, including photos and out-takes. All of this material was taken to the US. The US refused to return this material for 21 years, finally doing so in 1967. However, a few of the Japanese involved had secretly preserved copies of some of the film.
|
|
Effects of the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Hiroshima version), Japanese version for video
The documentary film Effects of the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was produced by Japan Film Corporation, then taken back to the US. It was declassified in 1967 and has been seen available for public viewing. This video was produced with the English narration dubbed into Japanese in 1996 using a copy of the original film obtained in 1981. The Japanese version was produced by Hiroshima Nagasaki Publishing Committee (Committee of Japanese Citizens to Send Gift Copies of a Photographic & Pictorial Record of the Atomic Bombing to Our Children and Fellow Human Beings of the World), later renamed the Association to Establish The Japan Peace Museum. Here, only the Hiroshima version is shown. Running time is 1hr 25mins. When the film is over, it automatically rewinds and begin again.
|
|
Scenes filmed by the staff of Japan Film Corporation
September 1945
Photo by Shigeo Hayashi
This photo shows a cameraman of Japan Film Corporation filming the members of the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research as they measure residual radiation in Saiku-machi near the hypocenter. The filming was done with cooperation of members of the Special Committee for the Investigation of A-bomb Damages.
|
Establishment and investigative activities of the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission (ABCC)
As the material obtained by the Japan-US Joint Commission and the USSBS was analyzed, many of the Americans involved perceived the need for long-term studies of the effects of the A-bomb on human bodies.
On November 18, 1946, Admiral James Forestall met President Truman and recommended continued investigation of A-bomb aftereffects. On November 26, the president approved this recommendation and ordered the National Academy of Science (NAS) and the National Research Council (NRC) to establish the Committee on Atomic Casualties (CAC). The ABCC was the investigative arm in Japan of the CAC. It was equipped for research activities and immediately dispatched a survey team to begin investigations.
In this connection, on May 21, 1947, the Ministry of Public Health and Welfare established a separate National Institute of Health, a division of the Institute for Infections Disease at Tokyo Imperial University. A system was created to facilitate cooperation with the ABCC.
The ABCC's Kure Laboratory was completed on October 31, 1948. On July 14, 1949, a temporary facility was opened for the ABCC's Hiroshima Laboratory in Gaisen-kan (Hall of Triumph) in Ujina-machi. This marked the beginning of full-scale research.
|
| |
 |
|
 |
|
| |
The ABCC Survey Team and Japanese supporters at Hiroshima City Hall
December 6, 1946
Collection of Hiroshima Municipal Archives
|
|
The outside of the ABCC Kure Laboratory
Courtesy of Hiroshima University Research Institute for Radiation Biology and Medicine
|
|
|
