Subject | Humanities & Social Sciences

  • Learning

Hiroshima 1945: Atomic Bombing and Journalism ~John Hersey (1914-1993)~

Hiroshima and Nagasaki are the first cities where the atomic bomb was used in warfare. Journalists in Japan were banned from reporting on the casualties and damages of the bombs, after the country came under occupation by the Allied Forces in September of 1945. The authorities feared it would interfere with implementing their policies.
But the world would soon hear and see what had happened through the eyes of journalists from overseas. They witnessed the devastation firsthand and filed their stories, knowing so well that they might go head-to-head with the authorities. John Hersey, an American war correspondent, filed a story for The New Yorker in August 1946. His article sent a shockwave back home and led the US government to provide its justification for dropping the bombs: The use of the atomic bomb had spared the lives of one million US soldiers. This is how the US government legitimizes the bombings to this day. Revisiting how the media reported or had not reported on the atomic bombings allows participants to think about the role of journalism vis-à-vis authorities and that of individual conscience.
In this program, participants will watch videos produced by NHK WORLD-JAPAN, Japan’s sole public broadcaster, and consider how journalists, governments and civilians had each sought out their roles in telling the stories of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to the world.

Content/学習内容

  • Hersey was a war correspondent during World WarⅡ. He used his connection with the US military to get access to visit Hiroshima in May 1946. There, he met Reverend Kiyoshi Tanimoto who would come to play a pivotal role in Hersey's coverage of the atomic bombing and the survivors known as hibakusha. Upon his return to the US, Hersey got in touch with the editor of The New Yorker magazine and wrote what people often refer to as one of the masterpieces of the 20th-century journalism, "Hiroshima." Because of the sensitive nature of his work, the publication was carried out in secrecy and Hersey took the precaution to temporarily relocate his family from New York City to a remote location.
    His writing was a sensation. Henry Stimson, Secretary of War during WWⅡ, reacted with a magazine article, which became the foundation for the US rationale to justify the use of the atomic bombs: They spared the lives of one million US soldiers and brought the war to an end. Hersey was gradually shunned from the US mainstream media, and "Hiroshima," too had retreated from the front line of world affairs for a long time.

  • Designated TV Programs: NHK WORLD-JAPAN "Hiroshima Revealed" (2015)    

Staff/スタッフ

    • Teacher
    Robert Jacobs
    Professor,
    Hiroshima City University
    • Content Production
    Takaaki TAKAI
    Deputy Director, Bureau of Public Relations
    University of Tsukuba

Competency/コンピテンシー

  • Creativity
  • Situation grasping ability

Specialized competencies

  • Journalism
  • empowerment of the ability to understand
  • grasp a historic event in a multi-faceted way

Learning Goal

  • understand how the news of a-bomb was reported worldwide in a systemic way
  • understand how the US government had come to legitimize the bombing
  • learn about the impact of the a-bombing on non-Japanese nationals and build understanding for both the damage and perpetration
  • develop an undertanding of the role that journalism played in the aftermath of the bombing
  • learn about the cases how conscience of individuals can play a role under a certain political regime
  • develop an understanding of the role journalism could play in war when anger and hatred can divide people in friends ad foes

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