An estimated 140,000 were killed in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, another 70,000 in Nagasaki, with thousands more succumbing to radiation-related illnesses in the months and years that followed. Shocking statistics like these are supposedly etched in history, taught in classrooms across Japan and the rest of the world in an effort to ensure each new generation understands the horror of nuclear weapons and vows never to see them used again.
But shocking as the figures are, simply dusting them off around the anniversaries of the bombings every August won't prevent the horrors of 65 years ago from one day being revisited, says filmmaker Shinpei Takeda.
"How many people died, what happened, what's the radiation all about, how did they get treated — this information itself doesn't make us feel anything. And if you don't feel anything, the information itself doesn't stop us from repeating the same thing."