ARCATA, Calif. — The time again has come to remember the use of atomic power on Japanese civilians in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. Each year at this time, newspapers, books and a variety of media services spend time remembering the events of Aug. 6 and 9, 1945. But why do we remember these things?
Is it morbid fascination with grotesque violence? I certainly hope not. My own experience with the people of Hiroshima and with the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum teaches me that there is a specific and noble purpose for remembering what happened.
My understanding of the Japanese response to Hiroshima is that it is remembered in order to understand the profoundness of the tragedy and to prevent the tragedy from ever happening again. The quiet remembering of one's ancestors, the quiet remembering of the souls of the many, many victims of the atomic explosion in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, is done to pay respect to each of those lives. The remembering is done to try and express a profound respect for human life and to try to express a desire that we as a human community do not ever again do what we have done.