Summary:
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Anju Niwata, a young Japanese peace activist who was born and raised in Hiroshima, launched the “Rebooting Memories” project after realizing she is among the last generation to be able to communicate directly with the hibakusha, or those who survived the Hiroshima nuclear bomb.
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This project involves colouring pictures taken in the city before the war that feature survivors and the families and locations lost in the bombing.
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Izumi Nakamitsu, the Japanese UN Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, heartily supports Ms Niwata’s goal of renewing awareness of the effects of nuclear war.
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“The United Nations’ DNA includes disarmament.
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There are around 13,000 nuclear weapons in use worldwide, and relations between states that possess these weapons are fraught.
There aren’t many living witnesses to the World War II nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Anju Niwata, a young Japanese peace activist who was born and raised in Hiroshima, launched the “Rebooting Memories” project after realizing she is among the last generation to be able to communicate directly with the hibakusha, or those who survived the Hiroshima nuclear bomb. This project involves colouring pictures taken in the city before the war that feature survivors and the families and locations lost in the bombing.
In Hiroshima, before World War II, there was a festival.
Ms Niwata appropriately adds colour to the black & white images she borrows from the survivors using a combination of software and interviews with survivors. She argues that the black and white photos could seem lifeless, immobile, and frozen to us.
“Yet, by adding colour to the images, the recollections of the tranquil lives lived before the bombing gradually move forward and begin to breathe. Although it takes a while, the excitement of the hibakusha when they view the colour pictures never fails to inspire me.
The hibakusha, who was instrumental in educating the public about the deadly effects of nuclear weapons in the years following World War II, have warmly embraced her efforts.
Before the attack, when Tokuso Hamai was two years old, his family left Hiroshima. His entire family was murdered. He accompanied Ms Niwata to the location of the barbershop his father once owned in the Nakajima neighbourhood of Hiroshima as part of her project.
Any remnants of the business and the nearby buildings are now gone, buried beneath the Peace Park created to memorialize the horrible event’s victims and commemorate it.
Mr Hamai’s memories of Hiroshima before World War II were sparked as he stood there and viewed the colour images. He explains, “I remembered what I had forgotten. “This would not have occurred if the pictures had been in black and white. My first memory was of a cedar-lined avenue that was green. I can still see myself plucking cedar buds to use as toy gun rounds.
Izumi Nakamitsu, the Japanese UN Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, heartily supports Ms Niwata’s goal of renewing awareness of the effects of nuclear war.
“The United Nations’ DNA includes disarmament. A few months after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the first General Assembly meeting was held in London. At the time, everyone was greatly affected by the shock of the nuclear attacks.
Since then, it has been a principal focus of the United Nations and is now even more crucial since conflicts and tensions are rising in a dangerous world. There are around 13,000 nuclear weapons in use worldwide, and relations between states that possess these weapons are fraught. Existential risks are posed. Thus individuals must begin to consider what would happen if they were employed.
I believe Ms Niwata’s effort will make a significant difference. It enters your imagination more vividly and will affect your mind and heart if you can picture how things were.
Ms Niwata was inspired to see that she was far from the only young activist fighting towards peace, each utilizing different techniques to accomplish the same goal, as she took part in the SDG Global Festival of Action, a UN event filled with dozens of inspiring speakers from around the world. My goal is to keep promoting the ideas and memory of atomic bomb survivors into the future and to bring about a nuclear-weapons-free society.
