A Japanese female reporter visited an event in California this March. The exhibition showed some materials related to atomic-bomb disasters in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
She met two Hispanic ladies in a hall of the exhibition. The two ladies were reading a piece of materials which were related to the Nagasaki atomic-bomb attack. So, the reporter wanted to know what the two ladies thought about it. But, she was astonished to be conversely asked by them about what Nagasaki and an atomic bomb meant.
This experience led to her quest of a lost report on Nagasaki that had been prepared by George Weller but rejected to be published by the Allied Headquarters stationed in Tokyo after the surrender of the Empire of Japan.
In Japan, it is said that nowadays there are some young people who do not know that Japan and the U.S. fought against each other in WWII. And even they do not know which side had won.
In April 1975, the Pol Pot faction occupied the capital of Cambodia. They were expelled out of Phnum Penh in January 1979 by Vietnamese forces and their Cambodian allies, but the faction is said to have killed one million people among eight million population of Cambodia during its occupation.
Once, a Japanese young man who had visited Cambodia and met Pol Pot soldiers wrote that when he happened to tell them, in a friendly occasion, that the earth is round they made a fool of him. “If the earth is a globe,” the soldiers said, “what becomes of people on the opposite side of the globe?”
This kind of story must be found among Rwandan people who participated in the great massacre in 1994 sacrificing almost million people, Chinese people who participated in the Great Culture Revolution in late 1960’s and early 70’s causing millions of victims, and German people who could not stop the great tragedy of six million Jews under the Hitler’s regime.
In addition, this kind of story might be found among terrorists and insurgents.
But, contemporary Americans and Japanese do not have any idea about Hiroshima and Nagasaki as well as atomic bombs that are something more alarming to humankind.
According to a survey conducted by an organization of high reputation, the blast of an atomic bomb in Hiroshima as well as Nagasaki was chosen as the greatest news in the 20th century by learned persons.
Albert Einstein is one particular human being in the human history in that he changed a view of the universe forever, making Newton’s physics obsolete. He is also known for his letter to US President Roosevelt, recommending development of an atomic bomb to defeat Nazis.
But, it is said that Einstein had not been aware of possibility of chain reaction of atomic fission in Uranium and Plutonium, which made possible the building-up of an atomic bomb, until the theory was explained to him by other physicist who had taken an initiative of promoting the plan.
There are many who are innocent but so ignorant as to be manipulated by others with great knowledge. Even among the highest class of experts, there are some whose tiny lack of information led to a great misjudgment. Mighty weapons would make slim a chance of sincere negotiations.
Of course, those with great knowledge or sufficient information but without good intentions should be responsible if they manipulate others with less information so as to fulfill their personal desires.
Nonetheless, in order to avoid any future tragedy, we should let necessary information prevail among people concerned.
For example, if possible terrorist candidates know that how seven million Muslims are living peacefully in rich society of the U.S., they might reconsider their desperate mission and eventually give it up.
It is true, however, that not only German scientists but also Japanese ones had been studying possibility of creation of an atomic bomb during WWII. But if the Japanese people then had been informed that only the U.S. had scientific and engineering capacity to actually design and produce the bomb, probably Pearl Harbor attack should have been avoided.
It is not too late to provide useful information in good faith to avoid future tragedy probably having influence on millions.
(Source of information: The Mainichi Shimbun newspaper )
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