The Day the Sun Rose in the West: Bikini, the Lucky Dragon, and I

Prologue: Sakura Junior High School and I

sakura junior high school and i prologue 1 May 25, 1998: The rain that started the night before had turned into a downpour; there was a strong wind. At 5:00 a.m., leaving myself plenty of time, I dressed and got into my car. In winds this strong, the superhighway scared me. I’d drive carefully on lesser roads. The convenience store at which I often bought food was closed for renovations. And there weren’t similar stores along the way. So I headed straight for my destination, the international convention complex in Chiba. I’d been asked to speak about Bikini to ninth-graders from Sakura Junior High School in Yokkaichi. They were on their annual school excursion, staying at a hotel in Makuhari. Last year, too, I’d spoken to students from the same school. Beginning at about Yumenoshima, the oncoming lane was bumper-tobumper ,stretchingonandon.Apparentlythere’dbeenanaccident.Yumenoshima means Dream Island. Belying its name, Yumenoshima used to be Tokyo’s vast garbage dump. Seagulls flocked and flies swarmed around massive, stinking mounds of garbage; no one wanted to go anywhere near. The disgusting odor and the flies assaulted the nearby apartment complexes and caused great problems for the residents. But the place was now completely changed, as if that earlier state had never been. Today Yumenoshima is a beautiful park with stadiums and baseball fields, an indoor pool, and a tropical garden that uses the heat from the garbage incineration plant. There is also a fine marina on the canal. That canal was once a graveyard for ships. And that was where my ship, the Lucky Dragon #5, had been left to rot, its second name Hayabusa-maru on the 2 PR OLO GUE hull. The concerted desire of the residents of Yumenoshima for a total ban on atomic and hydrogen bombs had brought pressure on the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, led by the progressive Governor Minobe Ryōkichi. In 1976, the half-sunken ship was salvaged, a roof was built over it, and Lucky Dragon #5 Exhibition Hall came into being. Year by year, visitors to this hall have grown in number; now more than two hundred thousand people a year come to visit. Students come on school excursions , and one always hears lively voices and laughter inside the building. People seem to appreciate the exhibition all the more because we have been at peace. For twenty years, Mio Takahide and Hata Sayoko have served the museum as guides and guardians, explaining the ship and the Bikini Incident. Their dedication to peace has helped the museum grow. I go to the Exhibition Hall twenty or thirty times a year. I’m especially busy in the spring, the peak season for school trips. On May 14, 1998, I spoke to students from three schools in one day, and the next day I spoke about my The author talking with junior high school students at the Lucky Dragon #5 Exhibition Hall, September 2006. The hull of the Lucky Dragon #5 is just visible in upper left. (Ozawa Yoshiichi) SAKUR A JUNIOR HIGH SCHO OL AND I 3 experience at the Prince Garden Hotel in Tokyo. At sessions at the museum and elsewhere, I’ve met and spoken with students from all over the country: Osaka, Kyoto, Gifu, Nara, Mie, Aichi, Shizuoka, Kanagawa, Yamanashi, Saitama, Iwate, and so on. Fortunately, traffic going in my direction was smoother than I expected, and I reached my destination in less than two hours. That left me time to find a convenience store, where I bought breakfast. I ate in the car, looking up at the Chiba Marines Baseball Stadium. Unlike the way it appears on TV, the gigantic stadium , deserted and silent, made me uneasy. Makuhari International Convention Complex is an artificial town, built on reclaimed land in Tokyo Bay. Its abundant greenery and huge buildings somehow make it look foreign. When I entered the hotel lobby, the teacher in charge of the day’s session and the principal of Sakura Junior High School greeted me. In a gentle and soft voice, the principal said, “The students have just finished their breakfast and are now getting the room ready for your talk. Please wait here.” Looking around at the fancy lobby, I said, “Students today sure are lucky. On their school excursions they stay in luxury hotels.” He replied, “Well, some parents say staying in a Japanese-style inn would...