Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Bikini Kansho
A documentary film by Lisa Konczal, one of the 20 rising filmmaker around the world who are invited to attend the 60th Festival De Cannes (Cannes Film Festival) in Cannes, France (2007) and premiere her first documentary film, Bikini Kansho.
Radioactive Paradise
A documentary of a group of scientists, historian and divers decided to go to Bikini Atoll to see the effects of the nuclear tests conducted by The U.S in Bikini Atoll.
Interview with Matashichi Oishi, one of the former crewman of Daigo Fukuryu Maru (part 1)
Below is the transcript of the conversation taken from Hiroshima Peace Media Center
Part 1: “An impact so great I wondered if the earth had broken apart”
What was the situation at the time of the disaster?
At the time of the explosion it never occurred to me it was a nuclear test. I knew nothing about the atomic bomb or radioactivity then. I thought it was an explosion under the seabed or an underwater volcanic eruption because around that time an island had been formed overnight as the result of an underwater volcanic eruption.
But at the time of the flash, oddly enough there was no sound. The light slowly turned the whole sky, which was still dark, completely red like the sunset, but the light didn’t die out. I was surprised and wondered what had happened. I thought perhaps the universe had changed in some strange way. Everyone was just staring silently, wondering what had happened.
After that I went to the stern of the boat and was eating breakfast. Then, when I was about halfway through my breakfast, the sound reached us. It wasn’t a big boom that came from across the sea. It rose up from the bottom. It was a loud, low rumble that came from below. Everyone was startled, and the men who were walking on deck lay down flat like you would if a bomb were dropped. I was eating breakfast, so I just flung my dishes away and escaped into the cabin. I wondered if the earth had broken apart and what would happen next.
After about 15 minutes dawn broke and the sky lightened. On the horizon in the direction the light had come from I could see a cloud like five thunderclouds one on top of the other. It was the mushroom cloud from the H-bomb test. It was like a bigger version of the mushroom cloud you often see in films and photographs. It rose way up into the sky. It’s said that it went up 34,000 meters, so the top of the mushroom cloud must have reached the stratosphere.
About an hour and a half later the sky, which had been clear, was clouded over by the mushroom cloud, and then white stuff started falling. We were under southern skies, so I knew it couldn’t be snow. I wondered what it was. We had already started hauling in our long lines as usual, so we just kept on working while brushing the stuff off our heads. It didn’t flutter down like snowflakes; it stuck to us. I licked some that had stuck to my face, but it didn’t dissolve. It was gritty like sand. But at that time I had no idea there was radiation in the white powder. I just remember that a lot of white stuff got in my eyes and it was hard to work.
What was the situation at the time of the disaster?
At the time of the explosion it never occurred to me it was a nuclear test. I knew nothing about the atomic bomb or radioactivity then. I thought it was an explosion under the seabed or an underwater volcanic eruption because around that time an island had been formed overnight as the result of an underwater volcanic eruption.
But at the time of the flash, oddly enough there was no sound. The light slowly turned the whole sky, which was still dark, completely red like the sunset, but the light didn’t die out. I was surprised and wondered what had happened. I thought perhaps the universe had changed in some strange way. Everyone was just staring silently, wondering what had happened.
After that I went to the stern of the boat and was eating breakfast. Then, when I was about halfway through my breakfast, the sound reached us. It wasn’t a big boom that came from across the sea. It rose up from the bottom. It was a loud, low rumble that came from below. Everyone was startled, and the men who were walking on deck lay down flat like you would if a bomb were dropped. I was eating breakfast, so I just flung my dishes away and escaped into the cabin. I wondered if the earth had broken apart and what would happen next.
After about 15 minutes dawn broke and the sky lightened. On the horizon in the direction the light had come from I could see a cloud like five thunderclouds one on top of the other. It was the mushroom cloud from the H-bomb test. It was like a bigger version of the mushroom cloud you often see in films and photographs. It rose way up into the sky. It’s said that it went up 34,000 meters, so the top of the mushroom cloud must have reached the stratosphere.
About an hour and a half later the sky, which had been clear, was clouded over by the mushroom cloud, and then white stuff started falling. We were under southern skies, so I knew it couldn’t be snow. I wondered what it was. We had already started hauling in our long lines as usual, so we just kept on working while brushing the stuff off our heads. It didn’t flutter down like snowflakes; it stuck to us. I licked some that had stuck to my face, but it didn’t dissolve. It was gritty like sand. But at that time I had no idea there was radiation in the white powder. I just remember that a lot of white stuff got in my eyes and it was hard to work.
Interview with Matashichi Oishi, one of the former crewman of Daigo Fukuryu Maru (part 2)
Below is the transcript of the conversation taken from Hiroshima Peace Media Center
Part 2: “Kuboyama suffered and died”
What was the effect on your health?
Later I learned that the white ash was highly radioactive and that it was white because it was coral. That evening we began to suffer from dizziness, nausea and diarrhea, but it wasn’t so bad that we needed to go to bed, so we didn’t talk much about it with each other. Later, starting from about the second day, our faces and other places the ash had touched began to blister. There was water in them. They were burns from the radiation. After about 10 days we took some of our hair in our hands and it fell right out. We finally began to realize it might be because of the white powder. We spent two weeks returning to our home port of Yaizu. During that time there was a lot of ash on the ship. We spent two weeks amid that radioactive ash.
Later our skin turned black and peeled off. We didn’t really know what the cause was, so the two of us with the worst problem went to the University of Tokyo to be examined by a specialist. The next day the story was leaked to a newspaper and appeared in the paper, so the whole country learned of it. The fact that we had been exposed to fallout from a nuclear weapon was all over the news, and there was a big uproar about it. We were shocked too.
What was Mr. Kuboyama’s condition then?
I happened to have been hospitalized in the same room with Kuboyama, so I could observe his condition right up until the time he died. In my mind I can still see him in that pitiful condition. We didn’t know it at the time, but we were all infected with the hepatitis C virus through blood transfusions. I think what harmed Kuboyama most was the hepatitis C virus. His liver was damaged, and he got encephalopathy. He would lose consciousness or flail about ? things like that. But it was not only Kuboyama who was like that ? we all were. As I watched Kuboyama suffer and die, I wondered who was going to be next.
At that time we were given a lot of transfusions. The equipment used for giving transfusions was not good, and later the doctor said we were easily infected because we received a lot of transfusions in a weakened state. So, of course, I had hepatitis C too, and now I have cancer. I had surgery, and fortunately it was a success. But my first child was stillborn and deformed besides. It was a terrible shock.
Interview with Matashichi Oishi, one of the former crewman of Daigo Fukuryu Maru (part 3)
Below is the transcript of the conversation taken from Hiroshima Peace Media Center
Part 3: “Nuclear weapons cause widespread contamination”
How do you feel about the handling of this incident by the governments of Japan and the U.S.?
As a victim of the radiation, I’m not satisfied, but because of the situation at the time, perhaps the government had no choice but to do what it did. But I’d at least like them to recognize that because of that I’m still suffering today. I just want them to understand that it’s not over, that I’m still suffering.
What lessons were learned from the tests on Bikini?
When nuclear weapons are used, widespread contamination occurs. The radioactive “ashes of death” rise into the atmosphere, cover the earth and then fall as rain. The ashes that fall into the Pacific Ocean enter the food chain, are concentrated in the bodies of fish and then are eaten by human beings. That’s what we learned from the Bikini incident. By rights, the Japanese government should have taken the lead and spoken out against the making of nuclear weapons. But the government at the time responded by saying in the Diet that it would cooperate in the nuclear tests by the U.S. As a result, there was a push to make more and more nuclear weapons, and now humanity is threatened by 20,000 or 30,000 nuclear warheads that are deployed around the world.
Interviewer:
Fifty-four years have passed since coral containing the “ashes of death” from the hydrogen bomb test conducted by the U.S. on Bikini fell on the Daigo Fukuryu Maru. As Mr. Oishi described in his account, the victims of the hydrogen bomb tests have spent their lives suffering from liver cancer and other illnesses, but they have received no compensation from the Japanese government. We must remind ourselves that there are victims of the hydrogen bomb who have been abandoned.
How do you feel about the handling of this incident by the governments of Japan and the U.S.?
As a victim of the radiation, I’m not satisfied, but because of the situation at the time, perhaps the government had no choice but to do what it did. But I’d at least like them to recognize that because of that I’m still suffering today. I just want them to understand that it’s not over, that I’m still suffering.
What lessons were learned from the tests on Bikini?
When nuclear weapons are used, widespread contamination occurs. The radioactive “ashes of death” rise into the atmosphere, cover the earth and then fall as rain. The ashes that fall into the Pacific Ocean enter the food chain, are concentrated in the bodies of fish and then are eaten by human beings. That’s what we learned from the Bikini incident. By rights, the Japanese government should have taken the lead and spoken out against the making of nuclear weapons. But the government at the time responded by saying in the Diet that it would cooperate in the nuclear tests by the U.S. As a result, there was a push to make more and more nuclear weapons, and now humanity is threatened by 20,000 or 30,000 nuclear warheads that are deployed around the world.
Interviewer:
Fifty-four years have passed since coral containing the “ashes of death” from the hydrogen bomb test conducted by the U.S. on Bikini fell on the Daigo Fukuryu Maru. As Mr. Oishi described in his account, the victims of the hydrogen bomb tests have spent their lives suffering from liver cancer and other illnesses, but they have received no compensation from the Japanese government. We must remind ourselves that there are victims of the hydrogen bomb who have been abandoned.
Never Drop the Hydrogen Bomb Again
Teacher, Please help my daddy. If only they hadn't conducted the H-bomb test, he would not have suffered like this.
Please make a decision not to use such an awful hydrogen bomb ever again.
Please make a decision not to use such an awful hydrogen bomb ever again.
Written by Miyako Kuboyama, third grader (daughter of Aikichi Kuboyama)
Click here for more information.
The Other Victims
They are not the crewman of Daigo Fukuryu Maru, but they are some of the other fishermen that also exposed by the "Bravo" fallout.
Click here for source
Additional Pictures
Here some addition useful pictures which I think can describe the situation when the bombing took place
This is the picture that portrayed the crews working to clean the ship, taking care of the fish.
These are the pictures when the bomb test was held. It portrayed the bomb exploding.
This is the picture when the crew witness the bomb exploding.
This showed how the skin became after being exposed to the radiation.
This is the picture of the 23 crews that witness the H-Bomb test at Bikini Atoll and suffered radiation sickness.
This is the picture that portrayed the crews working to clean the ship, taking care of the fish.
These are the pictures when the bomb test was held. It portrayed the bomb exploding.
This is the picture when the crew witness the bomb exploding.
This showed how the skin became after being exposed to the radiation.
This is the picture of the 23 crews that witness the H-Bomb test at Bikini Atoll and suffered radiation sickness.
H-BOMB Danger Zone
The Lucky Dragon Fifth reached 160km east coast of Bikini Atoll, Marshal Islands, on March 1, 1954, 3:45 AM. That was the position set as the "danger zone" for U.S. hydrogen bomb test.
On March 1st, 1954, at 3:42 am, near the Bikini Atoll H-bomb area the Lucky Dragon 5# heard a roaring noise and saw a fireball for a few minutes in the dark. Then the crew began to suffer from the exposed fallouts. After this incident happened, "Perhaps we can..." became popular because of the fallout and the aftermath has caused various incidents to occur.(This was the advertisement for the movie Daigo Fukuryu Maru on the 2005 Hiroshima Peace Film Festival)
The movie was included in the Hiroshime festival in order to remind people the capability of the nuclear weapon. That nuclear weapon causes suffering for human race and does not bring peace nor solve any peace problem.
2 days after the Daigo Fukuryu Maru vessel returned to its ports in Yaidu port, Shizuoka perfecture, Yomiuri Shimbun reported an article saying that "Japanese Fishermen, encountered Bikini bomb incident" followed by "radiation sickness suffered by 23 people" in the headline title. After that, Japan quickly became the centre of attention, since the news was heards worldwide. The story was told to the Yomiuri reporters not by Daigo Fukuryu Maru fishermens themselves but instead through a third party that was told the story of a strong light near Bikini Atoll.
Aikichi Kuboyama Monument
“I pray that I am the last victim of an atomic or hydrogen bomb” is his last request before he died
Monument in the Daigo Fukuryu Maru Exhibition Hall, Tokyo
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