Today, we went to the Hatsukaichi Community Center. At the Center, we met with many women from the area. One of these women, Miyako Shinohara, is an in-utero atomic bomb victim (prenatal atomic radiation). She was in her mother's womb when the bomb went off, one and a half kilometers from their house. Her entire life was filled with tragedy because of this event. When she was in middle school, she had her first instance of purpura, a disease where the gums bleed and clot repeatedly, the skin becomes blotchy from blood under the surface, and you exhibit characteristics of haemophilia. She spent a month in the hospital, then was discharged after making a thousand paper cranes - her wish of a cure came true. However, the medicine that she was treated with made her face swell and she became allergic to penicillin and aspirin. As a young adult, she joined Soko Gakkai, a movement with in Buddhism that focuses on peace and community building. She attended many such functions, and lived a quasi-normal life as a young adult. However, when she was considering marriage with her boyfriend, he asked if she could bear normal babies. She told him yes, yet even she herself was unsure. This boyfriend eventually drifted away and then disappeared. While she was engaged in religious work, she met her future husband. She married in 1974, despite the opposition he faced from his family for marrying such a "sickly" woman. She now has 3 healthy, happy children. She now spends her time travelling to speak with others about Hiroshima, war, peace, and the future of humanity.
A few short clips of her speech: Clip 1 Clip 2 Clip 3
A deep sadness settled over me during her speech - why her? A near desperate need to apologize welled up inside of me. Now, later, looking back - why did I need to apologize? I feel for her sickness and the deaths of the millions involved, yet I had nothing to do with it. Then again, why do I feel guilt for this act? This feeling also pervaded our experience at the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Dome Museum.
After this talk, we had cookies and chatted with the community center members. Then it was back to class!
After class, we had karate. This was a lot of fun, as we actually got to work out in it. The karate guys invited me back. I'm really looking forward to getting involved.