Street Roots • July 31-Aug. 6, 2015
News
Page 9
burning. If I had to go through that now, I
probably would faint.
E.K.: Well, I have to tell you that I’ve
lived on this Earth for 86 years. I was born
in Hawaii and lived there until I was 11
years old, and in those days, Hawaii was a
paradise. And I Game to Oregon in 1967
because I had an opportunity with a job. I
consider Oregon as my paradise now. I have
three sons, and they all grew in this
neighborhood. The environment for them
growing up was perfect And so I consider
this a paradise. My life is paradise to
paradise, and in between.
L.K.: Did you have relatives who were in
Hiroshima?
E.K.: My dad came from a family of 10
brothers and sisters. But seven of the family
were in Hawaii.
One of my youngest cousins was in the
seventh grade, and she was going to school
in the middle of the city. She died. But the
mother and the sister tried to track the
route that she took on her way to school.
They found her. My auntie was very bitter
about the atomic bomb and America
because she lost her dear child. But in 1985,
my wife and I went to visit her, and she kind
of softened. She was 87 at the time. Her
hatred of America was softened.
L.K.: In between...
PH O TO BY LEO NO RA KO
L.K.: Pm guessing it's hard to talk about
these things sometimes?
E J Kawasaki, an atomic bomb survivor, has a framed award from the emperor of Japan for
contributing to the good relationships between Japan and America.
'" '“XT'-., '
E.K.: Yes, because I lost 17 classmates
that same day. They were going to the
ammunitions factory, and they got caught
commuting. I know someone in the class
before me who is a survivor because he was
sick that day and didn’t go to his student
mobilization. He explained to me, out of 250
in his class, 215 died that day. That class
was in the middle of the city, clearing fire
lanes and burying debris in pits. There were
25 of them in the pit when the bomb
dropped. I guess the pit was deep enough
that the bomb blast and heat went over their
heads. So they survived. Ten were at home
sick. But 215 of his classmates died
instantly.
Every time I go back to Hiroshima, Ig o
to the Peace Memorial Park and offer
incense. It’s right in the middle of the park.
It really grips my heart.
L.K.: What are your thoughts about the
bomb being dropped?
E.K.: The thing that not too many people
talk about is this...
(He reads from a paper). Harry Truman
and his atomic bomb decision: Was it
necessary or was it unnecessary? There’s
been a theory that Japan was defeated long
before the bombing of Hiroshima and
apparently the Japanese leaders knew it too.
However, the war in the Pacific theater
continued to be very heavy. According to
the U.S. military intelligence report, during
the whole war, not a single Japanese unit
had surrendered. Our guess was the war
would not end for at least another year. And
from a casualties point of view, the invasion
of the American forces placed on the
mainland of Japan, opinion was that there
may have been a million casualties of U.S.
forces and maybe millions more on the
Japanese side.
. And so it was an imperfect world, and an
imperfect decision had to be made to end
the war.
L.K.: Pm wondering about how you feel?
E.K.: The Japanese military leadership at
that time was using ideology, propaganda
and brainwash. So the Japanese people
probably would have followed the leadership
of the military government and fought to
the end, just like the soldiers did. And so
Educating fo r Peace:
■
Starting Aug. g, Concordia University
.. W h o s t I s d t t r ig W Peace:
Again,” a traveling exhibit
',
commemorating the 70th anniversary
.of the bombing of Hiroshima,
Bombing survivor f i f Kawasaki wiF
speak at a lunch reception Thursday
following an 11 am. prayer vigil on the
campus green.
; ' <
The exhibit, a collaboration between
: the-Hiroshima Ground Zero Museum ;•
and the Wholistic Peace Institute, will
be on display through Sept 19 a t. . • •
Concordia’s George R. White Library
anáteaming Center Gallery.:
. Oregon and Washington middle .
schools and, high schools and colleges
interested in hosting the exhibit before
the end of April may contact Chris s ,, '
whollstiepeaceinstitutexom
o rw «
&
I IBa
this article is partially true.
L.K.: Do you feel you would have fought to
the end?
E.K.: I don’t know. You have to realize I
was only 16 years old. How would you have
thought when you were just 16 years old?
You were playing basketball or baseball and
not thinking about war. And it’s 70 years
ago, so if you asked me how did I think, I
can’t remember.
L.K.: You were there until 1951. What were
the conditions right after the bomb?
E.K.: The funny thing is that nobody
knew what the atomic bomb was. They
thought the gas tanks in the neighborhood
exploded. Later on, they learned it was the
atomic bomb. The rumors were, if you
passed through Hiroshima city, then in a few
weeks, you can die and the plants are not
going to grow for the next 60 years. So it
was very comforting to us when we saw
grass and flowers start to grow the following
spring. And I understand that the radiation
dropped drastically several hours after the
bomb dropped. Those things, I guess, were
researched later.
Fortunately, America was the occupation
force. Gen. MacArthur was the head of the
occupation force. They really did a good job
in the occupation. If the American forces .
were not the ones that occupied Japan, it
could have been Russia or China. So the
post-occupation of Japan could have been
quite a different life, for the people.
The rumor was that the American
soldiers were wild and savages. But that was
sqy^ched as soon ag the ^occupation took ,
place. The soldiers didnot carry weapons
when they went into the cities, to the bars
and the restaurants. That’s the first time in
history that the occupation forces did not
carry arms, other than the military police.
And the Japanese people really respected
the emperor’s stature. So when the emperor
said, “The war ended; drop your arms,” that
took place and nobody was in the mode of
killing the soldiers that came in to occupy
Japan. It was a very peaceful occupation.
L.K.: So many people perished with the
bomb, and you survived. Do you feel like
there's a reason you survived?
E.K.: It’s fate. If the telephone call had
gone through to Shima Hospital (considered
ground zero), then I’m not here. So what
can I say, other than fate. Some people were
in the middle of the city by chance, and not
by choice.
L.K.: Could you explain the word
“hibakusha”?
E.K.: “Hi” is victim. “Baku” is bomb. And
“sha” is a person. So victim of the bomb.
Everybody was a victim of the bomb at the
time.
I am a hibakusha. When I went back to
Japan, my classmate took me to the city hall
to get the certification that I am a
hibakusha. With that certification, I can have
my medical treatment free of charge
throughout my life — if I get treated in
Japan. He said, “It may not be anything for
you in America, but it’s a nice thing to
have.” So my classmates were the witnesses
that I was hibakusha.
L.K.: How do you feel now?
E.K.: There was unfortunate suffering
that we (experienced) during World War II.
Other than that, I went through life.
Having been born in Hawaii, 1 went to Japan
and experienced the A-Bomb and World War
II. I came back to Hawaii to finish my
degree at the University at Hawaii through
the ROTC. I was a commissioned officer in
the U.S. Army, served two years
of active duty and six years in the reserves'
and worked until 1967 before I came to
Oregon.
Some of the best times of my life were
with the Junior Chamber of Commerce. The
motto of JC is: “Service to humanity is the
best work of life.” When you’re serving, you
make a lot of good friends and you feel good
about what you have accomplished. I was on
the founding board of the homeowners
association. I was asked to serve on the
school board.
Because I was bilingual, I was doing a'lot
of service to get the local companies and
universities introduced to Japanese
companies, like NEC or Fujitsu. OPB
(Oregon Public Broadcasting) wanted to
have Japanese language in their TV
programs, so I got some donations from the-
companies. When the training ships came
from Japan, I was a kind of a chairman for
those things. One of the greatest awards I
received is in that frame over there. It’s an
award from the emperor of Japan for
contributing to the good relationships
between Japan and America. (Kawasaki also
received a Citizen of the World Award from
the Japan-America Society of Oregon,
among others.)
L.K.: What we have been talking about is a
very small part of your life, and you have had
a very full and successful life. There are less
than 1,000 hibakusha left in the U.S. I know
you are concerned about the young people. Is
there something you want to say to them about
your atomic bomb experience?
E.K.: (I’m quoting) an American tourist
visiting the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.
She said, “It was really the only time in my
life that I’ve ever been ashamed to be an
American. But the people were very
forgiving and gave me hope about the world.”
My counter-reaction to her quote is: Do
not be ashamed to be an American for i t We
all have to realize that war is hell. Yes, we
could question ourselves whether it was OK
or not OK to have used the atomic bomb on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But if you are asked
about the atomic bomb by a foreigner, as an
American, I would say, “I am sorry that it
happened. Let us forgive each other for the
war. Let us all pray for eternal world peace.”
And then we should just move on.