Lesson 2 Hi roshi ma -- the"Live liest”City in J apan“Hir oshim a! Ev erybo dy of f!” T hat m ust b e wha t the manin th e Jap anese stat ionma ster's uni formshout ed, a s the fast est t rainin th e wor ld sl ipped to a stop in H irosh ima S tatio n. Idid n ot un derst and w hat h e was sayi ng. F irstof al l, be cause he w as sh outin g inJapan ese.And s econd ly, b ecaus e I h ad alumpin my thro at an d a l ot of sadthoug hts o n mymindthathad l ittle to d o wit h any thing a Ni pponrailw ays o ffici al mi ght s ay. T he ve ry ac t ofstepp ing o n thi s soi l, in brea thing this airof Hi roshi ma, w as fo r mea fargrea ter a dvent ure t han a ny tr ip or anyrepor toria l ass ignme nt I'd pre vious ly ta ken.Was I notat th e sce ne of thecrime?The J apane se cr owd d id no t app ear t o hav e the same preo ccupa tions that I ha d.Fr om th e sid ewalk outs ide t he st ation, thi ngs s eemed much thesameas in othe r Jap anese citi es. L ittle girl s and elde rly l adies in k imono s rub bed s hould ers w ith t eenag ers a ndwo men i n wes terndress. Ser iouslooki ng me n spo ke to oneanoth er asif t hey w ere o blivi ous o f the crow ds ab out t hem,and b obbed up an d dow n rep eated ly inlitt le bo ws, a s the y exc hange d the ritu al fo rmula of g ratit ude a nd re spect: "To mo al igato goza yimas." Ot herswereusing litt le re d tel ephon es th at hu ng on thefacad es ofgroc ery s tores andtobac co sh ops."H i! Hi!" sa id th e cab driv er, w hosedoorpoppe d ope n atthe v ery s ightof atrave ler."Hi", or s ometh ing t hat s ounds very much like it,means "yes". "C an yo u tak e meto Ci ty Ha ll?"He gr inned at m e inthe r ear-v iew m irror andrepea ted "Hi!""Hi!’ Weset o ff at topspeed thro ugh t he na rrowstree ts of Hiro shima. The tall buil dings of t he ma rtyre d cit y fla shedby as we l urche d fro m sid e tosidein re spons e tothe d river's sh arp t wists of t he wh eel.Ju st as I wa s beg innin g tofindthe r ide l ong,the t axi s creec hed t o a h alt,and t hedr ivergot o ut an d wen t ove r toa pol icema n toask t he wa y. As in T okyo, taxi driv ers i n Hir oshim a oft en kn ow li ttleof th eir c ity,but t o avo id lo ss of face befo re fo reign ers,willnot a dmittheir igno rance, and will acce pt an y des tinat ion w ithou t con cernfor h ow lo ng it maytakethemto fi nd it.At la st th is in terme zzo c ame t o anend,and I foun d mys elf i n fro nt of thegigan tic C ity H all.The u sherbowed deep ly an d hea ved a long, alm ost m usica l sig h,wh en Ishowe d him theinvit ation whic h the mayo r had sent me i n res ponse to m y req uestfor a n int ervie w. "T hat i s not here, sir," he said in E nglis h. "T he ma yor e xpect s youtoni ght f or di nnerwithother fore igner s onthe r estau rantboat. See? This is w hereit is.” He sket cheda lit tle m ap fo r meon th e bac k ofmy in vitat ion.Th anksto hi s map, I w as ab le to find a ta xi dr iverwho c ouldtakeme st raigh t tothe c analemban kment , wh ere a sort of b argewitha roo f lik e one on a Japa nesehouse wasmoore d . T he Ja panes e bui ld th eir t radit ional hous es on boat s whe n lan d bec omestoo e xpens ive.The r ather arre sting spec tacle of l ittle oldJapan adri ft am id be ige c oncre te sk yscra persis th e ver y sym bol o f the ince ssant stru gglebetwe en th e kim ono a nd th emin iskir t.At t he do or to theresta urant, a s tunni ng, p orcel ain-f acedwoman in t radit ionalcost ume a skedme to remo ve my shoe s. Th is do ne, I ente red o ne of thelow-c eilin ged r oomsof th e lit tle f loati ng ho use,tread ing c autio uslyon th e sof t mat tingand e xperi encin g a t winge of e mbarr assme nt at theprosp ect o f mee tingthe m ayorofHi roshi ma in my s ocks.H e was a ta ll, t hin m an, s ad-ey ed an d ser ious. Quit e une xpect edly, thestran geem otion whic h had over whelm ed me at t he st ation retu rned, andI was agai n cru shedby th e tho ughtthatI now stoo d onthe s ite o f the firs t ato mic b ombar dment, whe re th ousan ds up on th ousan ds of peop le ha d bee n sla ininone s econd, whe re th ousan ds up on th ousan ds of othe rs ha d lin gered on t o die in s low a gony.The i ntrod uctio ns we re ma de. M ost o f the gues ts we re Ja panes e, an d itwas d iffic ult f or me to a sk th em ju st wh y weweregathe red h ere.The f ew Am erica ns an d Ger mansseeme d jus t asinhib itedas Iwas."Gent lemen," sa id th e may or, "I amhappyto w elcom e you to H irosh ima."E veryo ne bo wed,inclu dingthe W ester ners. Afte r thr ee da ys in Japa n, th espi nal c olumn beco mes e xtrao rdina rilyflexi ble."G entle men,it is a ve ry gr eat h onorto ha ve yo u her e inHiros hima."There were fres h bow s, an d the face s gre w mor e and more seri ous e ach t ime t hena me Hi roshi ma wa s rep eated."Hi roshi ma, a s you know, isa cit y fam iliar to e veryo ne,”conti nuedthe m ayor."Yes,yes,of co urse,” mur mured thecompa ny, m ore a nd mo re ag itate d."Sel dom h as acitygaine d suc h wor ld re nown, andI amproud andhappyto w elcom e you to H irosh ima,a tow n kno wn th rough out t he wo rld f or it s---oyste rs".I wasjustabout to m ake m y lit tle b ow of asse nt, w hen t he me aning of t heselastwords sank in,jolti ng me outof my sadrever ie ."H irosh ima – oyst ers?Whatabout thebomband t he mi seryand h umani ty'smostheino us cr ime?" Whil e the mayo r wen t onwithhis s peech in p raise of s outhe rn Ja panes e sea food, I c autio uslybacke d awa y and head ed to wardthe f ar si de of theroom, wher ea f ew me n wer e tal kingamong them selve s and payi ng li ttleatten tionto th e may or'sspeec h. "Y ou lo ok pu zzled," sa id asmall Japa neseman w ith v ery l argeeye-g lasse s. "Wel l, Imustconfe ss th at Idid n ot ex pecta spe ech a boutoyste rs he re. Ithou ght t hat H irosh ima s tillfeltthe i mpact of t he at omicimpac t .""N o one talk s abo ut it anymore, andno on e wan ts to, esp ecial ly, t he pe oplewho w ere b orn h ere o r who live d thr oughit. "Do yo u fee l the same way, too?""I wa s her e, bu t I w as no t inthe c enter of t own.I tel l you this beca use I am a lmostan o ld ma n. Th ere a re tw o dif feren t sch oolsof th ought in t his c ity o f oys ters, onethatwould like to p reser ve tr acesof th e bom b, an d the othe r tha t wou ld li ke to getrid o feve rythi ng, e ven t he mo numen t tha t was erec ted a t the poin t ofimpac t. Th eywo uld a lso l ike t o dem olish theatomi c mus eum.""W hy wo uld t hey w ant t o dothat?""Becau se it hurt s eve rybod y, an d bec ausetimemarch es on. Tha t iswhy." Thesmall Japa neseman s miled, his eyes near ly cl osedbehin d the ir th ick l enses. "If youwrite abou t thi s cit y, do notforge t tosay t hat i t isthe g ayest city in J apan, even it m any o f the town's pe oplestill bear hidd en wo unds, andburns."Like anyother, the hosp italsmell ed of form aldeh yde a nd et her . Stre tcher s andwhee lchai rs li ned t he wa lls o f end lesscorri dors, andnurse s wal ked b y car rying Stre tcher s ins trume nts,the v ery s ightof wh ich w ouldsendshive rs do wn th e spi ne of anyhealt hyvi sitor. The so-c alled atom ic se ction waslocat ed on thethird floo r. It cons isted of 17bed s."I a m a f isher man b y tra de. I have been here a ve ry lo ng ti me, m ore t han t wentyyear s, "s aid a n old manin Ja panes e paj amas. “Wha t iswrong with you?”"Some thing insi de. I wasin Hi roshi ma wh en it happ ened. I sa w the fire ball. But Iha d noburns on m y fac e orbody. I ra n all over thecitylooki ng fo r mis singfrien ds an drel ative s. Ithoug ht so mehow I ha d bee n spa red.But l atermy ha ir be gan t o fal l out, and my b ellyturne d towater. I f elt s ick,and e ver s incethentheyhavebeentesti ng an dtre ating me." The doct or at my s ide e xplai ned a nd co mment ed up on th e old man'ssto ry, "We st ill h are a hand ful o f pat ients here whoare b eingkeptalive by c onsta ntca re. T he ot hersdiedas aresul t oftheir inju ries, or e lse c ommit ted s uicid e . ""W hy di d the y com mit s uicid e?""It is h umili ating to s urviv e inthiscity. If y ou be ar an y vis iblescars of a tomic burn s, yo ur ch ildre n wil l enc ounte rprej udice on t he pa r t o f tho se wh o donot.No on e wil l mar ry th e dau ghter or t he ni ece o f anatomi c bom b vic tim.Peopl e are afra id of gene tic d amage from theradia tion." The oldfishe rmangazed at m e pol itely andwithinter est.Ha nging over thepatie nt wa s a b ig ba ll ma de of bits of b right ly co lored pape r,fo ldedintothe s hapeof ti ny bi rds."What's th at?"I ask ed."Th ose a re my luck y bir ds. E ach d ay th at Iescap e dea th, e ach d ay of suff ering that help s tofreeme fr om ea rthly care s, Imakea new litt le pa per b ird,and a dd it to t he ot hers. This wayI loo k atthemand c ongra tulat e mys elf o f the good fort une t hat m y ill nesshas b rough t me. Beca use,thank s toit, I have theoppor tunit y toimpro ve my char acter."Once agai n, ou tside in t he op en ai r, Itoreintolittl e pie ces a smal l not ebook withques tions that I'dprepa red i n adv ancefor i nterv iewswiththe p atien ts of theatomi c war d. Am ong t hem w as th e que stion: Doyou r eally thin k tha t Hir oshim a isthe l iveli est c ity i n Jap an? I neve r ask ed it. But I co uld r ead t he an swerin ev ery e ye. (fr om an Amer icanradio prog ram p resen ted b y EdKay)。
