高英report Hiroshima—the “Liveliest” City in Japan

Report of lesson 2

Hiroshima—the “Liveliest” City in Japan

Background information

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, means "Wide Island" in Japanese. Hiroshima gained city status on April 1, 1889. On April 1, 1980, Hiroshima became a designated city. As of 2006, the city had an estimated population of 1,154,391. Kazumi Matsui has been the city's mayor since April 2011.

Hiroshima is best known as the first city in history to be targeted by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on the city at 8:15 a.m. on August 6, 1945, near the end of World War II.During World War II, the 2nd General Army and Chugoku Regional Army were headquartered in Hiroshima, and the Army Marine Headquarters was located at Ujina port. The city also had large depots of military supplies, and was a key center for shipping.

On Monday, August 6, 1945, at 8:15 a.m., the nuclear bomb "Little Boy" was dropped on Hiroshima by an American B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay, flown by Colonel Paul Tibbets, directly killing an estimated 80,000 people. The population before the bombing was around 340,000 to 350,000. Approximately 70% of the city's buildings were destroyed, and another 7% severely damaged.

At the time of its bombing, Hiroshima was a city of both industrial and military significance. A number of military units were located nearby, the most important of which was the headquarters of Field Marshal ShunrokuHata's Second General Army, which commanded the defense of all of southern Japan, and was located in Hiroshima Castle. Over 40,000 military personnel were stationed in the city. Hiroshima was a minor supply and logistics base for the Japanese military, but it also had large stockpiles of military supplies. The city was also a communications center, a key port for shipping and an assembly area for troops. It was also the second largest city in Japan after Kyoto that was still undamaged by air raids, due to the fact that it lacked the aircraft manufacturing industry that was the XXI Bomber Command's

priority target. On July 3, the Joint Chiefs of Staff placed it off limits to bombers, along with Kokura, Niigata and Kyoto.

The center of the city contained several reinforced concrete buildings and lighter structures. Outside the center, the area was congested by a dense collection of small timber-made workshops set among Japanese houses. A few larger industrial plants lay near the outskirts of the city. The houses were constructed of timber with tile roofs, and many of the industrial buildings were also built around timber frames. The city as a whole was highly susceptible to fire damage.

Text analyses

This text is about the author’s experience of visiting Hiroshima, the very first city which have been attacked by nuclear weapons. In response to the author’s request for an interview, the mayor of the Hiroshima invited him to have dinner with other foreigners on restaurant boat. At first the author felt very uncomfortable at that situation, filling with guiltiness. He thought the mayor would say something about the atomic bomb. Bet the mayor made a speech of oysters. A small Japanese man told the author that pe ople didn’t want to talk about it anymore and even wanted to demolish the monument for it hurt everyone. Then the author went to the atomic ward in hospital where many patients suffering from radiation were treated. A former fisherman told him that it was humiliating for survivors to live in this city. Even their children would encounter prejudice. But every day he folded a paper bird to commemorate. The author once wondered whether Hiroshima was the liveliest city in Japan, now he read the answer in every eye.

The title of this text is a suspense for readers. In what sense was Hiroshima the liveliest city in Japan? At the end of the text the author still do not tell us the answer directly. But reader can tell how hard Japanese were reconstructing their city while the pain of Hiroshima would never be forgotten.

The author goes through a huge change of emotion during the text. At first the author felt like having a lump in his throat. And then he got less uncomfortable. It

shows that people in Japan were forgetting those unpleasant memories. They were trying to hide and get out of it. But the pains remained. We could still notice them form a sick man.

The author uses many rhetoric. One of them is sarcasm and the biggest sarcasm in this text must be the one in the title. Hiroshima had always been connected with atomic bomb and death and disaster. There is no way for Hiroshima to become the liveliest or gayest city in Japan. As the first place where atomic weapons were ever used, Hiroshima will always be in history. It is a lesson for the world.

By using rhetoric, the author forms a special sense of humor in his text, which makes the text more interesting and readable.

Hiroshima was a complicated and argumentative accident. On one hand we think the price people in Hiroshima pay for war is too heavy and atomic bombs should never be used again. On the other hand, Japan was the creasy war machine which should be stopped before huger damage is made. Anyway what happened to Hiroshima is a lesson for the world that has not been learned. Wars still go on and countries still processes atomic weapons. The world will never forget the tragedy of Hiroshima just like World War II.

Worlds

Kimono n. [C] traditionally worn by Japanese women

Fa?ade n. [C] the face or front of a building

Martyr v. to kill sb. because of their religious or political believes

Lurch v. to make a loud high unpleasant sound as a vehicle moves

Intermezzo n. a short connecting instrumental movement in an opera or other musical work

Incessant a. continual

Reverie n. [U,C] an act or state of absent-minded day dreaming

Heinous a. extremely odious or wicked

Cataclysm, n. [C] a violent upheaval

Demolish v. to tear down or break up