Kunio Yanagita Memorial Lecture, Readings, and Symposium

I attended a lecture sponsored by the 80th Anniversary of the End of the War Nuclear-Free Peace Project. Approximately one month after the atomic bombing, the Makurazaki Typhoon caused devastating damage and a landslide tsunami in Oono Town, Hatsukaichi City, resulting in the loss of many lives.

Many of those who died were atomic bomb survivors, doctors, and nurses at Ono Army Hospital, as well as members of a Kyoto University research team working in the area to study atomic bomb disease.

Due to a delay in reporting the disaster immediately after the bombing, there was no evacuation shelter information, and nearly 180 precious lives were lost. Since few younger generations, including myself, know about the tragedy of the Makurazaki Typhoon, I realized that what happened 80 years ago is not a thing of the past. We must be aware of the urgency that, in this unstable global situation, such a disaster could happen again at any time.

While natural disasters cannot be prevented, war is a man-made disaster, and such secondary damage must never happen again. I was reminded of the importance of peace and the preciousness of life.