Living with Hiroshima

Hiroshima is a city built on a delta at the mouth of the Ota River, that runs through the Chugoku Mountains. The city is surrounded by mountains in the north, east and west, and the south faces Hiroshima Bay. Originally it was a small land, but Mr. Senda in the Meiji Era promoted to reclaim land. Hiroshima became a large land as it literally means. Mostly, the land is sandy. Many parts of the land are at sea level, so the city was often flooded when typhoons hit.

In October that year, strong typhoons hit the city twice, and washed away the sandy soil into the rivers. Many lives were also claimed by that natural disaster, which was tragic. However, because dirt and sand were newly brought in from other unaffected places to make up for the washed soil, the topsoil of Hiroshima became radiation-free. Scholars and medical staff were dispatched to Hiroshima from various places, including Tokyo University, to study about the A-bomb or to treat the victims. Rumor ran that some scholar said, “No plant will grow for the next 70 years on the A-bombed soil.” Trees and plants, however, began to sprout.

The next spring in 1946, A-bombed cherry trees revived. Petals danced around in the spring wind. When summer neared, oleanders bloomed. At the sight of the oleander flowers, many A-bomb survivors are said to have gained encouragement. Therefore, the oleander was designated as the flower symbol of Hiroshima City. Hiroshima was a burned ruin as far as the eye could see, dotted with shacks that began to rise one by one. Around them tomatoes and cucumbers were seen growing. However, I never liked red oleanders. Also, flaring red canna is something I won’t forget. Those red flowers symbolize the threatening blaze of that day.