Unbearable light/ness of the bombing: normalizing violence and banalizing the horror of the atomic bomb experiences

Abstract

On 21 October 2008, the word “pika”, drawn by a small airplane’s exhaust, appeared in the sky over Hiroshima. “Pika” is an onomatopoeia that indicates a flashing light, and historically “pika” refers to the atomic bombing in Hiroshima. Instigated by this performance, brought force by an art group, Chim↑Pom, and its subsequent controversy, the paper explores the ways in which the atomic bomb experiences have been understood through representations in media by the general audience. In fact, examining their representations shows that the horror of the atomic bombing was too often not properly transmitted, but rather normalized and even banalized. To inquire this point further, I investigate a group of women, who suffered from keloids and disfigurement. Some went to Osaka and Tokyo to receive reconstruction surgeries, while others – later called the “Hiroshima maidens” – were invited to the United States for the same purpose. Tracing their media appearances, or lack thereof, I argue that normalization of the horror of the atomic bombings had already begun in 1950s, when these women appeared in media, and that utilizing the injured bodies of women has justified collective violence in the United States, reinforcing white, middle-class, heterosexual Christian family values, as well as in Japan to reconcile its war crimes and to prepare for the future remilitarization. Thus, I conclude that Chim↑Pom’s performance was not a disruption, but a continuation of normalizing violence, in which we do not even understand the weight of the light emanated from the atomic bombs.

Keywords:

• the atomic bombs
• the light
• the Hiroshima maidens
• normalization
• banalization
• Chim↑Pom

Notes

1. Health books, or Hibakusha kenko techo, were given to hibakusha (those who were in a designated area at the time of bombing; those who came within 2 km of the city within 2 weeks; those who helped more than 10 patients per day at the triage or shelter; and those who were prenatally exposed and were born within 9 months of the bombing).

2. The group consists of Ushiro Ryūta, Ellie, Hayashi Yasutaka, Okada Masataka, Mizuno Toshinori, and Inaoka Motomu.

3. The group’s only female member, Ellie, was not a part of this performance.

4. Their exhibition was scheduled to open on 1 November 2008.

5. Needless to say, such normalization of violence is not particular to the atomic bombing. One of the most despicable examples is the “comfort women” issue in Japan, where some argue that systemizing sex slavery was not uncommon during the war.

6. It is important to note that the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum removed the name, genbaku otome, from their exhibition in 2004, as a response to the complaint from one of the Hiroshima maidens that the label genbaku otome is distressing. Now, the museum’s explanation describes them as hibaku shita wakai josei tachi or “young women who suffered from the atomic bombing” (Takao 2010, 1).

7. While the Japanese Constitution announced the renouncement of war in article 9, when the Korean War broke out in 1950, the Allied Powers established an army-like organization called Keisatsu yobitai [National Police Reserve], which later became the Self-Defense Force.

8. Only four out of 25 maidens are publicly active in disseminating their experiences and antinuclear messages, despite Tanimoto’s wishes (Takao 2010, 11).