A hibakusha is a survivor of the atomic bombing in either Hiroshima or Nagasaki. In Japan, every Yr. 6 student goes on a school trip to one of those cities to learn about the war and bombing. My school yesterday, Tsunoe, had a hibakusha come to speak to the Yr. 6 students as a part of their preparations for their trip in two weeks.
At the start of the morning break (20 minutes between periods two and three), the Vice-Principal asked me to come and meet the hibakusha, who's name, I have to admit, I have already forgotten. I had a significant amount of work to do (which actually didn't end up getting done), but it was an easy decision to leave the work for later, and I joined the lady in the Principal's office.
She looked to be incredibly self-possessed: calm, in control, and powerful, wrapped in a package of an 80-something lady. We were introduced, and I was encouraged to sit down. I found out that she was 17 when Hiroshima was bombed, but beyond that, despite the purpose of her visit being to talk about her experiences, I found it hard to ask questions. Largely, this was because my language skills were not up to the complexities such a conversation would entail. However, a large part of it was that I simply didn't know how to bring such topics up. In the end, we made small talk about Japanese food.
The teachers who heard her speak spoke very highly of her presentation, and whereas usually my language limitations don't bother me much, it's just a part of the fun of being in Japan, yesterday, I felt that I had really missed out on an opportunity.
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