Hiroshima grapples with 'Oppenheimer' Oscars success

The Japanese feel they need to monopolize any discussion on the A-bomb.

Oppenheimer created the atomic bomb, which means he made this world a very scary place.

The Americans accelerated their efforts after learning that the Nazis and the Imperial Japanese were trying to make atomic bombs. Many of the people, like Oppenheimer, who pushed development were Jews, in the strong belief that the world would be a much, much safer place if America and not the Germans and Japanese got there first. They were right.

Key background information like this is totally left out of the Japanese narrative, which is why we need more movies and books like "Oppenheimer."

Just to get clear view, death that being caused by Japanese Imperial Army during during WW2, at least 3 million people

https://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/SOD.CHAP3.HTM

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How come that much, they need to take and conquer all area Empire of Japan 大日本帝國 also eliminate all resistance that arise during occupation.

https://www.ww2classroom.org/node/148

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While Japanese revisionist try hard to rewrite the actual fact of history

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2015/04/14/commentary/japan-commentary/japans-prickly-revisionists/

http://spice.fsi.stanford.edu/docs/examining_the_japanese_history_textbook_controversies

The US government thought Japanese were subhuman and were worthy of eradicating,that the thought of most White people in America government

I haven't watched the film yet .

Does the film show or portray what the Japanese imperial forces did and were doing that cause the bombs to be detonated over Hiroshima and Nagasaki ?

Atrocities too aweful ghastly and gruesome to describe

Cause and effect.

At any rate the movie is a good reminder of why wars are more devastating to innocent civilians that the Militaries fighting them.

"terrified" about the prospect of screening it in Hiroshima, today a thriving metropolis of 1.2 million people

It's not about August 6 and 9, 1945 there was another event that happened in December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor. There are movies about that too, if they really want to watch.

Is this really a movie that people in Hiroshima can bear to watch?"

Why not? Non of them were alive back then. And go they not study history at school, or do they just skip the entire part where Japan raped other countries without mercy?

Yes, yes, yes. Japan did a lot of bad things in the war. This is known by the world.

However, the use of super bombs opened a terror greater than Japanese war culpability. This is why some people knee jerk and the use of these weapons. It isn't something that is as bad as what the Japanese did. It's something worse. Now we live in a world in which conventional war can easily turn into massive death and destruction.

And what about others that suffered as a result of atomic testing by the U.S , FRANCE . UK ,USSR ?

let thier voices be heard also

The invention of such weapons is clearly an accomplishment

However using them on ourselves is ridiculous !

More Japanese victim card playing coming up. As for Hollywood and Japanese atrocities, the Railway Man (Colin Firth) from a few years ago is a good place to start.

Gene ,the US had 12 bombs more line up for destruction,maybe one for Tokyo

I happen to be in Hiroshima until Thursday. I can assure you all that Hiroshima isn't grappling with anything.

The amount of whataboutism and deflection of blame on the Japanese in the comments, and in every article vaguely related to the war, is saddening.

"Oppenheimer created the atomic bomb, which means he made this world a very scary place.

Oppenheimer had massive self-awareness of his responsibility.

Yet if you want to put people in the ledger of those who made the world "a scary place" it would be a very long list and if starting from around the same era the fascist militarists would be at the top.

The confident authoritarians and oligarchs who wrap themselves in traditions and nationalism have committed the scariest crimes against humanity .

“Oppenheimer himself couldn’t make up his mind how he felt about making and helping to use the bomb, right to the end of his life,” according to Greg Mitchell, the author of the 2020 book “The Beginning or the End: How Hollywood—and America—Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.”

In October 1945, Oppenheimer told President Truman, “Mr. President, I feel I have blood on my hands.” In November 1945, he told an audience in Philadelphia that the bomb was “by all the standards of the world we grew up in … an evil thing.” He gave television interviewsstarkly elucidating the risk of nuclear war. In 1949, as the head of an advisory committee for the newly formed Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), he delivered a report warning against developing a hydrogen bomb—a fusion weapon more powerful than the Trinity, Hiroshima or Nagasaki bombs—that had been conceived by fellow Manhattan Project scientist Teller. “A super bomb might become a weapon of genocide,” Oppenheimer wrote. “A super bomb should never be produced.” In 1953, he gave a speech likening the nuclear-capable United States and Soviet Union to “two scorpions in a bottle, each capable of killing the other, but only at the risk of his own life.”

However, in a 1965 interview with CBS News, two years before his death, he responded as follows when asked whether dropping the bomb on Japan was necessary: “The war had started in ‘39. It’d seen the death of tens of millions. It’d seen brutality and degradation, which had no place in the middle of the 20th century. And the ending of the war by this means, certainly cruel, was not undertaken lightly. But I am not confident, as of today, that a better course was then open. I have not a very good answer to this question.”

All students of all ages, accompanied with there parents if deemed appropriate should be able to view nationwide on a complimentary basis.

Then to spend time back in the classroom to exchange views and most importantly be provided with a open and clear picture of how war in Japan led to such a devastating conclusion.

"Maybe it's time someone made a film about atomic bombs from the perspective of Japan or a Japanese person."

There are plenty. Talk about ignorance.

"Is this really a movie that people in Hiroshima can bear to watch?" 

Watch Barbie. Way more popular in Japan anyway

Recently, a very good documentary about Oppenheimer and the development of the bomb was on NHK. It was clearly stated about the Japanese program and Yoshio Nishina, who was leading figure in the Japanese atomic program.

Unfortunately , the history facts are too often omitted to concentrate on the act of dropping act. This was for sure an evil which could have been avoided with an earlier surrender, as the defeat was coming for the previous months.

As for the movie, there is not much about Japan on it, but at home, talking about it is leading to tensions. For sure Godzilla is a safer talk, as many do prefer to believe in this fantasy world.

Having seen the film, I can say that it is far more involved and complex than the Japanese can presently imagine.

Although from the comments in the article by some Japanese, it seems as if they have already judged the film.

Christopher Nolan has created a masterpiece and I hope the Japanese reaction to it will be one of understanding not condemnation.

The bombs were always going to be used on someone, it's like human destiny. Question is, will they be used again?

On an average day at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, a visitor will encounter large masses of students, often aged 12-14, quickly and loudly pushing into each museum room. Every 5-10 minutes, each room fills with a new flood of jostling, playful students. Their attention is generally on each other. Teachers encourage them to keep quiet out of respect for older visitors, creating even more of a disturbance.

Perhaps there should be a movie about the true value of these school visits. I have never met any Japanese who looked back with value on one of these school trips to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. But I’m certain that the city of Hiroshima makes a lot of money off them — through lodging, food, transportation, and souvenirs.

By the way, if you desire a more peaceful visit to such a museum, the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum is much less busy.

There are already several films about the bombing from the perspective of Japanese people. A film called simply Hiroshima, Black Rain (not the Michael Douglas movie) and Children of the Bomb come to mind.

the war was over 79 years ago.

what was, was.

what is, is.

the japanese sdf, a military for all practical purposes, hasn’t harmed anyone in 79 years.

on another note, i found the movie tedious, too long, too dark and too loud with the same awful background music for three hours. it won oscars because no good movies have been made in years. the best of the worst, but still dreadful.

I love Japan and I lived there for many years. But this subject always annoyed me.

The facts are simple.

Japan was the aggressor. Imperial Japan decided they wanted a piece of the imperialist pie just as the rest of the world was realizing it was not the right way to go.

Japan was brutal. I know Japan won't teach this to children in Japanese schools, but if you are adults reading this, go ahead and look up Unit 731, the Rape of Nanking, Bataan Death March, Manila massacre, not to mention Pearl Harbor ... The list is endless. There is a reason China, Korea and pretty much all of Southeast Asia still hold a grudge.

Japan would not surrender. By August 1945, Imperial Japan was beaten. This was obvious to all inside and outside Japan. Yet, the government refused to surrender. Civilians were prepared to fight to the death. Not unlike Hitler in Berlin, the high command was willing to sacrifice innocent lives.

Truman always believed the decision to drop atomic weapons saved both American and Japanese lives. I'm sure he was right.

So yeah, I think the citizens of Hiroshima can "bear to watch" this movie, which bends over backwards to portray the moral and ethical concerns Americans had about the bomb anyway.

And by the way, Japan sits comfortably under America's nuclear umbrella. So we protect you with our nukes so you don't have to own such terrible weapons. How long do you think you would last among such dictators as Xi Jinping without our protection?

Sorry for bringing all this up, but I got really tired of hearing every Japanese salary man I knew mention Hiroshima to me every time he was drunk. I always kept silent and let the comments pass. But now you are going to complain about a fairly innocuous movie? I gotta say something.

The worst movie ever, hyped and inflated as hell. How does this movie compare to classics like Titanic or Schindler's list? In the end, trash is trash after all.

If anything, it will increase tourism to Hiroshima. Perhaps they should send a portion of their sales to the Oppenheimer production team?

I think I might’ve found a solution here: Don’t watch the f****n’ movie.

Every country had "victims" in WWII... even the Germans. Since 1945 and the advent of the A-Bomb it may have saved millions of lives because it made WWIII and unthinkable prospect. Pointing the finger of guilt is usually a waste of time. Educating the public is the most important way to prevent the past mistakes.

"The US government thought Japanese were subhuman and were worthy of eradicating, that the thought of most White people in America government."

This was true. Wartime US propaganda depicted Japanese people as monkeys, insects or rats. But it wasn't only racism against Japanese. Tens of millions of Asians died at Japanese hands during the war. While the Holocaust stirred horror and indignation in western countries - and still does - the horrible deaths of Chinese, Koreans, Southeast Asians and others were, to leaders in Washington, just more evidence that "life is cheap in Asia." They didn't care about the Asian victims, and Hirohito was allowed to sit on the throne in post-war Japan.

Even today, we talk endlessly about the Holocaust perpetrated by Hitler. But there was another Holocaust in East and Southeast Asia for which the Japanese were responsible. This second Holocaust is largely forgotten.

The second series of this blockbuster is brewing in the world if some people don’t stop to think with their heads.

"Is this really a movie that people in Hiroshima can bear to watch?" said Kyoko Heya, president of the Japanese city's international film festival, on Monday after the blockbuster won seven Academy Awards including best picture.'

Well, then people in Hiroshima don't have to watch it. Nobody is forcing them to. Lots of non-Hiroshima people must be looking forward to seeing "Oppenheimer."

Here we go again! Not one day can go by without somewhere in the country feeling violated by something foreign. The vast majority of the people in Hiroshima, and the country for that matter, were not around when the A-bomb was dropped. I have seen countless movies, documentaries and shows about slavery, which people of my skin color suffered from for CENTURIES in many different locations. Most are very painful to watch and I run a gamut of emotions throughout. The same goes for movies and documentaries about the Holocaust. The Japanese have their own narratives about the bombings, and seem to feel that no one can understand their pain. Maybe that is true from the perspective of being the only country to have had that happen but they need to stop feeling sorry for themselves. The country has never owned up to the atrocities the IJA committed; just give a few token words about the pain and suffering that the war caused whenever August comes around and rail against atomic weapons, which they themselves and the equally evil Nazis were trying to make. Their narrative is they are ever-the-victim in every situation and it got really tiring decades ago. Come completely clean already, like Germany. Never happen.

Discussions about the A-bomb almost always ends in the comment that "the Japanese love to play the victim card". These people have probably never read a Japanese-language newspaper or watched a Japanese-language news program. The concept of "playing the victim card" is almost as alien to traditional conservative Japanese culture as walking with shoes on in people's home. In my experience, the people who are vocal in criticising the American military decision are far more likely to be other Americans of a progressive dispostion.

So much talk here about how Japan was the greatest victim of the war 

oh really? where?

The Americans accelerated their efforts after learning that the Nazis and the Imperial Japanese were trying to make atomic bombs. Many of the people, like Oppenheimer, who pushed development were Jews, in the strong belief that the world would be a much, much safer place if America and not the Germans and Japanese got there first. They were right.

There is no evidence that Japanese would ever have used an atomic bomb on her fellow Asians in WW2. The Nazis and Russians if they'd had the chance, definitely.

Modern Japan leads the way in pushing strongly to get these evil weapons banned from the world. All of humanity hopes they succeed.

However, the use of super bombs opened a terror greater than Japanese war culpability. This is why some people knee jerk and the use of these weapons. It isn't something that is as bad as what the Japanese did. It's something worse. 

Tell that to the Chinese, Koreans, Filipinos and other Pacific nation invaded by IJA. Do you honestly think that if the Japanese had the bomb first that they won't use it on another?

The bombs were always going to be used on someone, it's like human destiny. Question is, will they be used again?

I am pretty sure the world will only be ok with the goodies using 'tactical nukes' from here on in.

If it's a baddie that uses one. Then it will be very wrong and bad.

https://www.extremetech.com/defense/221064-us-presses-on-with-tactical-nukes-despite-outcry

https://www.forbes.com/sites/lorenthompson/2015/12/15/obama-backs-biggest-nuclear-arms-buildup-since-cold-war/?sh=79adff372a0f

I watched it back in August, so forgive me if I'm wrong, but I believe Hiroshima was only mentioned twice? Once in a radio broadcast saying that the bomb had been dropped, during which the protagonist of the film looked horrified at what must have happened there, and once more in passing somewhere else.

It wasn't a film about Hiroshima at all. It was about the making of the bomb and his reputation afterwards. Any outrage is completely unnecessary.

Not being able to face up to her own atrocities during the reign of the Japanese empire, stretching from Burma to China, and wide to the South Pacific, is an issue which hinders this country.

Adults cannot speak of the war without believing Japan was the victim, but they victimized far more than were the victim. And that attitude pervades the mentality, which has become a negative for Japan, as responsibility for one's own actions are not of emphasis for the country and for individuals. The avoidance of this issue can be construed as cowardice, for many outside Japan.

If Japan can take full responsibility and acknowledge their acts of massacres and terror thru the SE Asian region, which includes China, Thailand, Burma(Myanmar) Indonesia, The Philippines, New Guinea, Indochina(includes what is now Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia, Cambodia) and numerous islands...all taken by force and killing many people while raping and pillaging along the way, it'd be hugely educational for them.

The avoidance of all of Japan knowing and understanding U731(vivisection of Chinese people, use of drugs and biological effect on humans to their demise, to get data on the slow death of experimental guinea pig like people, who suffered greatly at the hands..imagine skin dripping off, waiting to see how far the human body can take abuse before giving out and things like surgical vivisection of humans to get more data of pain and organ failure until lifeless... of Japanese physicians and researchers) and forced prostitution, while killing literally millions of people, would help their growth. Instead the Japanese stick their head in the sand, as children are not taught of Japanese atrocities.

China alone had 3-4 million military deaths and 20 million total, meaning 16 million or more citizen deaths occurred. Japan lost a total of 3.1 million, military and citizens, killed, maximum in WW2. How does Japan not take 100% responsibility for the mayhem of China alone, much less the other countries which lost so many lives to the cruelty of Japanese soldiers brainwashed to be loyal to the emperor.

Until Japan truly acknowledges her actions and all of Japan knows this information, the one sided victim issue of the Atomic bomb will never ring true with the rest of the world. In a vacuum, the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were horrendous, but contextually, it is something all Japanese should be educated upon, with all the details.

At the very least, one can see how the west has taken a subject like Oppenheimer, which essentially admits guilt and responsibility for the creation and dropping of the bomb, but it was a part of human evolution and history to see the need to limit weapons, and in truth, somewhere, some time, a similar thing would have happened.

Oppenheimer is a good film and I believe the Japanese should see it with an open mind.

There were many discussions over invasion plans prior to dropping the bombs. Most estimations were that combined casualties would exceed over 1 million between Americans and Japanese in the event of an actual invasion of the Japanese mainland. The Japanese Military was sworn to fight to the last man and many civilians were of a mindset by tradition to do the same. Basically the death toll from the 2 bombs was less than that would would have happened if there had been an actual invasion. The number of Japanese deaths was considerably less than the deaths inflicted upon the Allies, China and Korea by the Japanese Army. The deaths from the 2 bombs and all the other bombing raids on Japan belong squarely on the shoulders of the Japanese military and the Emperor, nowhere else. It had nothing to do with 'racist feelings' about the Japanese. I have spent time in Japan and only have fond memories of my stays and the Japanese people, however, I would not wanted to have been there during the years 1941-1946 and I personally thought dropping the first bomb off shore near Tokyo Bay might have been enough to send a message. But then I was only 5 years old back when it happened and who listens to a 5 year old.

Fighto!

There is no evidence that Japanese would ever have used an atomic bomb on her fellow Asians in WW2. 

The Japanese used every weapon they had, even resorting to sacrificing their own youth in kamikaze suicide bombings. Therefore, a reasonable mind would naturally conclude that the Japanese would have used whatever weapon they had to further their means at the time.

Basically the death toll from the 2 bombs was less than that would have happened if there had been an actual invasion. 

Moreover, according to Malcolm Gladwell’s well-researched “The Bomber Mafia,” the impact of the massive firebombing campaign and atomic bombs was that Japan surrendered in August. If Japan didn’t surrender in August, the Soviets would have invaded. And then the Americans would have invaded, and Japan would have been carved up — just like Germany and the Korean Peninsula eventually were. And the other thing that would have happened is that millions of Japanese would have starved to death that winter — because surrendering in August gave MacArthur time to come in with his occupation forces and feed Japan.

Yes, nuclear weapons are awful, but most of Japan’s residents would have had a radically different future if those bombs had not been used and the nation had not resultantly surrendered in August.

Yes, yes, yes. Japan did a lot of bad things in the war. This is known by the world.

However, the use of super bombs opened a terror greater than Japanese war culpability. This is why some people knee jerk and the use of these weapons.

Mistaking orientals for whites.

The japanese were vicious, they wouldnt stop until its last bamboo stick armed citizen was dead

If you paid attention to the movie, you would know that Oppenheimer(who was jewish) had meant to destroy Hitler with the bomb. The american government took the project away from him and used it on Japan. Oppenheimer was haunted & full of regret over his invention forever after that.

For those people - almost entirely Japanese - who think that World War II began on August 6, 1945 and ended on August 15, 1945, I suggest they read Japan's Secret War by Robert K. Wilcox (Permuted Press, 3rd ed. 2019). It is a densely researched and highly detailed examination of the extreme lengths the Japanese Imperial Army, the Japanese Imperial Navy and physics researchers went to develop a nuclear bomb. Given the lack of resources and the fact that Japan was losing the war, their persistence was perversely admirable. It seems they got closer than the Germans to actually making a bomb.

If they had an atomic bomb in their arsenal, would the Japanese military have used it? Undoubtedly yes. They had already through Unit 731 developed a deadly arsenal of biological weapons which were tested on populations in northern China.

My conclusion: people in Hiroshima and elsewhere who believe they alone were war victims should look at the historical context. And it should be taught in Japanese schools.

"There is no evidence that Japanese would ever have used an atomic bomb on her fellow Asians in WW2. The Nazis and Russians if they'd had the chance, definitely. 

Modern Japan leads the way in pushing strongly to get these evil weapons banned from the world. All of humanity hopes they succeed."

Hogwash! Look at my latest post, above. If the IJA had nuclear bombs, they would have been happy to drop them on China, Russia or even the US. There might have been a nuclear version of Pearl Harbor, with the population of Oahu wiped out.

Fight-o! Your comment sounds like a puff-piece from the Japanese government!

My conclusion: people in Hiroshima and elsewhere who believe they alone were war victims should look at the historical context. And it should be taught in Japanese schools

Agreed, but if you know Japan...the only context the country cares about is its own. The proof is everywhere. August is only a few months away.

Oppenheimer did not invent the A-bomb. He just got there first . Both the Germans and the Japanese were working on the A-bomb.

The Japanese and German had no actual plans for an atomic bombs, even the Russian only got the bombs with the assistant of the Rosenberg

I was not impressed by the movie. I don’t think it portrayed things the way it should. I wish there was more of a technical aspect to the movie as to the physics and the effects of ionizing radiation which there was not. And at the Oscars, they should’ve had a memorial piece for those that suffered the effects of the worlds first use of atomic weapons on humans.

Just my thoughts

Some people will like the movie, some will hate it but all should have the opportunity to watch it.

I thought the movie sucked. Sort of an ABomb for Idiots. Not worth everybody getting pro or con about it.

Japanese wonder ,why they live at the mercy of American,who could care less if they were nuked again by the Chinese,NK and Russian,visit your war shrine as a reminder,that you live at the mercy of other's

It doesnt glorify or romanticize the making and dropping of the bomb - quite the opposite.

What is there to grapple with?

It's not about August 6 and 9, 1945 there was another event that happened in December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor.

Incongruous that people who condemn Israel for its disproportionate response in Gaza think that vaporizing a city full of civilian women and children is a proportionate response to an attack on a military base.

Heya was at first "terrified" about the prospect of screening it in Hiroshima, today a thriving metropolis of 1.2 million people.

To some extent the people of Japan have accepted the infantilization of their society. Those Japanese I know prefer to be treated as adults.

Sure, it may be a difficult topic for some, but they can avoid it by not buying tickets to the movie.

I am neither a survivor or child of a survivor of Hiroshima, Dresden, nor Auschwitz so I do not claim to know what these tragedies were like or what it is like to live with a survivor. However, I join such people in wishing that these monstrous events never be repeated. I am also not so naive to think that the impetus to atrocity has yet or may ever be extinguished.

We watched the movie. Interesting and a bit too long. A new angle on the events but I can't say it was the best movie of the year we watched. My Japanese spouse wasn't disturbed by the contents other than we are both anti-war and anti-nuclear weapons.

I find it remarkable that a lot of the same people mewling about Gaza are defending the US's right to defend itself after having had a military base in Hawaii attacked.

In Ukraine, we are preparing for a nuclear dissuasion strike. Not on cities with people, but in deserted area in Ukraine or in front Odessa.

Macron made a mistake : trying to gang up Poutine instead of playing diplomacy. He is dumb enough to think Poutine didn’t notice his real intent during the diplomacy talks, and sabotages. Poutine got « truth ears » or the « russian lie detector based on earing ». So you can’t hide much from him. He will need to do something big soon. A big attack on Kiev or nuclear dissuasion soft strike. Apparently Russia is doing a pause (i hope for Ramadan and not a bigger strike).

As always, the idea that the movie is America centric and refuses to acknowledge the people in Japan shows who has and hasn’t seen the movie or at least read a summary of it. It’s a biopic not a documentary. It does indeed skip over the effects on Japan because it’s not about that.

"Maybe it's time someone made a film about atomic bombs from the perspective of Japan or a Japanese person."

I’d be all for this and I think many people would be interested. The issue is the average Japanese citizen’s perspective of this has been curated for 80 years that they are purely victims and to be sad about the bombings. A comprehensive look at what got them to that point and how those affected are still treated to this day even, is a pill that audiences here would never swallow. This country does a lot of things well, but taking any level of criticism or uncomfortable truths is not one of those.

The amount of whataboutism and deflection of blame on the Japanese in the comments, and in every article vaguely related to the war, is saddening.

Then come on out and say that America brutally attacked a "perfectly peaceful country with absolutely no intention of taking over Asia."

Some people say this huge U.S. military footprint in Japan, especially in Okinawa, is the end result of Japan's Pearl Harbor Attack. Futenma Air Station's Henoko relocation in Okinawa is a point at issue. In other words, the U.S. is keeping bases as a retaliation of Pearl Harbor against Japan 79 years after the war ended.    

About 140,000 died in Hiroshima and 74,000 in Nagasaki from the two atomic bombs. If that were a retaliation for Pearl Harbor, that was no doubt too excessive beyond anyone's imagination.

Bottom line (no matter which country does it) killing innocent people, especially children and babies is wrong. It doesn't matter what other crimes their nation of birth has committed or will commit - it is wrong, it is a war crime. The use of atomic bombs were war crimes. End of.

"Oh, oh, but, but but..." Yessss, I know - Japan also committed horiffic war crimes (against my country's (UK) prisoners too as well as China and other places no doubt), and yes the UK has committed numerous war crimes - in fact Churchill invented concentration camps over in Africa, but whatabouttery is a juvenile illogical point of view as it doesn't ever justify the indiscriminate killing of citizens.

Sorry, to the Americans on here trying to justify war crimes. Furthermore, the decision to commit the war crimes of the A-Bomb dropping were completlely political in numerous ways (and more about Russian pressure, and home economic pressure). Of course, you won't have been taught about this (people don't like toi tell their citizens about their war crimes for some reason - go figure) - just like I wasn't taught about the attrocities my country committed in Ireland and other places. Please do you own (reliable) research - from reputable non-US/or non-bias US sources and you will see the whole picture.

Furthermore - why did the US not give a warning to evacuate before levelling a cities and killing innocent children and babies? Or drop the first bomb on a forest rather than a city full of citizens and children? So try not to embarass yourself further by standing up for a war crime in the name of misguided-patrotism.

Love Daddy x

The movie isn't about Japan. It's a biopic about a period in a mans life, and that man just so happens to be creating the bomb. Japan is barely mentioned in the movie, so the debate over it being shown in Japan or not is a complete farce. The fact that the government has this overreaching kind of influence over the arts and society just shows that Japan is not a free country.

“It’s like, I get it you know.” (In Paul Mitchel’s words) I totally understand some people’s desire to control the narrative on the bomb. It’s like with the conflict in Gaza right now. The pro-Israeli crowd will say “October 7th” to justify the atrocities in Gaza, while many Americans will say “Pearl Harbor” to justify the A bombs.

My grandfather-in-law (still genki and still living in Hiroshima) was in Hiroshima when they dropped the Little Boy—he still remembers that morning but let me tell you something, this sweet old man doesn’t hate anybody and there are more people like him (who understand that war is ugly for all sides and that innocent people always pay for the actions of their leaders) which is why this article feels incomplete (I’m not saying that they forget, forgive, or that the dropping of the bomb was justifiable and even then, that doesn’t mean the US should be forgiven—it was one of the worst acts in the history of mankind). Now, even with all these complicated feelings, people should watch Oppenheimer (March 29 in Japan) because of three things—1) history isn’t going anywhere, 2) we all love (good) cinema and 3) the director is Christopher Nolan, not Michael Bay, for example; this isn’t a let’s go, USA kind of movie. Yes, I still didn’t watch it (I’ve been waiting for it to be released in Japan because this deserves to be seen in the big screen) and I know that this is a Hollywood movie and that Nolan is half American but I’m convinced that I’m not gonna be disappointed.

This isn't a movie that should be avoided by Japan due to it being about a man who led in the development of the A-bomb.

It's a biography of that man and should be watched by the very country that the two bombs fell on.

Barbie and Oppenheimer were released on the same day in the US and Barbie opened in Japan back in fall.

The Oscar Award winner Oppenheimer was released everywhere around the world in autumn aside from Japan, which really makes me feel that Japan is hiding its head in the sand and portraying as something so sensitive and taboo to talk about unless it's from their perspective.

Shame on this country's censors for not letting the Japanese public themselves judge the merits or demerits of this movie.

I'm willing to bet that if this movie was a bomb (excuse the pun), the Japanese movie industry would've never released this movie into theaters and would have wished it soon forgotten.

I read my late J Grandmothers families diaries and memoirs, the deep scars of total war, the firebombing that levelled close to every Japanese city.

To then be introduced to silence, only broken by the noise of a single bomber, then detonation, annihilation from an atomic explosion. the heat, the blast, then the radiation.

When put into words, sentences, you can almost experience the foreboding dread, fear.

"Oppenheimer" won't come close to capturing the moment of utter desolation, the realisation that everything you had or could become is gone.

What this films offers is a beginning, an insight to a journey ending how humanity could have sown the seeds to its future extinction.

I happen to be in Hiroshima until Thursday. I can assure you all that Hiroshima isn't grappling with anything.

Hallelujah! Most Americans don't care about the Oscars. They mean even less to Japanese people and the media should not force any controversy about them, actual or created, down our throats. Please find something else to fill the columns in your newspapers.

As for the dropping of the bomb, the firebombing of other Japanese cities, and the circumstances of Japan's surrender, I am constantly amazed by the people who insist on a version of the truth that is contradicted by Americans who were in the room at the time making the decisions. Robert McNamara, John McCloy, Henry Stimson, etc. Whenever I try to point out what such people said (often with existing interviews of them), online posters always give it "you're being revisionist", to the point where I've given up. I suspect half the people making the bold claims have never heard of Robert McNamara, John McCloy, or Henry Stimson. fwiw, such historical political figures strike me as far more intelligent and thoughtful than their equivalents, Donald Rumsfeld, Victoria Nuland etc. today.

Sadly it’s sad to say but the bombs saved American lives. If anyone thinks that Japan would have surrendered so quickly is sadly mistaken. They would have tried to kill as many American soldiers they could. While I hope the bombs are never used again the sole blame for them rests in the Japanese government and the military complex that targeted these two cities for destruction.

Love Daddy x

Whaddya know. Father DOESN’T know best.

Japan hates Robert Oppenheimer but loves and admires Harry Truman and Douglas MacArthur.

*"Oh, oh, but, but but..." ***Yessss, I know** - Japan also committed horiffic war crimes (against my country's (UK) prisoners too as well as China and other places no doubt), ]

Sounds more like "Yes I know you made a valid point but, but ,but....."

It happened 80 years ago, ended the war and brought about the current Japan you know and love so much. Any person in their right mind, would have loved for it to have been another way, heck not even at all. Many people on here seem to think some comments are glorifying the bombs or something, that's not it. But the whole "Big Bad America/ Poor ol Japan" shtick gets annoying.

The Japanese sensitivity to books and movie making re the Atomic Bomb is understandable as they are the only people to have had two atomic bombs dropped on them in an act of war. The atomic testing at Bikini Atoll and other locations which affected the local people as well as military and people connected with it are also examples of people who were directly involved in atomic weapons as experimentation.

However, the airing of grievances to the point of saying the movie should never have been made or should have had a Japanese bias in it is not only irrational but also shows the double standard about historical facts that once again became part of the narrative under the Abe Governments. Generations of young Japanese still are very ignorant of what actually went on before WW2 and during it including the invasions of Korea, China, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia.

I've never seen a contemporary Japanese war movie that actually deals with Japan's aggression against its own people as well as others. The human experimentation done in Manchuria puts the Japanese military firmly in the Nazi corner in itself while crimes against civilians as Japanese military policy in China and other invaded countries matched the Nazi brutality in Europe.

The Japanese complaining about 'Oppenheimer' should be thankful that a movie called 'The Fall Of Singapore' wasn't made. The war crimes committed by the Japanese military there with the approval of their commanders was bad enough with patients literally murdered in their beds and nursing staff and doctors also killed. And even that doesn't match some other Japanese military war crimes for sheer repulsiveness.

Until the revisionists of the ruling Japanese party stop getting their way, we'll keep hearing the kinds of comments made about 'Oppenheimer'.

All the misleading comments about 'Revenge/Retaliation for Pearl Harbour' are just that. Regardless of how bad it was dropping atomic bombs on civilians, the Allied Powers saw no reason to sacrifice more and more of the non-Fascist countries' people's lives in a ground invasion of Japan. The Allied Command understood that the Japanese would completely resist any end to WW2 that was not on their terms and they were proved right.

The horrors of what was done to Okinawa's civilians by the Japanese military who decided they were going to 'commit suicide' along with the troops was just one example of what would have happened with a land invasion. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were industrialised cities that were part of the J military machine. It was originally going to be Kita Kyushyu instead of Nagasaki but clouds made visibility difficult.

Terribly sad events but ultimately the Japanese Government and its war mongers was responsible for the prolonging of WW2. Rightly or wrongly, the atomic bombs brought a crashing end to the Japanese military dictatorship.

Maybe it's time someone made a film about atomic bombs from the perspective of Japan or a Japanese person.

But which Japanese people? My mother-in-law, a young teenager at the time, said the atomic bombings and subsequent surrender came as a relief. She felt happy. She said she later also felt a little guilty for those feelings, when thinking about the effects on the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But she can't deny those feelings were real.

The following figures are what I picked up on the Internet for the Pacific War.

 

Number of deaths on the Japanese side, excluding A-bomb victims

 IJA soldiers: 2,300,000

 Civilian deaths in Japan proper: 800,000:

 Total: 3,100,000

 

 U.S. soldiers: 1,600,000

 British soldiers: 85,000

 Total: 1,685,000

 

 Total number of war dead in Asian-Pacific countries: more than 20,000,000

 

Were these 20 million people in the Asian-Pacific countries killed at the hand of atrocious IJA soldiers?

Number of deaths on the Japanese side, excluding A-bomb victims

 IJA soldiers: 2,300,000

 Civilian deaths in Japan proper: 800,000:

 Total: 3,100,000

>  U.S. soldiers: 1,600,000

 British soldiers: 85,000

 Total: 1,685,000

 Total number of war dead in Asian-Pacific countries: more than 20,000,000

The Soviet Union alone lost around 27,000,000 people during the war, about 8 million military and 19 million civilians. 

However you're killed, it doesn't matter -- you die, it's horrible and the end. Whether it's by firebombs, a bullet or a nuclear blast, it's all hellish and I don't think one way of dying is any worse than another.

Japan spends too much time pontificating about the injustice of them having the A-bombs dropped on them but in the context of the whole war, it was just one of many ways to die and it devalues the other ways millions of people died including at the hands of the Japanese military.

soudan

it is wrong, it is a war crime

If a country like Japan is engaging in war crimes to bring its opponents to submission, that aggressor country rightfully loses its protections against war crimes being used to bring it to submission, many might argue.

The last quoted Japanese person who said that maybe it is about time to make a movie about the atomic bombs from the Japanese perspective has never seen Japanese movies from the 70s, 80s and 90s dealing with WW2 including the atomic bombs. Japanese TV networks put those kinds of movies on their schedules.

I'd say it's time for Japanese movie directors to make movies on an outstanding Meiji General like Nogi who Nogizaka is named after. He represents the best of the old Japanese military, known for his humane treatment of prisoners during the Russo-Japanese War and the kind of man who would have been disgusted with the WW2 Japanese military's civilian targeting and Nazi type strategies.

Or a sympathetic character like Ito Hirobumi who oversaw the Japanese presence in Korea and had some idealism about the future of Japanese-Korean relations but also witnessed his government's oppresssion of Koreans and implicated because of his position. Hirobumi was assassinated by Korean nationalist Ahn.

In the current world we live in, I see the bombings as absolutely necessary to keep half of Japan from falling to the Soviets and potentially into a black hole of despotism like North Korea. Could some future world where Russia is finally reformed into a peace loving state and provides compensation to Japan for the loss of the Northern Territories result in a reevaluation of that position? I guess anything is possible.

If a country like Japan is engaging in war crimes to bring its opponents to submission, that aggressor country rightfully loses its protections against war crimes being used to bring it to submission, many might argue.

This is the type of logic used by hatemongers.

It would be a travesty of Justice not to commemorate, bow our heads in solemn remembrance to lost from all countries that suffered from world war two.

To also except the shame of actions atrocities, the brutalities suffered against prisoners of war.

The picture/photo above illustrates change Japan has had to accept.

It also signifies a future, 'Oppenheimer' maybe with flaws brought to public attention.

However does that make the world a safer place? No it doesn't

That's is a question the Governments of China/Russia/North Korea need to address.

There are several Japanese film productions which Hiroshima does not seem to grapple with. Why is there a grapple about the production Oppenheimer. Personally I think Oppenheimer is an excellent, educational, informative film and well deserved an Oscar.

@Blacksamurai, March 12, 04:18 pm JST

Japanese military policy in China and other invaded countries matched the Nazi brutality in Europe

These deeds were criminal and horrific at a large scale, but did not match the Nazi brutality in Europe. Japan suffered a fit of imperialist madness in the twentieth century in response to America's imperialist harassment of it in the nineteenth century.

""Maybe it's time someone made a film about atomic bombs from the perspective of Japan or a Japanese person."

Ummm... there are quite a few. Thing is, Hollywood won't make one SOLELY from the Japanese perspective because the Japanese consider themselves the victims of WWII, not the people who would not have been bombed if not for Pearl Harbor and then some.

It's only my impression, but responsibilities of the US government in terms of "protecting both combatants and non combatants from unnecessary sufferings" have not been fully discussed or considered to date. It's been glossed over by the hypocritical propaganda that a-bombs were used to end the war swiftly. And also that's partly because Japan surrendered unconditionally. Then, considering the Soviet communism's increasing influences , we suspect that a bombs were a show of US power at the cost of Japanese citizens. So, there are still things to talk about.

A lot of people died in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, many more injured for life.

To put things in perspective, many more people were horrifically killed and injured in the rape of Nanking in WWII, carried out by triumphant IJA troops, in person.

I dont know what would be the worse of the two to be a victim of. Radiation poisoning and its effects on future generations of the survivors is a lingering effect, but the terror of being chased and caught before being massacred would be the most terrifying. Most would have been unaware of their impending death by "the bomb".

Americans never knew just how awful the effects would be, but some suspected the worst. Not until they went there in person and saw the devastation at ground level.

Wars are to be avoided where ever possible. Sometimes it is not possible to avoid, as in the current invasion of Ukraine by a nuclear power. A power that has a number of times threatened the use of such weapons in the event it is losing.

The film tried to be factual from the US perspective. As expected from a US film. The Oscars awards seem to indicate they did exactly what they set out to do. Make a credible facsimile of an even from the recent past, and put it on screen.

This is a film about the man who oversaw the development of the bomb and not about its use. He saw the need to end the war. However, he subsequently opposed the programs to build bigger and better bombs and was then blackballed and labeled a communist. If you really read the history of the end of the war, you would find out the IJA was really to sacrifice the lives of every Japanese citizen in opposing the invasion. Just like they did at Okinawa. The military even kept the information about the Hiroshima bomb from the Emperor who found out about it from one of his staff. He was really angry. It has been felt by many that the bombs were message to the Emperor to end the war since the military were not listening. One last note of interest, Japan was working on nuclear fission. The army wanted for a weapon, the navy wanted to use it for powering ships. They were a nation with little oil and were cut off from oil by the US submarine warfare. Again as some have said, see the movie and then judge.

To NB - again this issue takes up back to why Japanese society is missing out on the opportunity to have a mature debate about WW2 in the context of the 'Oppenheimer' movie.

Sure, some of Japan's pre WW2 activities were the usual colonial practice of taking resources that were denied by trading embargoes. Colonialism works by expansion of imperialistic power so as to obtain economic/military benefits. Japan was not alone there. However, Japan was cut off from trading with key western nations when it invaded Manchuria, violating international agreements and unleashing war against civilians very quickly. The Japanese hero Sugimoto who later saved Jewish lives was actually posted in his government role to China but resigned his post because of what he saw there.

Japan's actions in Asia were very similar to those of the Nazis in Europe minus the anti Jewish focus. The disturbing scientific experimentation on Chinese people was every bit as sick and depraved as the work of Nazi doctor Mengele in Europe. Japan has been given a pass on this horrendous history in China due to LDP Govts and pressure from key Japanese companies. Nanjing will always be spoken of by reputable international war historians and war crimes experts especially German ones as matching the Nazi strategies.

The despicable attempts of some Japanese historians, politicans and their supporters to deny what happened there is flatly contradicted by primary sources such as western missionaries and diplomats who documented from the beginning how Japanese soldiers in Nanjing would break into Chinese people's houses, rape the fenales and kill their brothers and husbands who tried to stop them. Their reporting of these outrages to Japanese govt representatives saw little to no action taken. The massacres later were part of a process begun earlier.

Japanese filmmakers need to produce an epic film, showing Hiroshima as it was pre-bombing, suffering from shortages, etc, then the bombing, aftermath, and several different personal stories woven throughout, such as Sasaki Sadako, who made 1000 cranes before dying of the effects at age 12.

NBMar. 12 06:39 pm JST

Japan suffered a fit of imperialist madness in the twentieth century in response to America's imperialist harassment of it in the nineteenth century.

What? Perhaps you would have preferred Russia to have forced Japan out of its backward ways.

The atomic bombings of Japan were a war crime, as were the bombings of Dresden. No injustice justifies another.

"Maybe it's time someone made a film about atomic bombs from the perspective of Japan or a Japanese person."

Go watch Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

Also if you think the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was traumatic I hate to tell you about the firebombing of Tokyo and how that would just be a prelude to the misery that would have been Operational Downfall, the invasion of the Japanese home islands.

Light battlefield casualties were estimated at 500,000 with planning accounting for 1 million killed. Of USA troops only, America today still has a stockpile of over 120,000 purple heart medals that they made in preparation for their injured soldiers. Then there were the predicted casualties on the Japanese side of "at least" 5 to 10 million military and civilian deaths.

Then there would be the deaths and injuries of the other Allied forces with the Americans and also not counting the planned Soviet invasion ofmanchuria

The victor always write history

“ I happen to be in Hiroshima until Thursday. I can assure you all that Hiroshima isn't grappling with anything. “—One of the best comments in this thread.

Bottom line (no matter which country does it) killing innocent people, especially children and babies is wrong. It doesn't matter what other crimes their nation of birth has committed or will commit - it is wrong, it is a war crime. The use of atomic bombs were war crimes. End of.

This is 100% inaccurate. Killing civilians is not a war crime. Not taking civilians deaths into consideration is a war crime, but nothing the U.S. did when it comes to dropping the A bombs would constitute a war crime according to any international law.

Sorry, to the Americans on here trying to justify war crimes. Furthermore, the decision to commit the war crimes of the A-Bomb dropping were completlely political in numerous ways (and more about Russian pressure, and home economic pressure). Of course, you won't have been taught about this (people don't like toi tell their citizens about their war crimes for some reason - go figure) - just like I wasn't taught about the attrocities my country committed in Ireland and other places. Please do you own (reliable) research - from reputable non-US/or non-bias US sources and you will see the whole picture.

Again, another statement based with no historical backing. US troop casualties were the top priority of high command. American Generals and Admirals expected America to lose over 1 million troops in an invasion of the Japanese mainland. This was considered unacceptable.

Furthermore - why did the US not give a warning to evacuate before levelling a cities and killing innocent children and babies? Or drop the first bomb on a forest rather than a city full of citizens and children? So try not to embarass yourself further by standing up for a war crime in the name of misguided-patrotism.

Truman warned Japan at Potsdam and leaflets were dropped over Japan (including Hiroshima and Nagasaki) warning them to leave their cities as they were going to be destroyed.

I’d really suggesting taking the time to look more into history and educate yourself a little more

The atomic bombings of Japan were a war crime, as were the bombings of Dresden. No injustice justifies another.

No. Please explain how they were a war crime

Speed (Mar. 12  04:59 pm JST),

However you're killed, it doesn't matter -- you die, it's horrible and the end. Whether it's by firebombs, a bullet or a nuclear blast, it's all hellish and I don't think one way of dying is any worse than another.

 

Why are weapons of mass destruction, such as chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, banned internationally in a war? Your theory allows the free use of such weapons.

Today  02:18 am JST “ I happen to be in Hiroshima until Thursday. I can assure you all that Hiroshima isn't grappling with anything. “—One of the best comments in this thread.

*-4**( +0 / -4 )*

Look at the downvotes (why?). That was short, simple and objective—better than most posts here (extremely long, filled with hate, lies and distortion of reality). Long story short, it’s just a movie—you can watch it… or not! Personally, I’m a fan of Nolan’s work so, of course, I’m gonna watch Oppenheimer but I also recognize the fact that most people in Japan simply don’t care. And that’s fine. They’re not gonna become more or less ignorant or upset because of this. Again, it’s just a movie.

Japan hates Robert Oppenheimer but loves and admires Harry Truman and Douglas MacArthur.

Where on earth did you get that idea? I know for a fact that most Japanese who know anything about history despise Truman. He was a disastrous president whose bloody legacy lives on in SE Asia, Japan and the Middle East.

Why are the powers that be so obsessed with deciding they know best what Japanese moviegoers should and shouldn’t be allowed to watch?

The multiple Oscar winning film is available to buy overseas, for those who still enjoy physical media.

Here, we’re still wringing our hands about whether or not it’s suitable.

Release the film. If Japanese moviegoers want to see it, they will buy their tickets and make up their own minds about the merits of the picture.

Or might it offer unwelcome competition against a Crayon Shin-Chan film which has been churned out?

"Maybe it's time someone made a film about atomic bombs from the perspective of Japan or a Japanese person."

THIS! Absolutely agree! Clint Eastwood attempted to do just that with Flags of our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima.

The only difference being the question if Clint Eastwood should have been the one to direct Letters from Iwo Jima. Perhaps, a Japanese director should have spearheaded that film.

Godzilla: Minus ONE says something, but the difference between American and Japanese culture is that Americans get right to the point! There's no reading into it. No room for vagueness or ambiguity. If it's a hard topic, take the hard line.

Not every story about the bomb automatically means about Hiroshima or Nagasaki

Just like not every story about the Nazis automatically means about Hitler

It was a sad occurrence but...If you don't want to be reminded of it, just don't watch the movie. Plain and simple.

it is wrong, it is a war crime

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has jurisdiction over the definition of “war crime” and does not include the use of nuclear weapons as a war crime.

However, if the use of nuclear weapons were considered a “war crime,” all nations capable of using nuclear weapons are prepared to commit a “war crime” when nuclear weapons become the only means of repelling violent attacks on its citizens by a powerful outside force or preventing the resurgence of a violent aggressor that has demonstrated a willingness to repeatedly engage in such violent attacks.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has jurisdiction over the definition of “war crime” and does not include the use of nuclear weapons as a war crime.

It does not mention sticks and stones either, yet war crimes can be committed with them. It's not the tool, it's the intent. Generally attacks that target civilian populations, like those in Nagasaki and Hiroshima, are considered war crimes. If, instead, Japan had dropped the atomic bomb on San Francisco and then lost the warm, there is no doubt that they would have been charged with a war crime for doing so. Winning comes with perks.

commanteerMar. 13 09:12 am JST

Japan hates Robert Oppenheimer but loves and admires Harry Truman and Douglas MacArthur.

Where on earth did you get that idea? I know for a fact that most Japanese who know anything about history despise Truman. He was a disastrous president whose bloody legacy lives on in SE Asia, Japan and the Middle East.

If by that you mean he secured a future free from communism in much of the world, yes, yes he was surprisingly effective.