Journal 6 Zach Smith

Part one:
The most impactful character to me so far has been Mr. Tanimoto. He shows a lot about his character when he continues to help people cross the river in a boat that he paddles with a bamboo stick to help transport people to Asano Park. You can learn a lot about someone from there response to a situation like this it truly shows a lot about a person's character and in this case, it shows Mr. Tanimoto's willingness to help others in times of need. When Mr. Tanimoto was carrying the people up the bank of the river he constantly said " these are human beings" To help remind him that they were and that the amount of pain that they were in and that they no longer looked like human beings anymore. You can learn a lot from him saying this because it really shows just how dismembered these people are and that they don't even look like human beings anymore.
Part two:
My research question that I researched was how much stronger are the atomic bombs of today compared to the atomic bombs dropped on Japan? The bombs that they dropped on Japan were 15 and 21 kilotons. Compared to the worlds biggest nuclear bomb ever tested which was by Russia which is 50,000 kilotons. We could build bombs even bigger than this with today's technology.
Links:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/a23306/nuclear-bombs-powerful-today/
http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/27/politics/hiroshima-obama-explainer/index.html 

Shows just how much bigger today's bombs are

Journal 6 by Mohammed Baseer

Part 1-

I think all the characters had their own unique importance, although Mrs. Hatsuyo Nakamura’s profile is worth sharing. She had three children, her husband, Isawa died soon after Myeka was born. She had a very hard life, she raised her children by herself by tailoring, aside from her children one thing that was very dear to her was her sewing machine. She was watching her neighbor from the kitchen window when the bomb fell. She was a caring mother who already knew something bad is going to happen to Hiroshima, and that she has already prepared herself and for her kids a bunch of emergency clothes. In all these chaos, Mrs. Nakamura could not carry her sewing machine as it described in the book, “she noticed her sewing machine; she went back in for it and dragged it out. Obviously, she could not carry it with her, so she unthinkingly plunged her symbol of livelihood into the receptacle which for weeks had been her symbol of safety—the cement tank of water in front of her house. Giving up something that has helped you in tough times and with whom you have been associated for so long is very difficult and Mrs. Nakamura had a tough choice to make that day.

Part 2-

The one research question I had from my assigned readings was about the radio stations and the radio transmitters that people used to have during those days. The radio stations were very important to communicate during world war two for civilians and soldiers. On the day of bombing, a broadcast warning was given to people to take shelter as B-29s were approaching. The Japanese Broadcasting Corporation at the Tokyo centre noticed Hiroshima going off air. Even the radio at Army control Station in Hiroshima got off air, and for this curiosity, a plane was sent to Hiroshima, the pilots were able to see the smoke coming out of Hiroshima 100 miles away.

Radio Transmitters that were used in Japan

President Truman broadcasting out the report of the Bombings with a radio in front of him.

 

References:

https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol46no3/article07.html

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/08/05/national/history/stories-of-unprecedented-destruction-and-japans-eventual-surrender/ 

Journal Six from Jo

Part One:
One character that has stood out to me the most would be Mrs. Nakamura. From the start of the story, she has been prepared for the bomb. She is a single mom, which is hard in the first place. But to be so prepared with the children during the bombing is amazing to me. Then right after the bomb, she immediately went for her children. "The reflex of a mother set her in motion toward her children". The situation in being prepared and going after her children after the bomb, brings out her character, which is being a mom. She is taking responsibility for others, and in making sure everything is okay to the best of her ability. We all can learn from her to take care of others, don't just be responsible for yourself. More can happen when you lean on each other and that everybody needs a mother figure in their life.

Part Two:
My research question is, How quick did the bombing happen? Obviously very quick, but in reality, how many seconds? At 0.0, the beginning of the bomb, the temperature of the burst reached several million degrees. Then at 0.1 of a second, the fireball formed form the explosion. The radiation was also 3% of total energy. At 0.15 of a second, the shock waves expanded rapidly. At 0.2 of a second, the infrared waves caused most of the burns to human skin. Then, within the first second, the fireball reached a maximum diameter of 200-300 meters. In the book, everybody said that all they saw was a flash of light. Its amazing to see how fast this flash of light was and the destruction it caused so quickly.

Source: http://atomicbombmuseum.org/1_devastation.shtml

In this photo, you can see the enormous cloud with a reflection of the flash of light.  

Journal six from Charles Robinson

Pt 1:

 The most impactful character upon me would have to be Rev. Tanimoto. The scene where he is upset at the doctors for not aiding survivors at Asano Park is incredibly moving and shows his desire to help his fellow man when Hersey wrote, "he would personally bring one to Asano Park-- by the scruff of their neck, if necessary." In addition, the scene where the doctors explain to Tanimoto the harsh reality of the situation, that by staying put and treating as many minimally wounded as they could, they would save more lives. this scene shows how even in this crisis, Tanimoto can empathize with the burden the doctors face, as well as acknowledge the wisdom of their logic. This shows not only a stong sense of  humility, but also remorse in promising all of the people within Asano Park he would bring medics.

Pt 2:

A research question I drew from the reading was, How widely used were the B-29's in the pacific front of WWII? I found that a subset of B-29's called "superfortresses"were only used in the pacific theatre. Additionally, B-29s were the first aircraft with pressurized air cabins. The B-29's were in production for only one year after WWII due to the innovations of fighter jets and the Corsair B-36.

This is a picture of the B-29 "Enola Gay", that dropped the nuclear bomb on Hiroshima.

This is "Bockscar", the B-29 used to bomb Nagasaki

Link to article: http://www.boldmethod.com/blog/lists/2015/03/facts-about-the-b-29-superfortress/

  

Journal 6 - Theodore Persinger

Part One: The Reverend Kiyoshi Tanimoto in response to anti-american sentiment within the town against his american education had decided to become the chairman of his neighborhood association as well as air-raid defense leader for many families. this was done to show in good faith what a good Japanese citizen he was. yet we see that when the bomb drops his first thought was for his church, family and congregation. he runs for seven miles straight trying to get to his church and home to help them. he is blocked by the flames every time though. when he finds his wife he is relieved and quickly runs once more to find others. once he is stopped again he makes the choice to abandon the chase and go to Asano Park to helped the people there. when there he immediately takes charge and begins organizing food expeditions and water exchanges. This was done all for the need of his neighbors. he then moved a series of corpses form a boat so that he could use it to help people on the shore near the park and moved extensively to ferry them across the channel. he went on to fight to help his fellow citizens even when their bodies sliding out of their skin and they were too weak to move and he said "These are human beings". this shows that Tanimoto is a compassionate human who will work endlessly to help his fellow man as well as a leader who wont shy away from responsibility.

Part Two:My research question was: What was done in the town for the ground zero location? The Hiroshima Peace Memorial, or Genbaku Dome, is the only structure left standing near the explosion of the first atomic bomb which landed on August 6, 1945, and it remains in the condition right after the explosion. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial has been preserved as a ruin. It is all that remains of the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotional Hall. It stands as a beacon of hope and remembrance for the citizens of Hiroshima as well as a message to the world for the hope of peace.

Link: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/775/

The ruins are left barren in the lush memorial park,
 where a single fence separates the vibrant city from its scarred past

Journal 6 by Lexia Wilson

Part One: The character that has been the most interesting is that of Dr. Terufumi Sasaki. This has been the most interesting to me because because he is a doctor and that is what I want to do as my career. I thought what was the most interesting about his profile was that Dr. Sasaki didn't perish immediately when the bomb went off because he took a different train and car that morning so he arrived at the hospital at a time different than he normally did. Maybe this was fate because he was needed to help all of those people. He also for the most part unscathed when the bomb went off. Though when it did, "He ducked down on one knee and said to himself, as only a Japanese would, "Sasaki, gambare! Be brave!"" Due to the bomb some off the hospital had been destroyed but Dr. Sasaki found himself to be the only doctor that was not hurt. Thus far Dr. Sasaki seems to be a nice person who will do whatever it takes to save the lives of others. From reading about Dr. Sasaki you are able to learn that even under tremendous pressure by being the only unhurt doctor in the hospital and having all of these people flooding through the hospital doors, it shows great strength and dedication on his part as a doctor.

Part Two: The research question that I would like to answer is what were the effects of the radiation on the people then and now. The people that were closest to the bomb received the highest amount of radiation and died immediately or within the first day. If the people were further away from the center of the blast it took a little bit longer to see the effects of the radiation. How quickly the symptoms come on depends on how severe your radiation injury is but for those people who had a severe radiation injury they would begin to vomit within 1-2 hours, diarrhea within 5 days, swelling of the mouth and throat within 7, fever and hair loss within 8-9 days, and death within 10 days. Those people didn't has as severe radiation injuries there symptoms took longer to surface and they weren't as bad. For those people who had severe burns from the blast it took many months for them to begin to heal and when they did they did heal nicely, they would get keloids and the people could have been disfigured, and many other awful things. Even now the effects of radiation can still effect them through a higher risk of many different kinds of cancers such as leukemia, thyroid, breast and lungs. They could also be sterile, have birth defects in there children or have mental retardation.
http://atomicbombmuseum.org/3_health.shtml

Burns on a soldier that was 1 Km from the center of the blast. 

Journal 6 - Lexi Patterson

Part One:  The most interesting character is me so far is Dr. Sasaki. He had been at the hospital since the bomb was dropped and had yet to look outside until he went to his mother's house to sleep. Dr Sasaki states, "the scene inside was so terrible and so compelling that it had not occurred to him to ask any questions about what had happened beyond the windows and doors". Dr. Sasaki was busy saving people's lives to worry about the horror outside the hospital's walls. This situation reveals that he has a strong will power to help people. He is an inspiring doctor that worked for days saving lives on only one hour of sleep.

Part 2: What was the actual number of deaths caused by the bomb being dropped on Hiroshima? How much money did it cost to rebuild it?  The city of Hiroshima has estimated that the dropping of the B-29 killed as many as 192,020 people either from the the bomb, the radiation, or cancer that developed afterward. But it instantly killed 80,000 people when the bomb hit. 60% died from burns and 30% from falling debris.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/06/world/asia/btn-atomic-bombs/index.html

B-29 bomb used in the destruction of Hiroshima. 

Journal 6 Mohamed Jama

Part I

My favorite character in the books is Mrs. Nakamura. Mrs. Nakamura showed a greate strength in dealing with the difficulties in the time of war. She tried her best to raise her children in that satiation although she lost her husband. After his death,  "when his allotment stopped coming, Mrs. Nakaruma got out machine and begun to make in piecework herself, and since then had supported the children, but poorly, by sewing"(8).This is a great example of how the ideal mother is supposed to be. She didn't just sit doing nothing but she stood up to take her role and the role of her husband to raise the children. She was a caring mother and brave women.

Part II

I am curious to know about the Japanese air defense capaplites in 1945?. How American B-29 superfortres and other war planes were able to around fly in the sky all night and threaten people constantly. Why Japanese can not protect their airspace?. Were they technologically less competent than Americans?.

Kikka a Japanese Interceptor

The research I have done shows that Japanese technology and the American ones were equivalent, however, Japanese problems were lack of inadequate pilots and fuel shortage. That made impossible to stop the magnitude of the air-raids. Besides that there were fewer fighter jets than Americans and its allies. 

Journal 6- Annie Wheeler

The most interesting character to me so far is Dr. Sasaki.  I think that Dr. Sasaki is a hard working man that wants the least amount of casualties as possible.  This is apparent when he worked 3 days straight.   He is the only uninjured doctor in the hospital and with 10,000 victims in the Red Cross Hospital, it is near impossible for him to help everybody, but he still tries.  At one point it is wrote that "Dr. Sasaki lost all sense of profession and stopped working as a skillful surgeon and sympathetic man; he became an automaton, mechanically wiping, daubing, winding, wiping, daubing, winding" (26).  This shows that although he wants to help the most people he can, he sacrifices giving quality care to help as many people as he can. 

The "black rain" also stained skin, clothing and buildings. 

In chapter 3, I was struck with the question did the water get contaminated with radiation after the bombing and is that what made Mrs. Nakamuro's family get sick shortly after drinking from the river in Asono Park? On AtomicBombMuseum.org it was said that close to a half hour to forty minutes after the atomic bomb exploded there was "mixing of enormous amounts of airborne irradiated materials combined with heat and thermal currents from the firestorms led to rainfall."  This rainfall is referred to as "black rain".  The "black rain" reached ground as "sticky, dark, dangerously radioactive water."  This website also says that the "black rain" was ingested by the Japanese from being in the air and it infected food and surrounding water which could have made the Nakamuro's nauseous and vomit almost instantly after consumption. 

Journal (6) Sam

Mr. Tanimoto has shown his true colors through the first three chapters. Natural leaders rise up and take charge in urgent, and distressing situations. There was no time for him to feel sorry for himself he had to react, motivate, and help. Mr. Tanimoto became hyper-focused after the tragic events and was aware enough not to let people see his frustration. "Mr. Tanimoto, ashamed of hurting wounded people, embarrassed at being able to walk upright, suddenly thought of the naval hospital ship, which had not come (it never did), and he had for a moment a feeling of blind murderous rage at the crew of the ship, and then at all the doctors. Why didn't they come to help these people?"(Hersey 46). 

Part Two: I was curious about Asano Park and if it had become a historic national park or if it had been developed over like the rest of the city. ----Shukkeien Garden is Asano Park, the garden is known as Asano Park to westerners and this place is amazing. There are many more pictures online. It definitely gives you a mental image to go with the book.

https://www.japan-guide.com

Journal 6 Brent Bennett

I would say  Dr. Terufumi Sasaki story has had the most impact on me. I find it interesting that a he is a twenty-five year old man who is put through the worst thing you could imagine as being a doctor/surgeon. Even though he finds himself under a tremendous amount of pressure in the book he seems to just instinctively know what he needs to do helping the nurse and others without his glasses. In chapter three you see that he works for several days straight on patients trying to tend to their wounds. I think through this you can see that he is actually very brave to experience this and do what he needs to do. You learn that he can take control of a situation and not crack under the tremendous weight put on him by people pouring in to the hospital. I think one of the best quotes on Dr. Sasuki is "He ducked down on one knee and said to himself, as only a Japanese would, "Sasaki gambare! Be brave!"
 For the second part I thought it would be interesting to answer how many people died from radiation poisoning after the bomb had been dropped also what radiation poisoning does to the body. Radiation is measured in (Gy) which is gray it is defined as the absorption of one joule of radiation energy per kilogram of matter. Symptoms of radiation include vomiting, hair loss, nausea, dizziness, infections, weakness.The radiation destroys bone marrow and kills white blood cells in the body causing you to be unable to fight infections. When the bomb was dropped it detonated in the air causing radiation to spread through the air instead of hitting the ground which would have caused much more radiation damage. It is believed that people who were within a mile of the bomb died immediately from direct radiation exposure. Between 90,000 and 166,000 people died of radiation in the months that followed in Hiroshima. One of the effects of the bomb dropping in Hiroshima is that a lot of people became at risk for Leukemia. Children were the ones most effected by the long term damage of the radiation from the bomb. The risk of other cancers didn't begin to show up until about ten years later A good link to look at and find more info on radiation and on Hiroshima and Nagasaki is https://k1project.columbia.edu/news/hiroshima-and-nagasaki

Radiation Burns after bomb drop

Journal 6 - Brooke Voisard

Part One:
From the beginning of the book I was drawn to Mrs. Nakamura. She had a rough time already being a widow with a very low income with three children to support. Her unfortunate circumstances and her will to keep moving forward anyway is very inspiring. it shows tremendous strength to survive what she's been through. The ferocity of a mother's love is learned from Mrs. Nakamura's response to the bombing. "She did not notice what happened to the man next door, the reflex of a mother set her in motion toward her children." I thought this line was very powerful because it shows that she's a woman and a neighbor, but above all she is a mother and she puts her children first. She immediately began to look for her children without taking stock in her own injuries and that shows that she puts them above anything else. She dug them out vigorously despite her own shock and trouble with the bombing.
Part Two: I was really surprised to hear about the strong Christian presence in Hiroshima, and I wanted to learn more about that. I found that Christianity first arrived in Japan in 1549, but it wasn't accepted very well. It was tightly controlled in terms of the number of missionaries allowed to reside in the countries and the services they were allowed to conduct. It began to grow as more Japanese went to universities in the US and Europe, but it is still a religious minority with somewhere between one million and three million followers in the country.
Link:http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Christianity_in_Japan

Saint Mary's Cathedral in Tokyo

Journal 6 Tyler Beers

Part one
The character that has been the most impactful has been Reverend Mr. Tanimoto.  Why he has the most impactful i am not really sure but i like his character in the book.  What probably lead me to Mr. Tanimoto is that he is a very emotional man.  In a natural disaster like this your emotions would be all over the place.  The situation that has revealed his character was the scene on page 46.  "Mr. Tanimoto ashamed of hurting wounded people, embarrassed at being able to walk upright, suddenly thought of the naval hospital ship which had not come (it never did), and he had for a moment a feeling of blind, murderous rage at the crew of the ship, and then at all doctors.  Why didn't they come to help these people?" (Hersey 46).  What we could learn from Mr. Tonimoto is that there were a lot of innocent people that were killed or even killed by the bombing on Hiroshima.

Part Two
One of my research questions was how much total damage that was caused by the bombing.  I found out that 60,000 of the 90,000 buildings were destroyed or severely damaged.  In Hiroshima everything within one mile from where the bomb was drop, everything was destroyed.  In Nagasaki everything within 1/2 mile from the explosion, everything was destroyed.
Destruction of Buildings and Houses
Number Percentage Total in Nagasaki (before atomic explosion)50,000 100.0% Blasted (not burned)2,652 5.3% Blasted and burned 11,494 23.0% Blasted and/or burned 14,146 28.3% Partially burned or blasted 5,441 10.9% Total buildings and houses destroyed 19,587 39.2% Undamaged 30,413 60.8%

This is a picture of the aftermath after the explosion  

Groups and Subjects for Presenations

Missy Copeland -- Jo and Annie
Shonda Rhimes-- Val and Lexia
SEth McFarland-- Jake and Lexi
Mark Cuban-- Heather and Tyler
Pablo Piccaso-- Aaron and Brooke
Elon Musk-- Zach and Cameron
Steve Wozniak-- Nuh and Chuck
Frank Lloyd Wright--Sam and Mohammed Jama
Charlemagne-- Brent and Theodore
Frederic Law Olmstead-- Justine and Mohammed Baseer
Malcolm X-- Aziz, Jeremy and Jonikka

Journal 6 - Justine

Part One:
The character that I find most interesting is Mrs. Nakamura. She attempts to not only care for herself, but for her children. Since the beginning of the book, the majority of her actions center around her children. Before the bomb. Mrs. Nakamura struggled to provide food for her family by taking over her husband's trade. She learns the skills necessary in sewing to earn money. She also traveled with her children to the assigned shelter every time a warning sounded. She recognized that the children needed to have a safe shelter as a future need. She also recognizes the children's present needs. In chapter two, the children are exhausted from the trip to the shelter, and she ignores the warning to let the kids, and herself, rest. Another example is when the bomb went off. Mrs. Nakamura did not know what the danger was, but instinctively ran to shelter her kids. After the fact, she "worried rather confusedly about their being cold", and goes back to her collapse home to unbury clothing.
     I find Mrs. Nakamura a good example of remaining calm in a terrifying situation. Half of the time, she operated on motherly instinct, but she kept her composure in the aftermath, when the rest of the city was in panic. To be able to think calming is a great skill to possess.

Part Two:
What is powdered magnesium and what is it used for?  Hiroshima, bottom if page 62.
"Magnesium powder is a finely ground form of the mineral magnesium. In its pure form, magnesium powder is highly combustible and is often used in pyrotechnics."("the science of using materials capable of undergoing self-contained and self-sustained exothermic chemical reactions for the production of heat, light, gas, smoke and/or sound."-bing.com) -drsircus.com.
   Magnesium is a vital mineral for human survival. It is useful for medical purposes for a variety of reasons. The most common reason is to calm stomach or digestive system related pains. Without magnesium, one is "open to not only radioactive damages but also those from heavy metals and thousands of chemicals" -instructables.com
 powdered magnesium
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-magnesium-powder.htm

Journal 6---Jake Ritzert

Part One:
I believe that Rev. Tanimoto has been the most impactful with the situation he was given during the time the bomb dropped. He has been the braviest and most heroic character throughout the first three chapters. "He had thought of his wife and baby, his church, his home, his parishioners, all of them down in that awful murk. Once more he began to run in fear—toward the city. (Hershey, 18)" From the time the bomb dropped, Tanimoto selflessly began to offer his help to anyone and everyone he saw until he realized from his discussion with the Red Cross soldiers that he might be better off spending his time elsewhere.

Part Two:
There is a lot of talk throughout the first 3 chapters of the heat of burning buildings and the impacts of the fire from the bomb. I wanted to know just how far the fire spread from the spot of the bomb. "The hillsides up to a radius of 8,000 feet were scorched, giving them an autumnal appearance."
http://www.atomicarchive.com/Docs/MED/med_chp3.shtml
https://k1project.columbia.edu/news/hiroshima-and-nagasaki

Sorry for the extremely large image, however, pay attention to the vast spread of the red (fire) and how much area of Hiroshima it covers. 

Journal 6-Cameron Ward

Part 1: 
I think that Reverend Tanimoto is the most impactful character to me so far in the book because he seems to show the most emotion out of most of the other characters. All of the other characters either have little written about them or are portrayed as working like robots and rarely expressing emotion. With Rev. Tanimoto, the reader feels drawn to him because of not only his tireless work to save as many people as possible, but also because of his wanting to save others, if that makes sense. Father Kleinsorge and Dr. Sasaki both wanted to help people, obviously, but they seemed to work as robots. That's not to say they never showed emotion, but that it is rarely mentioned in the rather matter-of-fact style of the author. With Rev. Tanimoto, however, we get emotions of anger, shock, and sadness. He genuinely feels pain at all the people he couldn't save. For example, he had to "keep consciously reminding himself, 'these are human beings'" (45). While Dr. Sasaki works like an automaton, bandaging, sewing, and treating, Rev. Tanimoto sees the people he rescues as actual humans and not just wounds. He is very people-oriented.

Part 2:
How did the bombing of Hiroshima play out from the American's perspective?

http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bombing-of-hiroshima-and-nagasaki

"The Manhattan Project" was the code name for the project to develop the atomic bomb for the Americans, which was actually started very early in the war (1940), utilizing the help of atomic scientists, some of whom were fleeing fascist regimes in Europe. The whole program cost roughly $2 billion. The plane that dropped the first bomb was a Boeing B-29 heavy bomber that was modified to accommodate the extremely large weapon. It was nicknamed "Enola Gay" by its pilot, Col. Paul Tibbets. The bomb, nicknamed "Little Boy," exploded 2,000 feet over Hiroshima and destroyed 5 square miles of the city.

Col. Tibbets next to his plane, after the mission. 

Journal 6: Hiroshima reading response, and research shring

Part 1
The character profile i think is the most interesting so far is Reverend Tanimoto. At first i wasn't drawn to his character as much, but the more the story build up I'm able to feel for this character. The passage that made my interest towards him was on page 46. "Mr.Tanimoto, ashamed of hurting wounded people, embarrassed at being able to walk upright, suddenly thought of the navel hospital ships, which had not come (it never did), and he had for a moment a feeling of blind, murderous rage at the crew of the ship, and then all the doctors. why didn't they come help these people". I can tell in this passage that he was furious and upset, and who can blame him? It made me question about why no help was give to these people? Were there limited access to the medical supplies after the bomb was hit?
Part 2
https://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/misc/hiroshima-junod-120905.htm
my research question is how much medical access was there after the bomb was hit. It is interesting how busy hospitals were, and how people had to wait.

Journal 6-Aaron Jacoby

Aaron Jacoby
English 2367 at 1:30
10/25/2017

Part One: The most interesting character to me in the book so far is Rev. Mr. Tanimoto. He has been so busy helping as many injured people as he can. This really shows how strong his moral code is. He was very upset when people in dire need of help weren't receiving medical treatment after the bomb had dropped. This shows how much he truly cared about people, people who were total strangers to him. No matter how gruesome or nasty it got, he continued helping people. He continuously reminded himself, "These are human beings."

Part Two: Something I wanted to know from the book so far is what did Japan consider an honorable death during this time? I found that the Japanese for many centuries refused to surrender. They also opted to killing themselves before admitting to defeat. These were often done in a ritual-type fashion. A very common form of suicide for the Japanese, with roots back 12th century samarais, is called hara-kari.Hara-kari(more commonly referred to in Japan as seppuku) is meant to attract attention to yourself, to show immense courage and to earn back or restore honor to yourself or your family name for being defeated. A very common way that Japanese soldiers committed hara-kari in WW2 was by stabbing themselves and then in some cases having someone stand behind them and cut their head off. This was a very symbolic ritual and held very seriously by the Japanese.

Link to source: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/1999/03/why_do_japanese_commit_harakiri.html

The ritual of hara-kari.

Journal 6 -- Heather Campbell

The character that I find the most interesting is Mr. Tanimoto. In the first chapter you really get a feel of what kind of person he's like and in my opinion he is described in a way that you can perfect picture him and his personality. He also interests me because it seems to me that his instincts are very good, by this I'm meaning how he could feel the attack approaching and even began moving stuff away towards Koi.  A situation he was in that I feel shows his character was on page 45, "He reached down and took a woman by the hands, but her skin slipped off in huge, glovelike pieces." After this happened he only paused what he was doing for a brief moment and then got back up to start helping more people. He always seems to be wanting to help people in one way or another, even in the first chapter he was going to help Mr. Matsuo move his daughters things in return for Mr. Matsuo's help.

My active reading question is at what does nuclear radiation poisoning really do to you? The reaction your body has first is lightheadedness, migraines, vomitting, diarrhea, then if you were exposed to a higher amount of radiation effects could include skin ulcers, burns, skin shedding, etc.. I've heard in some documentaries as well as the website linked below that you actually appear to be getting better for a day or two then your symptoms continue to worsen. Radiation poisoning can't always be cured but when it is it's through bone marrow transplants, good first aid on burns, and things similar.

non-lethal to lethal doses of radiation

Link:http://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2016-04-22/what-nuclear-radiation-does-to-your-body/7346324

long term effects of radiation poisoning on skin

Journal 6 Jeremy Johnson

Part 1:
Father Kleinsorge has been most impactful thus far in my reading.  Being that he is German and not Japanese shows us that the bomb has no target.  It can hit anyone in its path, with no bias.  Also, his building was the only building left standing in Hiroshima after the bomb dropped.  Showing much compassion for humanity, Father kleinsorge set out to help as many victims of the bomb as he could.  Even trying to locate a woman's husband in a rubble of a house ( 27-28).  Also, his thrive to keep Mr. Fukai alive goes to show how compassionate he really is.  Mr. Fukai was stubborn and stuck in his cultural ways, but Father Kleinsorge felt the need to try and save him.  Keeping in mind that all the saving is being done in the disaster zone that may be bombed again.  Most would have left and many did leave. He stays through the duration, helping and saving as many as he can.  Even when he was not too fond of Japanese, for their hatred of foreigners of the time.  Hersey writes, "Father Kleinsorge began to be thirsty in the dreadful heat, and he did not feel strong enough to go for water again.  A little before noon, he saw a japanese woman handing something out.  Soon she came to him and said in a kind voice,  These are tea leaves.  Chew them young man, and you won't feel thirsty.  The woman's gentleness made Father Kleinsorge suddenly want to cry" (53).
Part 2:
What was the third city that America planned to drop a bomb in Japan in WWII?

Figure 1: There were 12 bombs scheduled to drop on Japan through October 1945. Public Domain.

According to Daily Beast article, https://www.thedailybeast.com/us-planned-to-drop-12-atomic-bombs-on-japan, The third city target for bombing was Kokura.  This city was allegedly skipped over by the second bomb, due to weather interference.  Also, one of our own militia had a honeymoon in this very location.  A little skeptical if you ask me.  However, Tokyo was the original third city to be bombed, had the plans for the second bomb went as accordance to hit Kokura.  The article goes on to show the building and loading of the bombs that were dropped, and the schedule that was implicated to drop 10 more before November.  I had no idea that the attack on Japan was so severe and sought out in such a manner of total demolition.

Journal #5 Mohamed Jama

Traffic light became a modern culture in everywhere now even the developing countries have traffic lights. Traffic lights are one of the most revolutionary inventions, however, before the traffic lights was invented, people use to control the flow of the traffic by placing a man in the middle of the intersection directing the vehicles. This type traffic police is still popular in so many countries around the world and it is called Traffic Police. The Traffic Police would be standing on his or her feet all day long hours. It is a risk job because any time a vehicle may get out of control and hit the person.

Before Traffic Light

The beginning of traffic light invention

Journal 5 Annie Wheeler

Drum Corps: Bluecoats

You can learn more about what
DCI is and all the drum corps
on the DCI Web Page

Drum Corps International (DCI) is made up of young adults from ages 22 to 13 that are involved with competitive marching bands.  Each drum corps has their own loyal following that is made up of alumni and spectators of the fun sport.  Drum corps' are from all over the US and some from Canada. There are roughly 3,500 positions open each year and over 8,000 people try-out.  Some can argue that drum corps' are growing, due to the increase of knowledge about them, but others can argue that they are slowing dying due to the decreasing number of corps' over the last few years.
The Bluecoats were founded in 1972 in Canton Ohio by a businessman and two policemen.  The Bluecoats are one drum corps out of about 62.  They are now the only drum corp in Ohio, with the exception of a small corps trying to start up in Columbus.  A tradition that has been kept since 1987 is the long shouts of "Bloooo.......Bloooo......Bloooo" while the corps is coming onto the field.  To newcomers it may seem as a shock what the fans are shouting but the explanation is "They're not booing, they're blooing."
People who would participate in this subculture are people who love to play music.  Drum corps is an awesome opportunity for kids that are fresh out of high school to go and play music, march, and compete with other drum corps'.  Another reason people like to participate in drum corps' is because they like to travel.  When competing in drum corps you get to travel all over the US and compete at different states.  Drum Corps International is a great way to combine two things you love most, love of music and traveling.

This is a picture of the Bluecoats performing at the
DCI World Championships. Not only do the bands march, they also
incorporate dance and visual movements.