The Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Archive on Google Earth was Launched by Hidenori Watanave Lab. at Tokyo Metropolitan University

    TOKYO, JAPAN, July 18, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Archive

The Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Archive is a pluralistic digital archive using the digital virtual globe "Google Earth to display on it in a multilayered way all the materials gained from such sources as the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, the Hiroshima Jogakuin Gaines Association, and the Hachioji Hibakusha (A-bomb Survivors) Association. Beyond time and space, the user can get a panoramic view over Hiroshima to browse survivors accounts, photos, maps, and other materials as of 1945, together with aerial photos, 3D topographical data, and building models as of 2010. The archive aims to promote multifaceted and comprehensive understanding of the reality of atomic bombing.

Official website (English and Japanese)
Demo movie

Introduction

It has been 66 years since atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and all the remaining A-bomb survivors will have died out in the coming decades. This means that those people who from their own experience have the strongest desire for peace and a nuclear-free world will be lost. Extending the mission of the Nagasaki Archive, which was published on the web in 2010, the Hiroshima Archive has been produced by melding a large amount of materials accumulated over 66 years with the latest Internet technologies, with a view to passing on the experiences and messages of A-bomb survivors to future generations.

Community of Memories

We collected A-bomb survivors accounts in cooperation with local high school students and nationwide volunteers and created a Community of Records through developing a collection of memories. We will also create an online community by using social media, such as Twitter, to collect from all over the world messages of hope for peace and nuclear abolition and incorporate them into the digital archive. We aim to make the archive a platform to gather the threads of stories for the future by sharing the past memories and the present messages in both real and web spaces.

Beyond 311

On March 11, 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred, and among those who suffered the disaster in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, was one of the members of the Hiroshima Archive Production Committee. The earthquake and tsunami completely destroyed the local peoples beloved towns, and the following nuclear reactor accident brought the scourge of radioactive substances, putting an end to normal life. Since the March 11th earthquake, the mission of this project, which aimed originally to pass on the 66-year-old story of Hiroshima to future generations, has also undergone a change: Learn about past tragedies, feel involved, and hand them down to future generations in your own words. We hope that our Archive will be used by many people.

Contact Us
Hidenori Watanave Laboratory, Tokyo Metropolitan University
[email protected]
http://hiroshima.mapping.jp

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