Chapter 03: A Park for Sadako and Thoughts on Radiation Research
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Description
Dr. Komaki begins this chapter by talking about how she became curious about how radiation had different effects on Sadako, who was young when the bomb was dropped and died young, versus the effect on her grandmother, who was much older and who did not die prematurely. She then tells the story of her commitment to make sure that her friend, Sadako was not forgotten. She explains that as president of her class at Noborichu Junior High School, she worked with her classmates first to raise money to create a monument, and then working with several key adults to organize space in a public park to erect a statue in an area that would be named “Peace Memorial Park.” She recalls that almost 1000 people attended the opening reception. She also notes that every year around 6 August, the anniversary of the dropping of the bomb, teachers around the world arrange for activities so this event is not forgotten.
Dr. Komaki talks about visits she has made in the last years to schools in Houston to talk about WWII and atomic weapons. In the final moments of this chapter, she shares her own message against creating nuclear weapons and the importance of communities educating the next generation about their power and danger.
Identifier
KomakiR_01_20181106_C03
Publication Date
11-6-2018
Publisher
The Making Cancer History® Voices Oral History Collection, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
City
Houston, Texas
Interview Session
Topics Covered
The Interview Subject's Story - Personal Background; Personal Background; Inspirations to Practice Science/Medicine; Influences from People and Life Experiences; Understanding Cancer, the History of Science, Cancer Research; Cultural/Social Influences; Global Issues –Cancer, Health, Medicine
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Disciplines
History of Science, Technology, and Medicine | Oncology | Oral History
Transcript
T.A. Rosolowski, PhD:
So when Sadako died, that obviously had a big, big impact on you.
R. Komaki, MD:
Yeah.
T.A. Rosolowski, PhD:
Did you go to her funeral? What happened for you around that time?
R. Komaki, MD:
[Only family members were invited to her funeral.] [] I was just totally sad and shocked, you know? [I was puzzled by the question, ‘Why did she die, not my grandmother, [who was also exposed to the atomic bomb]? I always compared [the cases of Sadako and my grandmother]. I was so curious about the effect of the atomic bomb on her and atomic bomb on my grandmother, and so I was trying to figure it out while I was growing up. When she died, I went to junior high school, Noboricho Junior High School. She registered to go to junior high school but she couldn’t make it. When she died she was 11. Junior high school started at [the age of] 12 years old. So I became the president of the junior high school, Noboricho Junior High School. I really wanted to make sure nobody will forget her death, related to the exposure to atomic bomb. She had an older brother, two years older than her. He was already in the junior high school where I became president, and we had classmates from elementary school, and myself and Sadako’s brother, we all got together and [I] said, we should create something for the memory of Sadako. What’s the best way to do this? So, I was very hardheaded around that time and I said, okay, I’m going to write a letter to all the deans of the elementary schools, junior high schools, high schools, all over Japan, to collect money. Also, we have very busy streets in Hiroshima, Hatchobori and Kamiyacho, and we put signs [that said], “Please donate money to create a statue for Sadako’s memory.” We stood on the street, collected the money. The other thing we did done …I still remember his name, he came from the YMCA, Mr. Kawamoto. He helped us to create a movie of One Thousand Cranes, that’s the name of the movie, which was displayed all over in the theater. Around that time, we did not have TV, and the only one place we could see that was movie theater, so this One Thousand Cranes, based on biography of Sadako, was shown all over Japan.
T.A. Rosolowski, PhD:
When was that, what year?
R. Komaki, MD:
[00:45:18 ] That was the second year of junior high school, so I was 14 years old.
T.A. Rosolowski, PhD:
So ’56.
R. Komaki, MD:
Yeah, ’56, correct. It was shown all over Japan and we collected the money. Because it started among the children, they donated the money very quickly, so within two years, we got enough money to create a statue of the atomic bomb children, the memory of Sadako.
T.A. Rosolowski, PhD:
What do you think hit people about this appeal you were making, you know? Why were people so anxious to give money to this?
R. Komaki, MD:
Because they didn’t want to forget about the atomic bomb: never ever repeat the same mistake. That’s what they wanted and that’s why they donated the money. They didn’t want to see this second war and also, the atomic bomb [repeated in the future]. That’s why we got so much donation from all over Japan. Of course they have heard of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where all those victims were, but the people, they were so touched --what we started to do. Do not forget Sadako, who suffered due to effects of the atomic bomb.
T.A. Rosolowski, PhD:
Now you established the park in, it was 1958, was that, when it was finished?
R. Komaki, MD:
Yeah, ’58.
T.A. Rosolowski, PhD:
Okay. Who created the statue, was there an artist?
R. Komaki, MD:
Artist.
T.A. Rosolowski, PhD:
What was the artist’s name, do you recall? (Ritsuko sighs) We can put that in later if it slips your mind.
R. Komaki, MD:
[Possibly Mr. Ando?] Yeah. He did this almost free.
T.A. Rosolowski, PhD:
Oh really, wow.
R. Komaki, MD:
We didn’t pay to him, he did it voluntarily. Yeah, he was a very famous sculptor, but he did it free, you know he just had to buy the material and so on. It was just an incredible statue, which is stunning, at the Peace Memorial Park. It’s ten feet tall, and Sadako is standing on the top of the statue holding origami crane.
T.A. Rosolowski, PhD:
And did the city give the land for the park?
R. Komaki, MD:
Yes, yes.
T.A. Rosolowski, PhD:
Yeah. So how did you guys work with the city officials, did you contact them for this?
R. Komaki, MD:
No, not really. The guy who came from YMCA, he contacted the city, and of course he negotiated where the statue should go and so on. So he did everything for us because we are kids.
T.A. Rosolowski, PhD:
You were kids, yeah.
R. Komaki, MD:
And I couldn’t get any permission.
T.A. Rosolowski, PhD:
Right, right. So tell me about the event when the park opened, you know as there a big celebration?
R. Komaki, MD:
Oh yes, it was a big, big celebration, yes, and there were almost a thousand people who showed up.
T.A. Rosolowski, PhD:
Oh wow.
R. Komaki, MD:
Yeah, yeah, I still remember that, there was. But as time went on, this became such a famous statue for peace, for the children all over the world. Every year around the time of the atomic bomb was dropped, August sixth, the teachers all over the world, like Boston and San Francisco and Houston, they talk about Sadako’s story, which was written by Eleanor O’Connor. They read the book. It’s a very thin book, and [students] decided to fold origami birds. So those one thousand origami birds, the cranes, came to the bottom of the statue. Now, that’s inside of a glass case, because we have so much rain in Japan. Every three days we get rain, and so it gets soaked, wet, and they have to replace it. So they decided to put it in a glass case. But how much it influenced all over the world. Every year, they send us one thousand origami birds from all over the world. All those children around ten years old, 11 years old, they read Sadako’s story and they were so touched. I went to the school here in Houston and I gave a talk about Sadako’s story.
T.A. Rosolowski, PhD:
Wasn’t this either last year or earlier this year, because I think I read—
R. Komaki, MD:
Last year.
T.A. Rosolowski, PhD:
I read an article about it, yeah, yeah.
R. Komaki, MD:
Because one of my patients I treated for his lung cancer, his daughter was four years old and he was very young. He had some genetic problem. He never smoked, but he developed lung cancer, and I treated him with radiation and chemotherapy. He was the first patient actually, [treated] by the proton treatment, because I didn’t want it to scatter. He was very young. He was 39 years old, and the reason why I said genetic, because never a smoker. He had another cancer when he was like 29, bladder cancer, and very superficial. I tried not to cause any low dose of scattering of the radiation to his lung, because he was a runner and his daughter was four years old. So I treated him by proton and chemotherapy. He continued to work and he ran (inaudible) marathon and he runs every day, and he’s still alive. When I treated him, that was just a year after we opened the Proton [Therapy] Center, so that was 2007, and when his daughter became 11 years old, I was invited to her school to give a talk, and that was published in the Chronicle.
T.A. Rosolowski, PhD:
The Houston Chronicle, yeah.
R. Komaki, MD:
She was 11, so seven years after I treated him. He was so happy, you know, he’s still alive and no cancer and he’s still jogging and doing marathons. So actually, his daughter really wanted me to come to her school to talk about Sadako’s story, the same year when she died. She is doing—she was very interested in her father’s illness and how I treated it, where I came from, and so she asked me to come and I gave a talk about Sadako. And that’s not only once. Before that, that was like five years ago, I went to St. John [St. John’s School] to give a talk, because the colleagues who work at MD Anderson, their children, they heard about Sadako’s story. And I came from Hiroshima and they said, Oh dad or mom, can you bring Dr. Komaki to my school so she can talk about Sadako’s story? And so I said, Why not? Eventually, they do not make the same mistakes and they are not really afraid. You know, the way we treat the patient with radiation is a different exposure to atomic bomb. But the bottom line, my message is to not create a nuclear weapon. The way it’s going, like in North Korea, that’s a thousand times harder, stronger exposure of the radiation to human beings, what they have done to Hiroshima and it will wipe out whole United States once they start to do nuclear weapons.
T.A. Rosolowski, PhD:
On that scale.
R. Komaki, MD:
I just don’t want to see that, and you know there’s only one way to give the message to children, because by the time they start to use those, maybe they forgot about the history of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The people who are creating all the problems, they don’t know the aftereffects of the atomic bomb. I know, I saw it and oh, the people I attended to the school in Hiroshima, they lost parents due to atomic bomb, so they were orphaned. They did not have any place to live. They lost parents. They were classmates and my mother always said, you know you have to give some of your pencils or anything you can share with them. My mother, she was so caring, so sharing, you know, at least I had my parents. I was blessed, and I always thought about … you know, if I lived in Hiroshima, I wouldn’t be here. How I was lucky and that’s why I wanted to do something for Sadako.
Recommended Citation
Komaki, Ritsuko MD and Rosolowski, Tacey A. PhD, "Chapter 03: A Park for Sadako and Thoughts on Radiation Research" (2018). Interview Chapters. 1284.
https://openworks.mdanderson.org/mchv_interviewchapters/1284
Conditions Governing Access
Open
