Current location:style >>
VOX POPULI: Radiation lingers even 70 years after H
style4People have gathered around
IntroductionHow did the word “bikini” come to denote a two-piece swimsuit?On July 1, 1946, almost one year after ...
How did the word “bikini” come to denote a two-piece swimsuit?
On July 1, 1946, almost one year after Japan’s defeat in World War II, the United States started conducting nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
Four days later, a swimsuit contest was held in Paris, introducing the latest designs that couldn’t get any skimpier.
A French fashion designer, whose attention at the time was focused on the news from the Pacific, decided to call his new creation the bikini because he keenly sensed “how fascinated people around the world were (by the U.S. nuclear testing),” according to “The Untold History of the United States,” co-authored by film director Oliver Stone and historian Peter Kuznick.
The designer’s lack of sensitivity appalls me.
Back then, however, Europeans and Americans held positive images of nuclear bombs, such as about their novelty and strength.
A U.S. newspaper ran a photo of a cake shaped like a mushroom cloud. And there were snacks and sweets that bore nuclear-related names.
Nuclear tests continued in the Marshall Islands.
On March 1, 1954--exactly 70 years ago--the Castle Bravo hydrogen bomb was detonated.
The flippancy of the bomb’s name greatly offends me.
Many islanders suffered from the nuclear fallout. In fact, radiation damage has lingered to this day.
This reminds me anew that Japan is not the only country that has experienced nuclear damage.
How horrific nuclear bombs are. To also share our thoughts toward abolition of nuclear weapons widely throughout the world, we must not forget the tragic history that occurred on the distant Pacific islands.
The Daigo Fukuryu Maru (Lucky Dragon No. 5), the Japanese tuna boat that was exposed to nuclear fallout from the Castle Bravo test, is still on display on Yumenoshima (literally, dream island), an artificial island built in Tokyo Bay.
And posted around the vessel’s white hull are 12 photographs of stern-eyed “global hibakusha.”
--The Asahi Shimbun, March 1
* *
*Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.
Tags:
Reprint:Friends are welcome to share on the Internet, but please indicate the source of the article when reprinting it.“International Iterations news portal”。http://www.videocameralive.com/content-33f399965.html
Related articles
Revealed: The top ten most popular dog names in 2024
styleFor pet parents across the nation, selecting the ideal name for our dogs can be a tough decision.Ref ...
【style】
Read moreChina's gigantic telescope embraces int'l exchanges, innovative development
style* China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), the world's largest single-d ...
【style】
Read moreDays Of Our Lives sees THREE old faces from the 1980s RETURN
styleDays Of Our Lives will see three old faces from the 1980s return to the show, amid a series of drama ...
【style】
Read more
Popular articles
- Samsung reports 10
- Sydney shopping mall reopens after stabbings. Police make first arrest in riot after church attack
- Kim Kardashian credits North West, 10, for taking her sultry vacation pictures in Turks and Caicos
- Jennifer Lopez, 54, shares side
- A third of foreign students seeking to stay in the UK are at just SIX institutions, figures show
- Zion Williamson is ruled OUT of the Pelicans' NBA play
Latest articles
Faye Dunaway orders crew member off set for being in her eye line in newly
Hong Kong arrests 291 for endangering national security in past 4 years — Radio Free Asia
Hoda Kotb, 59, reveals she is STILL single and 'looking for the one'
Kim Kardashian credits North West, 10, for taking her sultry vacation pictures in Turks and Caicos
Nuggets point guard Jamal Murray starts Game 5 against Lakers despite strained left calf
Zelensky, European Council president hold phone talks over Ukraine's accession to EU
LINKS
- Chinese VP meets Royal Philips CEO
- Chinese Publishers Examine AI Potential at London Book Fair
- CCTF Launches Panda Protection Charitable Project in Dujiangyan
- China calls for intensified diplomatic efforts to end Ukraine crisis
- China's 14th National Winter Games heat up tourism in N China
- Russian FM to visit China
- China's Maternal, Infant Mortality Rates Continue to Drop
- World Autism Awareness Day Marked at a Kindergarten in Beijing
- China's Dunhuang, French Museum to Co
- Israel withdraws all ground troops except for one brigade from southern Gaza: media reports