BAG & MAKI

Three planes flew across the expanse of blue. A cluster of small clouds sprung from the clear sky and grew like ink in water. The bomb hit Hiroshima less than a minute later. The bomb’s mid-air detonation dispersed the explosion maximising destruction to the city below. The Japanese army assumed that the planes picked up by the radar were on a reconnaissance trip to assess the weather. But the Americans already knew that the conditions were right. They had a clear view, not only of the target, but also of the impact of the atomic bomb, the first ever dropped in warfare. On 5th August 1945 Chieko and Saburo boarded a cramped train with their young son Takeshi. They were increasingly uneasy living in Hiroshima with its large military base so they moved 200 miles to the west, to Fukuoka. Had they decided to leave just one day later they would never have had their daughter Akiko and Akiko would never have had Maki. Chieko, Maki’s grandmother, made kimonos throughout her life, she made this bag from an old one she’d worn until it was threadbare. She gave it to Maki, urging her to have a daughter so she could make her a kimono. Chieko died at 88, just two years before Maki was married.

10 Nov 2013