Forum for Atomic Bomb Game
Why the recent removal of text? [#1421]
The latest change (by an unnamed person) was:
- The story of the game has been told often. The game recorder was Miwa Yoshiro, the official observer/referee Segoe Kensaku. The second game was played on the outskirts of the city because propaganda leaflets had been dropped, concerning a new powerful bomb (it seems the move was at police insistence). The location was 5 kilometres from the eventual centre of the explosion. + The story of the game has been told often. The game recorder was Miwa Yoshiro, the official observer/referee Segoe Kensaku. The second game was played on the outskirts of the city, 5 kilometres from the eventual centre of the explosion.
Why was the text " ... because propaganda leaflets had been dropped, concerning a new powerful bomb (it seems the move was at police insistence)" removed? Was it incorrect? Was it offensive to someone?
Harry Fearnley
I think its because they couldn't find any proof that propaganda leaflets were dropped, and also the paragraph reads much easier without that sentence in my horrible opinion.
No proof? Well, I have read an account of the game in Japanese that mentions the leaflets that were dropped beforehand, and that the participants were aware of the possibility of a new, powerful bomb being dropped. The military claimed that the leaflets were mere propoganda. A brief web search found this mention of warning leaflets (OWI notice #2106) dropped on Aug. 1 in a number of Japanese cities. ![[ext]](images/extlink.gif)
http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/ops/hiroshima4.htm
There may be some confusion with other leaflets dropped after the Hiroshima bombing with different text that mentions that bombing.
I am the one who removed the text. I did so because there is no way of knowing that the game was moved because of the leaflets - leaflets warning of mass bombings were dropped over many Japanese cities for many months and would be quite familiar to Hiroshima residents - I'm not an expert but I haven't found any source to support the idea that the US forces warned civilians or government that a new, atomic bomb was about to be dropped. The mere presence of leaflets warning of a (conventional) bombing would not be enough to cause the game to be moved obviously, since they didn't have this effect for game 1. In fact, most accounts of the Atomic Bomb Game mention that the players were disturbed by bombs during game 1 so it makes sense they'd move the next game to a less central area of the city. In any case, the issue here is: there is no evidence that the game was moved *because of leaflets*.
I am not just nitpicking. You must recognize the political dimension here - saying that the game was moved because the players were forewarned of an atomic attack by US propaganda is another way of saying that the US forces warned the Japanese before hand that an atomic bomb was about to be deployed against them. This is a highly contentious claim to say the least, with political ramifications and as such it should be left off of a Go wiki unless it can be shown beyond a reasonable doubt to be true. I felt it was simpler and more evenhanded to simply state that the game was moved and leave the reasons to reader speculation.
I won't insist on the changes I made, but I wanted to explain why I made them. I prefer to remain anonymous.
Pardon me, but screw the politics. This is a go site.
Besides, it is not like the question of warning is going to affect the relations between the U. S. and Japan.
My memory from reading an account of the game in Japanese several years ago was that the participants thought that there was the possibility of new, powerful bomb being dropped on Hiroshima. The Aug. 1 leaflets did warn of destroying cities. Whether that was a greater threat than previous ones, I do not know. Perhaps there was a rumor going around Japan about a new bomb, even if no such bomb had been mentioned in any leaflets.
As for the reason for the change of venue, aren't there accounts and memoires by the participants? Is there no historical account in the Nihon Kiin records? It is no secret, is it?
I agree it's not a political site - this is one reason I felt that a politically sensitive comment that is spuriously supported is inappropriate.
Stick to facts then. The article as it stands unequivocally claims that 1) game 2 was moved because of the warning found on leaflets, and 2) that the leaflets warned that a new, more powerful bomb was to be dropped on Hiroshima. Until those two notions are sufficiently supported, they are speculation at best (misleading at worst) and should be eliminated.
Richard Bozulich's article (Magic of Go #20, http://web.archive.org/web/20041010201235/www.yomiuri.co.jp/igo_e/020.htm), has the following to say about why the game was moved:
"A venue for the games was finally found in Hiroshima. However, the police chief of the city, who was an amateur go player, ordered the players not to play there, since it was too dangerous. However, when the police chief was called away on official business, the players, taking advantage of his absence, ignored his order and played the first game of the match July 23-25 under a rain of bullets from strafing airplanes.
When the chief returned and heard that a game had been played, he was furious and fabade players in no uncertain terms from playing any more games in Hiroshima."
That's the best source I personally know of that addresses the motivation for moving the game. No mention at all of new, atomic bombs or leaflets. It seems the city was being evacuated anyway (whether due to conventional bombing or rumours of atomic bombs is impossible to say). If you can come up with a different source, or your Japanese language account, perhaps my objections will be proven misplaced.
John F. I don't believe leaflets of 1 August had any bearing whatsoever on the venue of Game 2. Police chief Aoki had already banned Game 1 (23~25 July) from the city centre because it was too dangerous with never-ending air attacks. He was called away to Tokyo for a police chiefs' conference on a rumoured new bombing strategy by the US. In his absence Segoe insisted on defying Aoki and had the game played in the centre (under physical danger - the roof was strafed). When the poliuce chief returned he was furious and vowed to end his friendship with Segoe. He calmed down on that score but refused to let Game 2 take place in the centre, causing a major incident with the sponsor Fujii.
It is safe to conclude that Aoki knew of a super-bomb, and it is tempting to assume he might have warned the players. But none of the accounts of what happened after the explosion suggest that any of the participants had any inkling of an atom bomb. Indeed, there is a suggestion that they were simply surprised mainly that an ordnance bomb of any kind had been dropped. The city centre had been strafed by US fighters, and incendiaries were being used, but that area was still off-limits to the B29s. Even when the victims saw the horrifying injuries, no-one mentioned radiation or atom bombs, nor were they aware of any need to evacuate away from the irradiated area.
So whether leaflets were dropped or not, they had no impact on the administration or playing of the game.
I base the above on the accounts Bill refers to - autobiographies of the participants and so on. See a very extensive bibliography to my article Go in Wartime Japan (which is about much more than the atom bomb). As to the Nihon Ki-in records, Bill should know they were destroyed by fire bombing. Takagawa has described returning to the site and finding only a mangled safe left standing. Indeed there is no definitive version of the atom-bomb game - two versions co-exist.
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