White Light, Black Rain

Film Screening and Discussion at the Asia Society
New York City, June 20, 2007

Special Guests:
Shigeko Sasamori, Hiroshima Survivor
Theodore "Dutch" Van Kirk, Navigator, Enola Gray
Steven Okazaki, Director, White Light, Black Rain

Moderator:
Chris Hill, Associate Professor of Japanese Literature, Yale University

Executive Summary
The film White Light, Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, directed by Steven Okazaki, is a powerful documentary that shows the devastating effect that the atomic bombs had when they were dropped in 1945, and how there are survivors of the bombs who still feel the aftermath today. The film includes interviews with survivors as well as some of the Americans involved in actually dropping the bombs. The discussion following the film included director Steven Okazaki, Shigeko Sasamori, a survivor of the attack on Hiroshima, and Dutch Van Kirk, the navigator on Enola Gay, which dropped the bomb on Hiroshima. The discussion was moderated by Christopher Hill, a professor from Yale University.

Some differences of opinion surfaced during the discussion; for example, Mr. Van Kirk held steadfastly to the claim that dropping the bomb saved many more lives by ending the war definitively. Ms. Sasamori, on the other hand, believed that Japan was rapidly running out of money and supplies and would have surrendered shortly whether or not the bombs had been dropped. When asked by an audience member if the bomb was worth it, assuming it saved more lives, Ms. Sasamori emphatically replied that it was not at all worth it and never will be. Despite these differences in opinion, all members of the panel and audience seemed to agree that this film proves the point that something like this must never happen again, and that an atomic bomb can never again be used because the effects are far too devastating.

Read the complete transcript of the White Light, Black Rain panel discussion