Revived Hiroshima November 13th, 15:44

A little brother and sister who sleep tired of playing.

The same is my favorite teddy bear.

"What should I do tomorrow?" The

happy days as usual were suddenly cut off.

By a single atomic bomb.

Before the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which bans the development, possession, and use of nuclear weapons, came into effect in January next year, a project by young people in Hiroshima to revive the appearance and townscape of the Japanese family has begun.

(Hiroshima Broadcasting Station Reporter Yasue Hata Kentaro Ishikawa)

The disappeared family of 6

The one in the photo is the Suzuki Rokuro family.

I ran a barber shop 500 meters from the hypocenter.

There are six family members: Rokuro, his father, Fujie, his mother, Hideaki, his eldest son, Kimiko, his eldest daughter, Mamoru, his second son, and Akiko, his second daughter.

The atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima killed all six family members.

Photo taken before the war.

Originally it was black and white.

By coloring, the family certainly lived there.

You can hear the breath.

Make black-and-white photos familiar with colorization

The black-and-white photograph was colorized by Anju Niwata, a university student from Hiroshima City.

In collaboration with a university professor, we are working on a project to "revive" the situation at that time by colorizing black-and-white photographs.

The opportunity was in high school.

Through the activity of recording the testimony of the A-bomb survivors, Mr. Niwata learned the technique of coloring black-and-white photographs before the war.

Since then, he has continued his activities, such as holding photo exhibitions by colorizing photographs of memories of people who lost their families due to the atomic bomb.

Mr. Niwata

"When I saw black-and-white photographs in color, I felt from old historical photographs and photographs from long ago to modern photographs that are familiar to us. I feel that colorization has the meaning of being able to think about life before the war and imagine that it is no longer an atomic bomb. "

Colorization utilizes AI technology

AI technology is used to add color to black-and-white photographs.

It is said that the software that learned color photography automatically distinguishes colors and combines them to bring them closer to the actual colors.

There are many colors that cannot be identified by AI, so we will manually add colors by referring to the shoes and kimono of that time.

But that's not the end.

AI is just undercoloring.

Reproduce "memorable colors"

There is something that Mr. Niwata cherishes when coloring photos.

It's about listening to someone who knows the person in the picture.

Mr. Niwata repeatedly visits Mr. Tsuneaki Suzuki (89), who has kept photographs for many years, with Mr. Rokuro Suzuki, trying to reproduce "memorable colors".

Tsuneaki Suzuki frequently visited Rokuro's barber shop and played with his cousins ​​Hideaki and Kimiko.

Although it was during the war, I went on a picnic and swimming with my whole family.

In particular, I was on good terms with Hideaki, who was two years younger, and was playing in the river the day before the atomic bomb was dropped.

Mr. Niwata will hear from Mr. Suzuki about the family and his own experience of being bombed.

While showing the pictures colored with AI, ask the color of the barber shop building and the color of the kimono and clothes that everyone is wearing to bring out the "memorable color".

Mr. Niwata "Do you remember what color it was? The barber shop"

Mr. Suzuki "The outside is white"

Mr. Niwata "Is this the color?"

Mr. Suzuki "Yes."

Mr. Suzuki

"When it gets colored, it feels like it's alive and life is really revived. How happy my aunt Fujie would be if she showed me a color photo. It's beautiful."

Knowing the cut-off daily life

Mr. Niwata wants you to know the actual situation of the atomic bomb damage, which suddenly cuts off the same daily life as it is now by coloring family photos.

Mr. Niwata:

"I think you can see and feel the size of what nuclear weapons and war take away in color photographs. I think it will be an opportunity for people who are not interested in war, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, or peace. I'm

Reproduce the lost town

A project is also underway to make people feel closer to the size of what was lost by recreating the townscape where each person lived, and to pass on the memories of the atomic bomb to the next generation.

A shopping street with a lot of shops.

It is a town near the hypocenter just before the atomic bomb was dropped 75 years ago.

This is the Atomic Bomb Dome.

Immediately after the atomic bomb was dropped, the area became pitch black and was instantly wrapped in flames, which is reproduced in CG.

The CG was produced by the students of Hiroshima Prefectural Fukuyama Technical High School.

The project, which started at this high school 11 years ago, also introduced VR = virtual reality technology.

Today, you can take a walk through the townscape of Hiroshima before and after the bombing, which was reproduced within a range of about 1.5 kilometers from the hypocenter.

There is a landscape that is different from the familiar black and white burnt field photographs.

Professor Katsushi Hasegawa, who teaches, wants students to feel the importance of peace by understanding the reality that the daily lives of those who lived there suddenly disappeared.

Professor Hasegawa

"I want each process that many people have died, the lives of the people who lived there, and the students to feel that kind of thing before making the work."

What we value is the voice of the A-bomb survivors

Every student who participates in the project has something to do.

It is to read the testimony of about 400 A-bomb survivors who told the true disaster.

We value the voices of the parties concerned in order to know and understand the situation of the town before and after the bombing.

We may also hear from the A-bomb survivors themselves.

This is Mr. Satoshi Kakihara, a third-year student who is a core member of the project.

Through the production of VR, which he was originally interested in, he began to think seriously about the damage caused by the atomic bomb, which he had never felt close to.

Mr. Satoshi Kakihara

"Most of the images of the atomic bomb are from the US military side, but what we value is the perspective of the citizens who lived there. This happened, such a terrifying place. If we don't fully understand that it was, what we make will be empty. It is not possible to hear from the A-bomb survivors in the sense that they have their own ideas about the atomic bomb. It is important"

To faithfully reproduce

Based on the testimonies of the A-bomb survivors, the students seek out materials related to buildings and landscapes to be reproduced with CG.

We will create a space by determining the shape and size of the building from multiple materials such as aerial photographs and blueprints.

In order to reproduce as accurately as possible, we will ask the A-bomb survivors to experience VR.

Mr. Shigeo Moritomi (91) is wearing VR goggles.

Mr. Moritomi, who lived about 250 meters from the Atomic Bomb Dome, drew a landscape painting of the town that the students referred to.

Students will ask Mr. Moritomi to check the reproduced townscape in detail.

Mr. Moritomi "I think it was on this side at the red post"

Teacher "Ah, is it the opposite?"

Mr. Moritomi "The color (of the building) is a little more. It was not such a bright enji, it was a dull enji. "

Mr. Moritomi pointed out that the position of the mailbox installed at the post office and the color of the wall have been corrected.

From young people to the next generation

The townscape at the time when it was completed in this way.

The view from Motoyasu Bridge, which connects to the Atomic Bomb Dome, is the same as the width of the river and the height of the seawall.

The characters and typefaces on the signboards of the stores have been reproduced as faithfully as possible.

The VR incorporates photographs of the current town and is devised so that it can be compared with those at that time.

As the A-bomb survivors have less chance to actually talk, Mr. Kakihara believes that the memories inherited by the younger generation must be passed on to the next generation.

Mr. Kakihara

"We were able to know the horror of the atomic bomb and the situation at that time from the A-bomb survivors. This time, we used VR to convey the thoughts we received from the A-bomb survivors. By looking at Hiroshima in the old days, I want you to know that there was a town where many people lived in the place where the atomic bomb exploded. "

Use AI to colorize black-and-white photos.

Reproduce the townscape with VR technology.

By using new technology to "revive" Hiroshima, young people are now more familiar with the damage caused by the atomic bomb, which suddenly cut off their normal lives.

The desire of the A-bomb survivors to abolish nuclear weapons is surely being passed on to the younger generation and to the next generation.

Hiroshima Broadcasting Station reporter

Yasue Hata

Joined in 1999.

Responsible for A-bomb survivors and educational interviews.

Hiroshima Broadcasting Station Reporter

Kentaro Ishikawa Joined in 2018

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Covered local issues at the Fukuyama branch office

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