A-Bombed Piano That Remembers THE DAY of Hiroshima

A Piano tuner in Hiroshima Mitsunori Yagawa, 63, had an aged piano donated to him by a local musician. It was a 1920-made upright piano, out of tune, with dents and scratches - and pieces of broken grass and a bamboo ruler buried inside.

It was one of the pianos that happened to be sitting closest to the ground zero on August 6 when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. That explains the grass pieces and all.

Mr. Yagawa disassembled the instrument, repaired, changed parts and did all he could to revive the entire mechanism.

On September 6, a concert was held at the auditorium of Yamaguchi University under the auspices of the Atomic Bomb Victims Support Center "Yuda En", featuring the A-bombed piano just brought to life.

Yuda En remembers September 6, 1973  as "Hiroshima Day in Yamaguchi" when collection of the cremains of those who died at the Army Hospital in the city of Yamaguchi started. Yuda En annually holds memorial services on this day.

The concert was planned in commemoration of 70th year of THE DAY and attended by an audience of a hundred or so. Miss Risami Mukai was at the piano to accompany the soprano singer Miss Miho Enishi. An impressive poem was recited on the theme of the A-bombed piano and the entire auditorium resonated with a grand tutti of the audience singing "Opposition to the Atomic Bomb".

An aged woman, 88, from Ube, was amazed how the piano survived the blast and said the performance was "so impressive and brought tears to my eyes".

Yuda En was founded in 1968 and has since initiated a number of peace-seeking events e.g. Peace Forum, Peace Walk and various exhibitions. Yuda En also offers health check programs whereby A-bomb victims and their children are given periodical checkup.

News Source: Yomiuri Shinbum