Daigo Fukuryu Maru Exhibit Hall
This exhibit hall displays the Daigo Fukurya Maru or the”Lucky Dragon No. 5″ . This boat was fishing near the Marshall Islands on March 1, 1954 when the crew was awakened by a bright light and sunset like colors in the western sky. The US had detonated a hydrogen bomb 1000 times more powerful than the one at Hiroshima. Seven minutes after the western sunrise, the sound of the explosion reached the boat and within 2 hours radioactive fallout began raining down on the boat, which continued for three hours. The 23 man crew soon became ill from acute radioactive syndrome.
The boat and crew upon returning to port, had to be quarantined. The tuna catch already had made its way into the fish markets and had to be rounded up with the use of geiger counters. It is unlikely that all the fish were found and some most likely eaten. Some 75 tons of tuna caught between March through December 1954 had high levels of radioactivity and were unfit for consumption and had to be destroyed.
At the time of the explosion, the ship was outside the danger limits set by the US government. The US later expanded their danger zones. It was written that the blast was 2.5 times greater than the scientist anticipated due to an error in their calculations.
The boat retired from fishing and spent 20 years practice vessel for the Tokyo University of Fisheries.
To take photos of the entire ship was impractical and I got lost in it’s weathered sides.
Daigo Fukuryu Maru Exhibit Hall
Japan has some of the most interesting stores. The level of specialization in any item, I have not encountered elsewhere. A store devoted to pigment… and who thought this was would be interesting… well, Tim. And he was right. We wandered around the store reading the way the natural pigments were made, looking at their class offerings…well drooling over their course listings, and looking at numerous types of paper, and of course, paint brushes. And who could walk out without a shopping bag of stuff you didn’t know existed and didn’t know you couldn’t live without. Eye opening..
RIGHT: orderly store
LEFT: a wall of paint colors too large to capture in one photo</p>
LEFT: a wall of paint colors too large to capture in one photo
Digital Art Museum
Easily the my least favorite thing on the trip…. the first five minutes were good and then all I could think about was “how do I get out of here”, there were no clear exits. And, that thought was followed by “if there is a fire, I’m not getting out”. Won’t EVER go there again. And the staff was young and rude. I image Tim and Hugh would write different reviews. I actual thought I was going to the Mori Museum of Contemporary Art, which I love…so that added to the pain.
We had to go pick up Tim’s ticket for the Ghibli Museum which he would visit on his last morning in Tokyo. The view was wonderful we could even see Fuji.
