Journal VII by Deshawn

              The character I choose to talk about was Reverend Kiyoshi Tanimoto. He was the pastor of the Hiroshima Methodist church and in my opinion one of the luckiest guys in Hiroshima or as lucky as one can get during a city bombing. Sure his house was destroyed but after the bomb dropped he was left uninjured and even found his wife and daughter in the chaos by just wondering around trying to escape. When he saw them this is what happened. "Mr. Tanimoto was now so emotionally worn out that nothing could surprise him. He did not embrace his wife; he simply said, "Oh, you are safe."(Page 30). I thought that was funny but I'll ament that his statement could be viewed in many different ways. During the chaos of the bomb Mr. Tanimoto was one of the few who stepped up and became a leader. For hours on end he ferried people who were at Asano Park, fetched water for many people, and didn't let grieve stop him.
           
             
Asano Park is the place I decided to research from the book. During the chaos from the bomb attack many people flocked to Asano for safety. Asano Park was also heavily mentioned in the early chapters of the book. When the book first described Asano Park it seemed like the prefect place to escape to. ( Far away from the explosion so that bamboos, pine, laurels, and maples were still alive. and the the refugees believed that if the Americans came back would only bomb building and spare the garden (page 35). Asano Park/ Shukkeien Garden as it is also known as was designated as a evacation center in case of attack. Many didn't realize that when the fires from the bomb would reach the park and it's giant trees would  channel the chaos of the bomb to the people. The inferno that occurred in the park took many lives and if it weren't for people like Mr. Tanimoto many more lives would have been lost Source (http://www.lang-arts.com/survivors/shukkeien.html)