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Syracuse University

Syracuse University

Syracuse, NY

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“That Day Now:” Syracuse Architecture welcomes Hiroshima survivor, storyteller Keiko Ogura

By ewackerow
Oct 18, '17 1:54 PM EST

On August 6, 1945, when Keiko Ogura was 8 years old, she was exposed to the atomic bomb 2.4km away from the hypocenter. Now, as the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation’s official storyteller, she shares her testimony worldwide. Keiko Ogura is one of the few remaining English speaking survivors of the Hiroshima bombing. Syracuse Architecture is honored to have her as our guest in October.

Across many Schools and Colleges at Syracuse University, and in partnership with the extended Syracuse community, Syracuse University will examine the current relevance of the 1945 atomic attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. "That Day Now," a series of public events and exhibitions will be organized around Ms. Ogura’s visit. On October 24, Ms. Ogura will give remarks at Syracuse Architecture in Slocum Auditorium, followed by a panel on the topic "Warped by Time, Shaped by History: The Art & Architecture of That Day Now." Following that event, a reception will be held in Slocum Hall marking the opening of the exhibition, "That Day Now: Shadows Cast by Hiroshima." On Monday, October 30, Ms. Ogura will sit all day in the exhibition space and meet one-on-one in conversation with individuals to share viewpoints on the past and future impact of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings.

Keiko Ogura graduated from Hiroshima Jogakuin University in 1959. In 1962, she married Mr. Kaoru Ogura, director of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and Secretary General of Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation. His work engaged in the promotion of A-bomb exhibitions outside Japan. Following her husband’s death in 1979, Ogura began working for Hiroshima herself and deepened international exchanges with writers and journalists, becoming an interpreting coordinator for peace-movement visitors from abroad. In 1984, she established Hiroshima Interpreters for Peace and published Hiroshima Handbook, Hiroshima Peace Park Guide, Hip’s Hiroshima Guide and One Day in Hiroshima. She was delegated as the official teller of Hiroshima A-bomb experience in English by Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation in 2011.