ERIMA

Atomic Bomb Game

The Atomic Bomb Game was a game played 4-6 August 1945 as the second game of the third title series for the Honinbo title, which was held at that time by Hashimoto Utaro. The challenger was Iwamoto Kaoru.

The venue for game 1 (23 to 25 July 1945) was the house of Fujii Junichi, Nakajima, Hiroshima City. But game 2 was moved to the home of Tsuwaki Kan’ichi, Yoshimi-en, Itsukaichi, Saeki-ku, Hiroshima City. Go had continued all through the war years in Japan, in reduced form.

The story of the game has been told often. The game recorder was Miwa Yoshiro, the official observer/referee Segoe Kensaku. The second game was played on the outskirts of the city because propaganda leaflets had been dropped, concerning a new powerful bomb (it seems the move was at police insistence). The location was 5 kilometres from the eventual centre of the explosion.

The blast from the atomic bomb “Little Boy” above Hiroshima interrupted the game in its third day. It came at 8.15 am and at a point where the players had replayed the position - but had not yet started the game again. There were injuries to some of those there caused by flying glass, and damage to the building. Segoe was blown off his feet. The game wasn’t resumed until after lunch. The game was then played to a conclusion, Hashimoto winning by five points with White (there was no komi). This tied the match 1-1.

Somerville Public Library - Why Cow Skulls? // via @SomervillePL

The cow-like skulls on the exterior frieze are called bucrania, after the Latin word for ox skulls. Sculpted bucrania were a common adornment of ancient Roman temples-a reference to the oxen sacrificed to the gods. Architects often copied elements of ancient temples when designing libraries to suggest that libraries are temples of knowledge. The skulls can also be seen as a reminder of the role of the meat-packing industry in Somerville economic history. The local growth of the industry was first made possible in 1855 when the Grand Junction Railroad provided Somerville a rail connection both to points west and to the wharves of East Boston. By 1875, the products of Somerville meat-packing plants had an annual value of $4.4 million-more than all other Somerville industries combined. By 1898, Somerville was reportedly the third largest meat-packing center in the United States and was known as “the Chicago of New England.” The last meat-packing plant in Somerville is believed to have closed in the mid-eighties.