MAJURO, 01 APRIL 2024 (ASHASHI SIMBUN)—A miniature replica of a Japanese tuna fishing boat whose crew encountered fallout from a U.S thermonuclear test at Bikini Atoll in 1954 now takes pride of place in the Marshall Islands.
The delicate hand-crafted model of Daigo Fukuryu Maru (Lucky Dragon No. 5) was gifted in 2002 by a former crew member.
It was recently repaired by Alson Kelen, who once served as mayor of Bikini Atoll.
Kelen, 55, said he feels a special bond with the replica as working on it reminded him of the plight that he, his family and islanders faced as a result of the nuclear tests.
The United States detonated 67 nuclear explosions in the Marshall Islands in the northwest Pacific between 1946 and 1958.
The Castle Bravo hydrogen device tested on March 1, 1954, was 1,000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb used against Hiroshima in August 1945.
To mark the 70th anniversary of the Bikini test and its legacy, an art exhibition opened March 1 in Majuro, the capital of the Marshall Islands.
Over the years, islanders suffered from nuclear fallout, and radiation damage lingers to this day.
The 1/30 scale wooden model of Daigo Fukuryu Maru crafted by Matashichi Oishi is on display in a corner of the exhibit venue.
Oishi, one of the 23 crew members of the Lucky Dragon, died in 2021. He ran a dry cleaning business and worked on the boat in his spare time.
Oishi presented the model to representatives of the Marshall Islands during a visit in 2002.
In the 20 or so years since then, the replica’s outer panel deteriorated because of humidity and salty air from sea breezes. A wire to support the mast and the propeller in the rear section got rusty and snapped.
After retiring as Bikini mayor, Kelen, who lives on an islet close to Majuro, began removing stains on the boat and replacing parts by procuring new ones from outside the Marshall Islands.
“The boat can tell the stories even without the people,” Kelen explained. “So we can understand more about the feelings of the people, (in a) deeper and more detailed way.”
Kelen was born on Kwajalein Atoll, 400 kilometers southeast of Bikini, in 1968. His family had arrived there after relocating repeatedly as a result of the impact of the nuclear test. Their hometown was on Bikini Atoll.
That same year, Washington declared Bikini Atoll safe for people to live, so Kelen’s family returned in 1974. But the declaration was lifted four years later.
“Bikini was very beautiful,” Kelen said. “Of course, radiation is invisible. Everything looks nice, but underneath that is what was really dangerous.”
Kelen’s parents then moved the family to Kili island, 780 km to the southeast. But the land was unfertile, and the family faced starvation.
Transferring to Ejit island, Kelen was bullied by those who described him as “a boy of poison.” He saw his relatives come down with cancer one after another. He is unable to dispel the fear that the same will happen to him someday.
Kelen found a job at the museum, the only facility in the Marshall Islands dedicated to preserving traditional craftsmanship linked to canoes from Bikini.
Having relocated so many times, former residents of Bikini Atoll lost their skills in traditional canoe-making techniques.
Kelen recalled waking up every morning to find his artisan grandfather hard at work on a canoe during the four years the family lived on Bikini Atoll. Kelen heard stories from his father about the canoe history of Bikini Atoll that had been passed down over generations.
“(The) canoe is the only thing that makes me a real Bikinian,” he said.
Kelen went into politics and served as mayor of Bikini Atoll from 2009 through 2011. Every time his mother asked him when they would be able to return to Bikini, Kelen always replied he did not know yet.
In fact he knew all too well that they would never be able to go back, but he did not want to hurt his mother’s feelings.
His mother died four years ago at age 95. Kelen still feels guilty, wondering whether he should have told her the truth.
Mending the model boat painstakingly put together by Oishi, Kelen felt that he was handling a special boat.
“Nobody understands it better than us,” he said. “We need to keep telling the story and find ways to come to bring a positive out of the negative. We live it.”
Kelen dreams of putting the replica on display at a peace memorial museum that may be built in Majuro at some point….PACNEWS