Journal 7- Julianne P.

          The character that I thought was the most interesting so far was Reverend Tantimoto. I like this guy a lot because he seems to be the most “emotional” person in this book. I mean, the others obviously care about the people who are injured, I’m not saying they aren’t, but he struck me as the most interesting because he doesn’t display the feeling you would think when you think he should perform it. For example, on page 30, when he finally finds his wife, who managed to survive the bomb, instead of hugging her and being obviously relieved, we read, "He did not embrace his wife; he simply said, "Oh, you are safe,"" He obviously still cares about her; he's not heartless. But I was expecting him to have a completely different reaction than that so I was slightly surprised. I also like how he puts the needs of others above his own even if he's deathly ill or too tired from rowing up and down the creek constantly. 
          One of the things that was interesting to me was why Asano Park was so important to the people then. One of the reasons why the park was considered a good place of refuge was because it was an actual park. Following the bomb, rumors started to fly around about what exactly the Americans had dropped on the city, and many of the people believed that they had dropped a special metal that only ignited in the city, meaning that the park was the safest place for them to go. On top of that, the park was in a secluded area yards away from the bomb's center and away from the fires that blocked any other way out of the cities. It was pretty much the only area that wasn't completely devastated by the bomb and it could keep people relatively safe until help arrived. (Not like it did). Another thing is  that the park is really old. (Apparently its been around since 1610), so it's also probably considered one of their sacred parks, so it could also be easily seen as refuge in that sense. The park is now called Shukkeien Garden, located near one of the Hiroshima rivers.