Jul 29 07:03 PM US/Eastern
HIROSHIMA, July 30 (AP) - (Kyodo) — Documents containing the original of the famous epitaph composed by a Hiroshima University professor for the atomic bomb monument in the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima City have been found and donated to the city's archives office.
The brush-stroke writings, both in Japanese and English, by Tadayoshi Saika (1894-1961), are contained on a sheet of "washi" Japanese paper and three "shikishi" paper boards.
Just like on the monument itself, the epitaph is written in three separate lines, with English translations given underneath. The writings are signed by Saika without a date.
The documents show two different English translations, indicating Saika rewrote and refined the expression before the finalization of the official translation, which reads, "Let all the souls here rest in peace, for we shall not repeat the evil."
In the "washi" paper document, the translation for the latter part of the epitaph is "for to repeat the fault we shall cease." This version was used in around July 1952 when the city announced the epitaph.
The translations on all three paper boards are the same as the city's official translation being currently used.
The documents were found in April when Tsuneo Sato, 76, a hospital director in Nishi Ward in the city, was sorting through the personal belongings of his late mother, who was acquainted with the professor.
The documents are believed to be from the 1950s, based on the address and other information on their back.
"I would imagine that professor Saika, who was an expert on English literature, was refining the expression so that Hiroshima's prayers would be conveyed to as many people as possible around the world," said Kazuhiko Takano, head of the Hiroshima Prefectural Archives.
The epitaph was unveiled Aug. 6, 1952. As the subject of the epitaph is not made clear, it spurred a controversy in the months after the unveiling with critics saying it failed to question who was responsible for the war.
In 1983, the city set up a board near the monument saying that the epitaph is a prayer from all the people for those who died in the bombing and that it expresses their vows not to repeat the mistake of war.
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