Inside The Lucky Dragon No. 5

Above, the bow of the Lucky Dragon No. 5. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Many of us, particularly Godzilla fans, are familiar with the story of the ill-fated crew of the Lucky Dragon No. 5 (Daigo Fukuryu Maru No. 5) tuna fishing boat. 

Articles have appeared over the years in print (including G-FAN) and online describing how the boat got caught in a rain of nuclear fallout from a H-bomb test in 1954. Many of these articles included photos of the boat.

Above, the forward deck. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

I visited the Lucky Dragon at the Dream Island Park exhibition hall in Tokyo in 2007. The photographs that accompany this blog post are from that visit.

What people have rarely seen are photos of the interior of the Lucky Dragon.

Thanks to Kyodo News, we now have a chance to see what the interior of the boat now looks like.

Above, the port side of the Lucky Dragon No. 5. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The article that accompanies the photos begins with:

A tuna fishing boat hit by the fallout from a U.S. hydrogen bomb test in 1954, and preserved since the 1970s, was recently opened to Kyodo News reporters for a rare view inside the vessel that is otherwise off limits at an exhibition hall in Tokyo. 

The Fukuryu Maru No. 5, with 23 fishermen onboard, was exposed to the radioactive fallout of the test conducted at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands on March 1, 1954.  

The wooden vessel was decommissioned in 1967 and abandoned until the Daigo Fukuryu Maru Exhibition Hall was set up in Tokyo to put it on public display in 1976. 

The bow of the wooden vessel has been refurbished but the original hull remains intact. Kazuya Yasuda, chief curator at the exhibition hall, says the boat is an unusual example of a well-preserved vessel.

Above, the stern section. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

To read more and to see the photos of the interior, go here. 

The Lucky Dragon No. 5 Exhibit's 40th Anniversary

Above, the bow of the Lucky Dragon No. 5. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The Lucky Dragon No. 5 exhibit is "celebrating" its 40th anniversary this year. But there are those who are concerned that the famed boat may not last another 40 years unless action is taken now.

According to an article in the Asahi Shimbun:

However, there are many nowadays who are not familiar with the Bikini Atoll incident, which became a watershed rallying point for the anti-nuclear weapons movement around the world. 

This year, the hall printed 1,000 copies of a memorial book on the 40-year history of the exhibition hall, and some information panels were renewed in hopes of attracting more visitors. 

Preservation of the ever-deteriorating Daigo Fukuryu Maru is an urgent issue needed to be addressed. Thirty years have passed since its last major restoration, which took 15 months to complete. 

It has become a daily chore for the gallery staff to sweep up paint chips that are peeling off the hull and are falling to the floor. 

The public interest incorporated foundation that operates the facility has invited several experts in cultural asset conservation to look at the tuna fishing boat. An assessment is expected to take several years, after which a conservation action plan will be written up.

Above, the port side of the Lucky Dragon No. 5. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

I visited the Lucky Dragon back in 2007 and again in 2014. The incident involving the boat was one of the inspirations for the creation of the Godzilla character. It is spotlighted on page 25 in The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan.

To read more, go here.

Japan Times: "What's in a Japanese name? More then you might expect"

Above, the stern of the Lucky Dragon No. 5.  "Maru" is clearly shown. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The Japan Times has an interesting article on the hows and whys boats are named the way they are.

They begin with:

Last year I went to Yumenoshima Park in Tokyo’s Koto Ward to see a museum housing the 第五福竜丸 (Dai-go Fukuryu Maru, aka No. 5 Lucky Dragon), the ill-fated fishing boat that inadvertently sailed too close to a 水爆実験 (suibaku jikken, thermonuclear test) at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands in March 1954. 

This led me to wonder why many Japanese ships were named 丸 (maru); but nobody I asked seemed to have a satisfactory explanation. It eventually dawned on me that the authoritative “広辞苑 (Kojien)” dictionary ought to know, and in it I found an amazingly straight forward explanation: Maru was simply a variation on the male suffix “maro,” which is applied to personal names, as well as to swords and ships.

If you've ever wondered about Japanese boat/ship names and other things, then check out the article here.