A SENSE OF ONOMICHI

2007, 20 minutes, Produced by NPO Platform Onomichi,

Writer/director/narrator Linda Ohama

Camera Mitsunori Nagao, Masami Sano, Fumio Horikawa

Onomichi is a small traditional town located on the Inland Sea in the province of Hiroshima.

A temple bell rings at 6:00 in Onomichi every evening. It’s deep sound has resonated over the town for the over 12 centuries, even on the day of the Hiroshima bomb that mushroomed not far from here.

My maternal grandmother, obaachan, was born in Onomichi in 1898 and heard this same sound every day until she left for Canada in 1924.

Making this film about ‘a day in the life of Onomichi’, I too listen to the same sound from the bell two generations later.

A temple bell.  A full moon. Years pass.