Hiroshima - A Survivor's Story

On the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the city of Hiroshima, on the 6th August in 1945.

What happened in Hiroshima?

On 6 August 1945, at 8.15am Japanese time, an American B-29 bomber plane, called 'Enola Gay', dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.

The devastation was beyond anything seen before. The city was immediately flattened.

80,000 people were killed as a direct result of the blast, and another 35,000 were injured.

A huge mushroom cloud of smoke fills the sky over Hiroshima, Japan, one hour after it was bombed in August 1945

Even then, Japan didn't surrender.

Three days later, another nuclear bomb was dropped by the Americans on the Japanese city of Nagasaki.

Shortly afterwards, on 15 August 1945, Japan finally admitted defeat.

World War Two was over.

There were celebrations in Europe after Germany surrendered.

But on the other side of the world in the Pacific Ocean, Japan was still fighting against America, Britain and their allies.

The Americans, however, had a secret plan to end the war - by using the most powerful weapon ever created

What damage did the bombs cause?

This building, now called the A Bomb Dome, survived the atomic blast and today it's a memorial in Hiroshima, Japan

When the bomb exploded in Hiroshima, the city has struck by a flash of blinding light then a giant cloud shaped like a mushroom.

The blast flattened buildings within a 2.5 km radius of the bomb.

There were 90,000 buildings in Hiroshima before the bomb was dropped but only 28,000 remained after the explosion.

Thousands and thousands of people were killed. Many were badly injured.

But the suffering didn't end there because it wasn't just a normal bomb.

The nuclear radiation released when it exploded caused people to suffer horrible illnesses.

Thousands more people died from their injuries and radiation sickness in the weeks, months and years that followed.

Why did the US drop the bomb?

The Hiroshima bomb was nicknamed 'Little Boy'. Here it is before being loaded into the Enola Gay's bomb bay

Japan had been at war for many years.

It had invaded the countries near to it such as China and the Japanese had attacked America.

Everywhere the Japanese soldiers went, they were known for their cruelty.

They treated prisoners of war very badly, including American and British soldiers who had surrendered. (CBBC Newsround)

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Robot receptionist starts work in Tokyo department store

A super-life-like robot has started work at a department store in Tokyo, Japan.

The robot will help to welcome customers who visit the shop, and offer directions.

Mio Sakai has been working as the store's human receptionist for two years now, and says she feels honoured to work alongside the robot-lady.

The new robo-receptionist will be welcoming visitors to the store for the next few days, before working elsewhere in the store as a guide.

From BBC Newsround

Dressed in a kimono and smiling, Aiko Chihira greets shoppers at the entrance of Tokyo's Mitsukoshi department store. But Chihira is no regular employee — she is a humanoid robot.

Developed by Toshiba last year, the robot made its debut at the store on Monday in a new role interacting with customers.

Speaking Japanese, Chihira, which has human-like features and blinks, can also be programmed to speak in other languages such as Chinese.

"It would be good if we can have her provide guidance, or recommend various things in Chinese," said Hitoshi Tokuda, Toshiba's new business development division group manager.

"... People can be looking around and think, 'Oh if Aiko is around, she can speak Chinese'. That's what I hope will happen."

Sign language

Toshiba has said Chihira has 43 motors which allow it to move. The robot is also programmed to do Japanese sign language.

At Monday's unveiling, Chihira accompanied Japanese opera singer Shoko Iwashita in a performance.

"I would like you to listen to the song that I've put a lot of effort into," the robot said.

After the performance, in which it appeared as if Chihira had lip-synched, the robot asked for applause for Iwashita.

Chihira, currently not programmed to respond to customer complaints or questions, is not the only robot to work in retail. Last year, Nestle said it would enlist SoftBank Corp's humanoid robots, Pepper, to help sell its coffee makers at home appliances stores across Japan.

From CBCNews

100 Robi robots perform spectacular dance in Tokyo

These dancing robots performed a synchronised dance routine Tokyo, Japan, on Monday 20th January.

Each Robi is just over 35 centimetres tall and costs almost £1,000.

Their creator Tomotaka Takahashi wanted to make a robot that could be mass produced, for a low cost. (From CBBC newsround)

A hundred humanoid communication robots called Robi perform a synchronized dance during a promotional event called 100 Robi, for the Weekly Robi Magazine, in Tokyo January 20, 2015. The 34cm-tall (13.4-inch) robot, designed by Tomotaka Takahashi, chief executive officer of Robo Garage Co and project associate professor of Research Centre for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Tokyo, is able to speak, walk and dance. The weekly magazine comes with parts of the robot, which allows buyers to have a fully assembled Robi after 70 issues. REUTERS/Yuya Shino (JAPAN - Tags: SOCIETY BUSINESS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

From https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/photos/top-news-photos-1370239005-slideshow/humanoid-communication-robots-called-robi-perform-synchronized-dance-photo-053532485.html