British man defends his decision to sell Hiroshima A-bomb artifact

Wednesday 08th July, 06:06 AM JST

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JeffLee at 09:36 AM JST - 8th July

Hiroshima was a pile of rubble after the war. To make all of this damaged rubble "sacred" really is going a bit far.
gogogo at 10:15 AM JST - 8th July

Give the guy a break, he can do what he wants.
Farmboy at 10:19 AM JST - 8th July

Watts said he had no idea there would be such adverse reaction in Japan to the sale, which takes place on Saturday, and is now considering donating half of the profits to an atomic-bomb survivors’ charity.

I think this is a good compromise.
fds at 11:07 AM JST - 8th July

its his, he can do what he likes with it. if these complainers are all so fired up about it being sacred and all that, they should buy it themselves instead of trying to get it for free. they are already getting free publicity. in fact isn't that a good reason to make such a big stink about it.
najack at 01:34 PM JST - 8th July

Send it back to the temple if possible or give it to a Japanese Buddhist temple in in Britain somewhere. Don't sell it.
movieguy at 03:45 PM JST - 8th July

I find it hypocritical to say that

it is wrong to profit from the bombing of the city. when Hiroshima has been profiting as a tourist destination all of these years because it was bombed. If they want to consider themselves to be so altruistic then pay for people to see the tragedy of Hiroshima.
timtak at 04:08 PM JST - 8th July

"Shortly after recovery efforts began at ground zero, the city started donating metal pieces, usually an I-beam section, to pretty much anyone who signed an affidavit agreeing not to profit from the piece of history..."
cleo at 04:44 PM JST - 8th July

the city started donating metal pieces, usually an I-beam section, to pretty much anyone who signed an affidavit agreeing not to profit from the piece of history...

Totally irrelevant. Mr Watts signed no such piece of paper, nor was he asked to.
ca1ic0cat at 09:04 PM JST - 8th July

is now considering donating half of the profits to an atomic-bomb >survivors’ charity.

I think this is a good compromise.

Yeah, especially since the government is still fighting over who deserves bomb victim status.

This "we got hit with an atom bomb so we're special" attitude is getting rather tedious. There were millions of victims in WWII. I see no reason why one group is more special than the rest.
usaexpat at 11:38 PM JST - 8th July

What's to defend? He's old and nobody in his family wants it and he probably needs the money, so what.
OssanAmerica at 02:06 AM JST - 9th July

It's his and he has a right to sell it if he so wishes. That he may contrubute part of the proceeds to a related charity speaks well of Mr Watts himself.
Youdontknow at 02:31 AM JST - 9th July

Japanese shouldn't complain about this! It is HIS to do what he likes with!! And as for 'sacred'? What a load of twaddle!! Just go to the museum in Hiroshima where they let you freely touch many pieces from the bombing!!
The_Berserker at 06:00 AM JST - 9th July

As a militria buff who collects all kinds of Japanese militaria, I'd by it! It would be a great addition to any collection.
space_monkey at 06:48 AM JST - 9th July

grab the cash
The758 at 03:01 PM JST - 9th July

Whenever "Hiroshima" comes up the Japanese get uber-sensitive. It's been over 60 years people, give it a rest.

Giving it to a reputable museum is a nice idea, I think.