Contains images some viewers may find distressing. Hello, im carmen roberts. Thank you forjoining me here injapan� s capital, tokyo, for this Special Edition of Witness History, celebrating five extraordinary moments in japanese history, as told to us by people who were there. Coming up the trees that survived the Atomic Bombing in hiroshima and stand as beacons of hope. The campaign to make the Contraceptive Pill available in japan. And an imperial wedding that broke with tradition. But first we head back to 1964, ahead of the first Olympic Games here in tokyo when the fastest train the world had ever seen was launched. The shinkansen, or Bullet Train, ran between Tokyo And Osaka and reached a top speed of 210 kilometres an hour. Witness history spoke to one of the train� s first drivers. It looks like a bullet, this Super Express that thrusts aside all existing ideas on train speed. It runs on rail links a mile long on which it has reached 150 miles an hour on a trial run. Even then it was not flat out. Translation nobody had ever gone that fast, maybe on a plane taking off but no one had ever experienced it on land. It was just incredible, i cant explain it. Well, when i got a job at japan railways, it was sort of a dream come true because before that, i did not really have a job so once i started working there, ifelt like it meant i could become part of society. After a few years, the president ofjapan railways, mr sogo, started the Bullet Train project and i asked the company to move me to Tokaido Which was the Bullet Train line so i could be a driver. Of course i remember the first time i saw it. Ijust said, wow and i got to drive it on one of the test journeys. I leaned forward towards the windscreen and i took the controls up to maximum, so 160 kilometres an hour. And on that Test Drive the Train Wasnt sealed properly so the window was making a noise. And then it was up to 200 kilometres an hour. There were five or six of us drivers in the cabin taking turns on the Test Drive and we were alljust saying to each other, this is amazing. The new Tokaido Line express has its route controlled and programmed by computer. It links the most heavily populated and industrialised areas ofjapan between Tokyo And Osaka. It cost £380 million to build, and its set a new standard in passenger comfort. Translation also as we were out driving, there were children waving | to us along the route and that really gave us an amazing feeling. You know, for regular trains, people do not come out to watch it go by or wave. So. I felt a lot of expectation from people. The arrival time is guaranteed. And ig it is late for any reason, part of the fare is refunded as a matter of course. But the £380 million spent on the route is already helping to relieve overcrowded adjoining routes where the traffic is expected to double within the next ten years. Translation yes, i do feel proud of it. And the way that everyone in society has recognised our accomplishment. Remembering the Bullet Train. Next we head back to 1999 whenjapanese women finally got the right to control the number of children they had by using the oral Contraceptive Pill. In contrast, the male impotency drug viagra was approved for Use Injapan and legalised before the pill for women. Witness history has been speaking to Yoriko Madoka who has made it her lifes work to fight for the right forjapanese women to access contraception. Translation the reason i started pushing for the Legalisation Of The Pill was because before i became an mp, i ran what i called a happy Divorce Class for women. I wasnt a professional counsellor or anything, i was a journalist but i volunteered to help people going through a divorce. Many women wanted to talk a lot about their abortions. Divorce and abortion are actually closely related. If you have good communication with your husband you can say, i dont want to have Sex Today or id like to use contraception. But many women told me they were not having any conversations like that with their husbands at all. So they ended up becoming pregnant and not wanting to be, and so then having abortions. And this wouldt be just be once but twice, even three times. It puts a lot of stress on a marriage. I thought women have got to be able to control their own reproduction, not rely on men for contraception. Women should be able to decide when they want children. But japanese women have been taught for generations that it is better to know nothing about sex or even about their own bodies. It was all considered shameful. Even now, some women dont believe contraception is a female issue. In the 80s, i became an mp and changing the law to allow the Contraceptive Pill became my big issue. I couldnt understand why it still wasnt allowed. So i wrote to the health minister. I said its time to legalise the pill. But he told me, miss madoka, the pill is allowed in western countries. Not here, because the body of a japanese woman is different to a western woman. And i wanted to say, are you crazy . then in the late 90s, viagra arrived. The bill to kill impotency in men. It was approved in Japan Withinjust six months. That made us women angry. Of course, the Japanese Parliament is dominated by men, thats why a medication for impotency was approved straightaway and why we had to fight for decades for the pill. Japans population is shrinking. The Birth Rate is among the lowest in the world. Translation the government says| we have a low Birth Rate and we need to have more babies but the japanese system still doesnt support women to have babies. It is directly related. People dont want more children because they cant afford them. Education, its so expensive. I went into politics because i wanted to change the lock because a woman can live a life she wants. And marry who she loves and raises the children she wants to have and be financially independent. There are still not enough women in politics, but better representation is the only way to make sure womens issues get addressed. Yoriko madoka highlighting the need for more women injapanese politics. Lets head to 1945 now and the second World War when an Atomic Bomb was detonated over the japanese city of hiroshima and hundreds of thousands of people were killed and injured. Despite many survivors thinking that nothing would grow in their city for decades, 170 trees survived and are still growing. Green legacy hiroshima, is a project that sends seedlings from these trees All Around The World spreading a message of hope. Tomoko watanabe is a Co Founder of this project and she spoke to us about at Witness History. Translation these | are the real witnesses. These trees have seen everything. At 8 15 in the morning on august 6th, 1945, enola gay, The American Bomber Plane dropped an Atomic Bomb on hiroshima. It exploded 600 metres above the hospital. It didnt explode on the ground but in the air. I have heard that the bomb was dropped from this height to kill as many people as possible. The radiation burned all living things in hiroshima. Particularly in the two Kilometre Radius of the epicentre. People were burnt alive. This garden is about 1. 5 kilometres from the epicentre of the bomb. I heard from many people that at the time there was no colour in hiroshima. There was only black, white or grey. Some people say that no plants would grow here for the next 75 years and everybody believed that rumour. They thought this town was dead. At the time, the trees looked like charcoal, a stick of charcoal, like this. But on some of the trees, buds emerged. When people saw that the Green Buds had come out, they thought that they could survive as well. It was comforting. I can just imagine the vividness of the tiny Green Bud in that colourless world. It must have given people some comfort and hope. My friend Nassrine Azzimi and i established the green legacy her hiroshima project as Co Founders. I am so grateful to nassrine. I was born and raised in hiroshima but i lived here without really seeing these trees because they were so normal and nothing special to me. Thanks to an outsider� s perspective i was able to see them properly for the first time. The trees taught me many things. I began to love them and wanted to tell other people and the next generation about them. Green legacy hiroshima tries to plant the seedlings of these trees in places with nuclear power. Places and other nuclear umbrella in those places that have experienced various natural disasters. We hope the trees can deliver the message that we as a people have the power to recover and survive. Trees have a magical power to tell each person what they need to hear. They speak to each Human Being as well as the whole of humankind across the world. Tomoko watanabe from the project green legacy hiroshima. Remember, you can watch Witness History every month on the Bbc News Channel or you can catch up on all our films along with over 1000 radio programmes on our online archive. Now lets Head Post Warjapan and a shocking example of the environmental damage that can be caused by Lax Regulations on big business. In the 19505, thousands of people in the town of minamata were poisoned by industrial waste. A factory was pumping heavy metals into a river that led to the sea. Witness history has been speaking to Fujie Sakamoto who lost one daughter to what has been called minamata disease, while her second daughter was born severely disabled. Translation | cant tell. You exactly how much i hate that Chemical Factory. The Chisso Corporation devastated our ocean and our people. Ijust hate it. People used to say that life in minamata was wonderful. Chisso corporation was the only company in minamata. We are still frightened by the mercury that was leaked by the factory. It poisoned the fish, then people who ate the seafood got the minimata disease. There had been no poisoning before a Chemical Factory was built in the bay. But the company, the Chisso Corporation, denied all responsibility and continued to pump its waste into the sea. Translation cats got. The disease before people. They went blind and danced Round And Round like crazy. Soon it was clear people were suffering as well. Translation mayumi first daughter, she can eat fish well because she was only three years old. But she could Eat Prawns by herself so i let her Eat Prawns. We thought that something might be wrong with mayumi. We thought she might have the strange disease. When our hands started shaking, i realised she had the disease. She became unable to walk properly, unable to speak. Doctors from the local university filmed the shaking fits. They suspected metal poisoning. Translation when | visited her| in hospital, she had lost her sight. But she could still hear. I said to her, mayumi, your mummy is here, you dont have to cry any more. She gave me a sweet smile. It was her last smile. Onjanuary the 3rd of 1958, she died. By 1958, we knew it was caused by chisso. We also knew it was caused by Waste Water pumped into the bay by the factory. They tried to hide it. My second child contracted the disease in the womb. I didnt think it was possible. But three months after she was born, i noticed that something was wrong with her. She is now 59 years old. In 1959, they Chisso Corporation us some consolation money. Human life cannot be replaced by money. Fujie sakamoto remembering the tragedy in minamata. For our final Film Today we are staying with postwarjapan and in 1959, breaking with over 2000 years of tradition, japans Crown Prince Akihito married a nonroyal bride, michiko yoshoda. The wedding was broadcast live on tv and millions watched from home while hundreds of thousands lined the streets of tokyo on the wedding day. Witness history spoke to shiego suzuki, a former director of Tokyo Broadcasting System who oversaw the live broadcast. Crown Prince Akihito has married a commoner, Michiko Shoda so breaking japanese tradition of more than 2600 years. Translation . The marriage ceremony, lasting only 15 minutes, took place in a wooden shrine within the walls of the imperial palace. There was no hint of any western influence in the wedding ritual. In sumptious robes, such as the members of the imperial family have worn for centuries, the Crown Prince and his bride were made man and wife. Burdended by no fewer than 12 kimonos, it took Princess Michiko three hours to dress. The total weight was 33le. Cheers accompanied them all the way as they began their drive through tokyo. Shiego suzuki remembering a Turning Point injapanese society. Thats it for this Specialjapan Edition of Witness History. We will be back very soon with some more first hand accounts of extraordinary stories from the past. But for now from me and the rest of the Witness History team, goodbye. Hello. Some of you will stay dry this Afternoon And Evening with sunny spells. Keep your eye on the skies for dark, looming clouds on the horizon, we could see scenes like this, flashes of Lightning And Thunder and the odd Torrential Downpour that could cause some flash flooding, too. This afternoon for southern england and southern wales, the Shower Numbers will reduce compared to this morning, so some longer and drier spells. From north wales, north midlands northwards, whilst there will be some sunny spells for most, away from a rather gloomy north east corner, showers developing and where they come, thunder, hail, and the risk of half a Months Worth of rain falling in a short space of time. Warm in the sunshine, temperature into the low 20s. This evening and overnight, some of the showers and thunderstorms will continue, longer spells of rain for northern ireland, Southern Scotland and maybe far north of england, Southern Areas will be dry compared with the start of today. Temperatures for most in double figures, if not the mid teens. Looking ahead, monday into tuesday, unseasonably deep area of low pressure to keep a close eye on, especially if youre spending any length of time outdoors across southern england and wales, where during the day on monday it will be dry and brighter day with only a few showers, the same for wales, midlands and east anglia. Norhern england, scotland and northern ireland, cloud, outbreaks of rain, the Odd Thunderstorm and some longer spells of rain into Northern Scotland through the afternoon where we need that extra bit of rain at the moment. Although not great news if you are on a holiday. Temperatures down on the weekend. Monday night, after a wet end to the day in the South West and the channel islands, that swirl of winds, low pressure pushing northwards and eastwards, throwing some torrential and persistent Rain North across england and wales, and strengthening winds into Tuesday Morning across southern counties, 40 60mph gusts could cause Damage And Travel disruption. Heavy showers to go with it, whipping across the sky through the morning. Longer spells of rain, some heavy and thundery in northern england, potentially into southern and eastern scotland. A Sunshine And Shower mix further west. With the breeze in place for Southern Areas it will be a Cooler Day but even further north temperatures down on theweekend even though winds are generally lighter. More sunshine and thundery showers for wednesday, but from then onwards things turn drier, brighter, and by the weekend its a touch warmer, too. For the first time since bolsonaro has become this is Bbc News with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. At least 29 people have died after a Military Plane crashed in the southern philippines. A brilliant night for england in rome as they thrash ukraine, and move on to the Semi Finals of the euros. Its been a long year for everybody. Im chuffed the two performances weve put on have brought so much Enjoyment And Happiness to people. Cheering it was a Saturday Night to celebrate for Fans Football now is Coming Home when England Face denmark at wembley on wednesday. I cant believe it. Were over the moon. Absolutely brilliant. Theyve played amazing. Great goals, Harry Kane is back