HIROSHIMA TSUTAYA BOOKS Selection VOL.28
To be honest, I had the impression that there were already a whole host of previous works about "Hiroshima" and "the atomic bomb," and that pretty much everything had been written about them.
However, when I finished reading this book with surprise and excitement, all those doubts were blown away. I felt the meaning behind writing this book and its significance, and was also shown Kota Ishii's determination and passion as a non-fiction writer. I was overcome with a sense of mission to get this book out to as many people as possible.
Having finished reading it, the simplest way I can recommend this book to you is to say, "This book is simply incredibly interesting."
I was born and raised in Hiroshima, and have heard stories about the atomic bomb since I was a child, and on August 6th I would go to school and take part in peace studies, and even now as an adult I am a true Hiroshima resident who offers a moment of silence at 8:15 a.m. on August 6th. The tragedy and cruelty of the atomic bomb are engraved in my heart, and I feel strongly that it must never be repeated.
That's why I really want everyone to read this book. One of the reasons is that you are drawn into the drama of the four main characters. It's extremely interesting. The excitement of learning things you didn't know. The high level of non-fiction. To put it simply, "it's just so incredibly interesting."
Let me introduce the four main characters.
Hamai Shinzo, known as the Atomic Bomb Mayor, dedicated his life to the reconstruction of Hiroshima.
Shogo Nagaoka, the first director of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, continued to collect rubble as material in the aftermath of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
Kenzo Tange is a young architect working hard to build a base for peace in Hiroshima.
Takahashi Akihiro was a city employee who contributed to the preservation of the Atomic Bomb Dome, which was so badly damaged that many called for it to be demolished.
The dramas of these four characters run simultaneously, depicting Hiroshima immediately after the atomic bombing.
How did Hiroshima recover from the disaster when it was said that no grass would grow there for 75 years? This is the story of the people who literally risked their lives to rebuild the city.
There are many interesting points throughout the book, but the section about Shogo Nagaoka, the first director of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, is particularly interesting.
There are gaps in his career, and it's not just that they have not been made public, but that they have been deliberately hidden due to certain circumstances that cannot be made public.
There are other books and documentaries about him, but this is the only one that goes into detail about him. This is because most of the book is made up of new facts that Kota Ishii discovered for the first time as a result of his research.
Some of these facts would be quite shocking and sensational if taken in isolation, but Ishii Kota writes about the person of Nagaoka Shogo sincerely and carefully, and does not overly emphasize or exaggerate these new facts, but rather writes about the character properly.
I was also deeply moved by Ishii Kota's attitude as a writer.
The most interesting part of the story is the part about Tange Kenzo in his younger days.
Kenzo Tange is now a world-famous architect, and is also famous for designing the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, but architecture lovers may know that he also designed the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. I knew that, but I didn't know why Kenzo Tange chose Hiroshima.
In this book, I learned that Tange Kenzo spent his youth in Hiroshima, and that he was one of the architects who was commissioned by the War Damage Reconstruction Agency to go to Hiroshima to help rebuild the city, which had been reduced to ashes immediately after the atomic bomb was dropped. He created his own original urban plan, but it was hardly adopted.
A year later, his design took part in a competition to design the Hiroshima Catholic Peace Memorial Cathedral, but despite receiving the highest evaluation, his design was not selected.
As a revenge, he entered the Hiroshima Peace Center Competition with great determination and was selected as first place.
This was the first time I learned that something like this had happened.
These facts alone are interesting, but even though the Hiroshima Peace Center won first place in the competition, the road to building it on a site of burnt ruins and shacks was still long, and the city was plagued by financial difficulties, making for a fascinating story to read. Isamu Noguchi designed a memorial for the atomic bombing, but the project was never realized.
Shinzo Hamai, known as the Atomic Bomb Mayor, was the man who pushed Hiroshima's reconstruction from a political standpoint. However, he faced many difficulties, such as obtaining a reconstruction budget, sorting the land known as the Atomic Bomb Slum, and holding a mayoral election in the midst of reconstruction that was not progressing as expected.
Hamai, who was originally a city employee with no desire to become mayor, was also planning to decline the offer for deputy mayor before he became mayor, saying that he should not take on a position that was beyond his capabilities. Fujita, a city leader, told Hamai, "Stop saying unnecessary things and die for the city of Hiroshima."
These words, which struck Hamai's heart, also struck me as I read them.
There are some harrowing, tragic scenes in the book that are described in particularly realistic detail.
This is what Hiroshima looked like after the atomic bomb was dropped.
The fourth main character, Akihiro Takahashi, describes his experience of the atomic bombing in such vivid detail that it seems as if he is transported to the scene. After miraculously surviving, he devoted himself to preserving the Atomic Bomb Dome and working for the abolition of nuclear weapons, and after becoming the director of the museum, he continued to work to pass on the tragedy of the atomic bomb to the younger generation.
Furthermore, the museum has materials that hold memories of Hiroshima immediately after the atomic bombing and are stored to pass them on to future generations. Many of these are personal belongings donated by surviving families.
The book also includes stories about each of these belongings, which is a must-read for those of us who continue to carry on the tragedy of the atomic bomb.
The title of this book is "Atomic Bomb," which is a very strong one, so some people may hesitate to read it. I think there may even be some people who choose to avoid this book.
However, I really want as many people as possible to read this book.
Even if you don't think about it too hard, this book is incredibly interesting, as I said at the beginning. It's non-fiction that is completed at a really high level, so it's intellectually stimulating to read, and it's a rare reading experience that you won't get very often in your life.
Because I want you to pick up the book, the introduction ended up being quite long.
In fact, I would like to directly recommend it to anyone who is thinking about reading it, and I would love to meet you in person once you've read it and talk about your impressions.
However, we understand that it is impossible to speak to everyone directly.
If that's the case, then use this opportunity to fully introduce it.
I just hope that as many people as possible will receive the ball that I throw.
I hope many people will pick up this book.
