Hiroshima

When the bomb fell, Nakamura was looking out her kitchen window at a neighbor working. Her three children were buried under the rubble of the house but were unhurt. They made their way to Asano Park after the bombing, where they sheltered with other victims. They all escaped serious illness, with just nausea and vomiting, and were mostly spared the long-term effects of radiation sickness. However, Mrs. Nakamura had spells of fatigue and weariness that affected her for the rest of her life.

Her character represents people who did not have serious injuries or medical issues, but were still negatively impacted by the bomb. As a widow, Nakamura made a meager living taking in sewing before the bomb, and afterward she was easily fatigued and unable to do as much. She also is the only character portrayed as a parent, dealing with children during the bombing’s chaos. Tanimoto and Dr. Fujii both had children at the time, but their families were not part of the story.

Nakamura and her children lived in poverty for many years. She found stability only when she found a job at a factory whose owner was sympathetic to the plight of hibakusha. When she needed to take time off for health reasons, the owner was flexible with her schedule, allowing her to maintain her position there for 13 years.

Fujii was a physician. He was on the porch of his private hospital reading a newspaper at the time of the bombing. He had minor injuries, such as contusions and a broken collarbone, when his house fell into the river, but did not appear to suffer long-term effects from radiation exposure. When he later died after a decade in a coma, however, an autopsy revealed that his “brain had atrophied, his large intestine had become enlarged, and there was a cancer the size of a Ping-Pong ball in his liver” (134). The implication is that he suffered from radiation illness though it went undiagnosed during his active adult years. The presentation of his character shows the impact of the bomb and its effects, even when initially undiscovered.

Fujii lived well after the war as somewhat of a bon vivant. He took up expensive hobbies and traveled to New York City. While he enjoyed himself in New York, the trip was also for a good cause, as he chaperoned the group of A-Bomb Maidens who were sent to the States for surgeries. Thus, even someone who lived large felt an obligation to the survivors not as fortunate as he.

Kleinsorge was a German priest. He was reading in his room at the mission house when the bomb hit. After blacking out, he found himself outside in the mission’s vegetable garden. Aside from minor cuts, he was not hurt badly. He had been somewhat fatigued before the bomb, which only worsened afterward. Like Rev. Tanimoto, living in service to others and being physically able, Kleinsorge adopted a caregiving role in the bombing’s wake. He helped other, more seriously wounded priests make their way to Asano Park and, once there, aided numerous refugees by bringing them food and other assistance.

Having already devoted his life to others as a priest, Kleinsorge spent the rest of his life in Japan, serving parishes and performing countless acts of kindness for others. He counseled Toshiko Sasaki in the hospital when she was at her most depressed and continued to visit her after her release. In later years, though he himself had serious, chronic medical conditions from radiation sickness, he did more than he was physically to, pushing himself to exhaustion to help those in greater need. His life embodied the theme of The Commonalities of Humans, as he lived and worked in a culture different from his own. He loved Japan and its culture so much that he became a Japanese citizen later in life.

Sasaki was a young surgeon in training. On the morning of the bombing, he was working in the Hiroshima Red Cross Hospital. Being the only doctor there totally unhurt, he found himself in charge of medical care for thousands and worked himself to exhaustion for 19 hours. The morning of the bombing he took an earlier train than usual to work, something that was quite rare. This random event saved his life, as the hospital was farther away from the city center than he otherwise would have been.

His story illustrates The Simultaneous Fragility and Tenacity of Life. In the postwar years, he showed resilience, doing well for himself and becoming rich from medical work. He distanced himself from the bad memories of the bombing and tried to move on with his life. After a medical scare in which he thought he was going to die, he dedicated himself to helping others. Life’s fragility galvanized him to help people: His loneliness caused him to strengthen ties with his family and make his work about caring for patients rather than earning money. Later, when his wife died, he refocused on caring for the elderly.