Resurrecting Nagasaki

R. Diehl Chad

Description

In Resurrecting Nagasaki, Chad R. Diehl explores the genesis of narratives surrounding the atomic bombing of August 9, 1945, by following the individuals and groups who contributed to the shaping of Nagasaki City's postwar identity. Municipal officials, survivor-activist groups, the Catholic community, and American occupation officials all interpreted the destruction and reconstruction of the city from different, sometimes disparate perspectives. Diehl's analysis reveals how these atomic narratives shaped both the way Nagasaki rebuilt and the ways in which popular discourse on the atomic bombings framed the city's experience for decades.

Sujets

• Japan
• History of Asia
• Nuclear weapon
• World War II
• Histoire

Informations

• Publié par: Cornell University Press
• Date de parution: 15 mars 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781501709432
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 9 Mo

Extrait

RESURRECTING NAGASAKI

Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University

The Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute of Columbia University were inaugu rated in 1962 to bring to a wider public the results of significant new research on modern and contemporary East Asia.

RESURRECTING NAGASAKI Reconstruction and the Formation of Atomic Narratives

Chàd R. DiEhL

CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS ITHACA AND LONDON

Cornell University Press gratefully acknowledges receipt of a grant from the Center for the Humanities, Loyola University Maryland, which aided in the publication of this book.

Copyright © 2018 by Cornell University

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850.

First published 2018 by Cornell University Press

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Name: Diehl, Chad, author. Title: Resurrecting Nagasaki : reconstruction and the formation of atomic narratives / Chad R. Diehl. Description: Ithaca : Cornell University Press, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2017023943 (print) | LCCN 2017025760 (ebook) | ISBN 9781501709432 (pdf) | ISBN 9781501712074 (ret) | ISBN 9781501714962 | ISBN 9781501714962 (cloth : alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: Reconstruction (1939–1951)—Japan—Nagasakishi. | Nagasakishi (Japan)—History—Bombardment, 1945—Influence. | Atomic bomb Victims—Japan—Nagasakishi. | Collective memory—Japan—Nagasakishi. | City planning—Japan—Nagasakishi—History—20th century. Classification: LCC DS897.N2957 (ebook) | LCC DS897.N2957 D54 2018 (print) | DDC 952/.244044—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017023943

Cornell University Press strives to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials to the fullest extent possible in the publishing of its books. Such materials include vegetablebased, lowVOC inks and acidfree papers that are recycled, totally chlorinefree, or partly composed of nonwood fibers. For further information, visit our website at cornellpress.cornell.edu.

Cover design: Richanna Patrick

Cover illustration: Children play among the ruins of the Urakami Cathedral, 1950s. Photograph (detail) used by courtesy of the photographer, Takahara Itaru.

For my family

So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past. —F. Scott Fitzgerald,The Great Gatsby, 1925

I still cannot even comprehend what the devil is meant by the First Inter national Cultural City. —Naruse Kaoru, Nagasaki City Construction Office Chief, 1950

Contents

List of Illustrations Preface Acknowledgments

Introduction:Valley of Visions

1.  Envisioning Nagasaki:The Rise of the Municipal Vision of Reconstruction 2.  Coexisting in the Valley of Death:American Soldiers and Nagasaki Residents during the Occupation 3.  The “Saint” of Urakami:Nagai Takashi and Early Representations of the Atomic Experience 4.  Writing Nagasaki:The Occupation Publishing Industry,Nagasaki no kane, and Atomic Narratives 5.  Walls of Silence:The Postwar Lives and Memory Activism of theHibakusha 6.  Ruins of Memory:The Urakami Cathedral and the Politics of Urban Identity

Conclusion:Valley of Memories

Notes Index

îx xî xîîî

1

13

41

65

95

119

145

169

177 209

Lîst of Illustratîons

0.1. Family among the ruins of their home in Urakami Valley 10 1.1. Urakami Valley with train, October 1945 18 1.2. Man gardening at ground zero, 1946 20 1.3. Colonel Delnore with municipal and prefectural officials, 1948 31 1.4. Mass among the cathedral ruins, 1949 38 2.1. U.S. Marine Corps jinrikisha contest, 1945 49 2.2. Two U.S. military personnel examining human bones, 1945 50 2.3. Winfield P. Niblo departing Nagasaki, 1948 56 2.4. Miss Nagasaki beauty pageant, 1946 56 3.1. Nagai Takashi and his children 72 5.1. Business card of Taniguchi Sumiteru 136 6.1. Wedding among the ruins of the Urakami Cathedral, 1958 153 6.2. Children playing near the cathedral ruins, 1950s 154 6.3. Ruins of the cathedral being torn down and removed, 1958 163 6.4. The rebuilt Urakami Cathedral, 1960 163

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