Guilt, Persecution, and Resurrection in Nagasaki: Atomic Memories and the Urakami Catholic Community

Abstract

Nagasaki was the second city to experience a nuclear attack at the end of World War II, 70 years ago. As we approach this anniversary, two writings suggest the razing of the atomic ruins of Urakami Cathedral in 1959 have constituted a central reason for the relative silence of Nagasaki in comparison to Hiroshima, calling the loss of the ruins a defeat and a reason for an inability of Nagasaki to make history. The memory of the loss of this ‘Bomb Dome’ of Nagasaki diverts attention back to the Catholic community of Urakami, as a people often forgotten in nuclear memory. The Catholic hibakusha (survivors) are largely silent in discussion of the Cathedral ruins, although the social stratification of regions of Nagasaki may be able to make more sense of A-bomb history in this place. Paul Warham’s translation of Seirai Yuichi’s novel presents a fascinating window on the world view of the Catholic community, who were concentrated around Ground Zero in Nagasaki, in the locality of Urakami. Narratives such as that of the Christian minority divulge a lesser known history of Nagasaki. Here, we read of atomic memory touched by the themes of guilt, persecution and also resurrection.