Literature

Historical Perspective and Study

Memoirs & Survivors' Accounts

Voice of Hibakusha (atomic-bomb survivors)
Eye-witness accounts of the bombing of Hiroshima, from the video HIROSHIMA WITNESS produced by Hiroshima Peace Cultural Center and NHK (Japan's national TV station)
Hachiya, Michihiko. .Hiroshima Diary; the journal of a Japanese physician, August 6-September 30, 1945 Warner Wells, trans. and ed. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1955.
Minear, Richard ed. and trans. Hiroshima: Three Witnesses. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1990.
Hara Tamiki. Summer flowers.
Ota Yoko. City of corpses.
Toge Sankich. Poems of the atomic bomb.
Kanda, Mikio, ed. Taeko Midorikawa, trans. Widows of Hiroshima: The Life Stories of Nineteen Peasant Wives. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989.
Cook, Haruko Taya and Theodore F. Cook. Japan at War: An Oral History. New York: New Press, 1992.
Yamaguchi, Yuko. Kazuyo Yamane and Craig Delaney, trans. The Flame of Hiroshima and Article 9 [Hiroshima no Hi]. Kochi, Japan: A Peace Museum Grass Roots House [Heiwa Shiryo-kan Kusa no Ie], 1995. Originally, published by Shin'nihon Shuppan-sha, in 1988.
Based on a real story of the flame which was taken from Hiroshima and kept burning by an atomic bomb survivor as a symbol for peace. The book has also Article 9 which renounces war in the Japanese Constitution, translated into twelve languages. The publisher will donate a copy of the book to libraries and Peace organizations around the world each time a copy sells. For more information, please contact:
A Peace Museum Grass Roots House [Heiwa Shiryo-kan Kusa no Ie]
9-11 Masukata, Kochi
780 Japan
Tel: 0888-75-1275
Fax: 0888-21-0263

Novels

Duras, Marguerite. Hiroshima Mon Amour. Richard Seaver, trans in English. New York: Grove Press, 1961.
Ibuse, Masuji. Black Rain. New York: Kodansha International, 1979.
Oda, Makoto. The Bomb. D. H. Whittaker, trans. New York: Kodansha International, 1990.
Oe, Kenzaburo. Toshi Yonezawa and David L. Swain, trans. Hiroshima Notes. Tokyo: YMCA Press, 1981.
Stroup, Dorothy. In the autumn wind. New York: Scribner, 1987.
One family's reconstruction of its life in Hiroshima from the immediate aftermath of the bombing into the early 1950s.

Poetry

Toge Sankichi. "Poems of the Atomic Bomb." Hiroshima: Three Witnesses by Richard Minear. See the category "Novels" above.

Plays

For information about actual productions of the following entries, see Theater and Dance section in the Arts Directory.

Hotta, Kiyomi. "The Island." After Apocalypse: Four Japanese Plays of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by Goodman, David G, ed. and trans. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell East Asia Program, 1994.
Tanaka, Chikako. "The Head of Mary." The same as above.
Betsuyaku, Minoru. "The Elephant." The same as above.
Satoh, Makoto. "Nezumi Kozo: The Rat." The same as above.

Literary Criticism

Treat, John Whittier. Writing Ground Zero: Japanese Literature and the Atomic Bomb. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995.

Children's Books

Text in English

Maruki, Toshi. The Flash of Hiroshima [Hiroshima no Pika].. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books, 1982.
Morimoto, Junko. My Hiroshima. New York: Viking, 1990.
Krauthammer, Charles. Hiroshima, Mon Petit. Time. Volume 145, No. 13 March 27, 1995.
An essay about books for children dealing with human sufferings including Hiroshima.

Text in Japanese

Naoko Ogusu in Japan contributed to this compilation.

Imanishi, Sukeyuki. Hiroshima no Uta [A Song of Hiroshima]. Iwasaki-shoten, 1995.
Maruki, Toshi. Hiroshima no Pika. [The Flash of Hiroshima]. Komine Shoten Co., Ltd., 1980.
Matsutani, Miyoko. Futari no Eda [Two Edas]. Tokyo: Kodan-sha, 1976.
Oe, Hide. Hachi-gatsu ga Kurutabini [Every Time August Comes]. Riron-sha, 1971.
Yamamoto, Mariko. Hiroshima no Shimai [The Sisters of Hiroshima]. Iwasaki Shoten, 1983.
Yamamoto, Mariko. Hiroshima no Tomo [The Friend(s) of Hiroshima]. Iwasaki Shoten, 1995.