was a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

minister famous for his work for the

Hiroshima Maidens The Hiroshima Maidens ( ja, 原爆乙女(''Genbaku otome''); "atomic bomb maidens") are a group of 25 Japanese women who were school age girls when they were seriously disfigured as a result of the thermal flash of the fission bomb dropped on ...

. He was one of the six Hiroshima survivors whose experiences of the bomb and later life are portrayed in John Hersey's book ''

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...

''. The 1985 edition contains an updated chapter.

Biography

Tanimoto converted to Christianity in his youth, opposed by his Buddhist father. He studied at the

Candler School of Theology Candler School of Theology is one of seven graduate schools at Emory University, located in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. A university-based school of theology, Candler educates ministers, scholars of religion and other leaders. It is also one ...

in Atlanta, Georgia, on an international Methodist scholarship. Ordained a minister at

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...

in 1940, he served in churches in California, Okinawa and then Hiroshima. After the war he went on extensive speaking tours of the US, raising funds for his project of a Hiroshima peace center, and for the

. On May 11, 1955 he unwittingly appeared on a

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

program popular in the United States at that time, ''

This Is Your Life This Is Your Life may refer to: Television * ''This Is Your Life'' (American franchise), an American radio and television documentary biography series hosted by Ralph Edwards * ''This Is Your Life'' (Australian TV series), the Australian versio ...

'', where he, his wife, and his four children, including his daughter and eventual peace activist,

Koko Kondo Koko Tanimoto (Née , born November 20, 1944) is a prominent atomic bomb survivor, peace activist, and the eldest of at least four children of Kiyoshi Tanimoto, a Methodist minister famous for his work for the Hiroshima Maidens. Both appear in Jo ...

, were placed in the uncomfortable position of meeting with Captain

Robert A. Lewis Robert Alvin Lewis (October 18, 1917 – June 18, 1983) was a United States Army Air Forces officer serving in the Pacific Theatre during World War II. He was the co-pilot and aircraft commander of the '' Enola Gay'', the B-29 Superfortress bom ...

, copilot of the ''

Enola Gay The ''Enola Gay'' () is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of the pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets. On 6 August 1945, piloted by Tibbets and Robert A. Lewis during the final stages of World War II, it be ...

'', which dropped the first atomic bomb on

. Due to these public activities he developed an unwanted reputation as a publicity seeker and attracted the attention of the US and Japanese authorities as a potential "anti-nuke trouble-maker". In 1972, he was interviewed by

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a Broadcast license, franchise holder for a region of the British ITV (TV network), ITV television network serving Greater London, London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until th ...

, for the 24th episode of the acclaimed British documentary television series, '' The World at War''. The annual

Kiyoshi Tanimoto Peace Prize Kiyoshi, (きよし or キヨシ), is a Japanese given name, also spelled Kyoshi. Possible meanings *''Kyōshi'', a form of Japanese poetry *Kyōshi, a Japanese honorific Possible writings *清, "cleanse" *淳, "pure" *潔, "undefiled" *清志, " ...

is named after him.

References

External links

Tanimoto peace foundation

Kiyoshi Tanimoto collection, 1938-1990
at Pitts Theology Library,

Hibakusha Japanese people of World War II Japanese humanitarians Japanese activists Japanese Methodists Methodist ministers 20th-century Methodist ministers People from Kagawa Prefecture Converts to Christianity 1909 births 1986 deaths {{japan-activist-stub

Biography

See also

References

External links