was a Japanese Catholic
physician
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
specializing in
radiology
Radiology ( ) is the medical discipline that uses medical imaging to diagnose diseases and guide their treatment, within the bodies of humans and other animals. It began with radiography (which is why its name has a root referring to radiat ...
, an author, and a survivor of the
atomic bombing of Nagasaki
The United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August 1945, respectively. The two bombings killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians, and remain the on ...
. His subsequent life of prayer and service earned him the affectionate title "
saint
In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...
of
Urakami
Urakami was an area in the northern part of the city of Nagasaki, Japan.
History
In 1614, by the orders of shōgun leader Tokugawa Ieyasu, Christianity was banned in Japan in order to suppress European influence and to prevent the undermining of ...
".
Early years
Takashi (meaning "nobility") Nagai had a difficult birth that endangered his and his mother's life. His family was highly educated. His father, Noboru Nagai, was trained in Western medicine; his paternal grandfather, Fumitaka Nagai, was a practitioner of traditional
herbal medicine
Herbal medicine (also herbalism) is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. With worldwide research into pharmacology, some herbal medicines have been translated into modern remed ...
; and his mother, Tsune, was the descendant of an old family of
samurai
were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...
.
[Glynn, Paul (2009). ''A Song for Nagasaki''. San Francisco: Ignatius Press. pp. 14–17, 185, 199; .]
Nagai was born in
Matsue
is the capital city of Shimane Prefecture, Japan, located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. The city has an estimated population of 202,008 (February 1, 2021) following the merger with Higashiizumo from Yatsuka District.
Matsue is located at ...
and grew up in the rural area of Mitoya, raised in according to the teachings of
Confucius
Confucius ( ; zh, s=, p=Kǒng Fūzǐ, "Master Kǒng"; or commonly zh, s=, p=Kǒngzǐ, labels=no; – ) was a Chinese philosopher and politician of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. C ...
and the
Shinto
Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...
religion. In 1920, he commenced his secondary studies at Matsue High School boarding at his cousins' home close by. He became increasingly interested with the surrounding
atheism
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...
but was curious about
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
.
Life in Nagasaki
In April 1928, he joined the
Nagasaki Medical College
is a national university of Japan. Its nickname is ''Chōdai'' (). The main campus is located in Bunkyo-machi, Nagasaki City, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan.
History
Nagasaki University was established in 1949 by incorporating several national ...
[Konishi, Tetsuro. 永井隆はいかにしてカトリック信者となったか "How Takashi Nagai Become a Catholic"](_blank)
pp. 75-76, 81-82 ci.nii.ac.jp; accessed 2 November 2016. where he joined the Araragi, a poetry group founded by
Mokichi Saito
Mokichi (written: ) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include:
*, Japanese religious leader
*, Japanese poet
{{given name
Japanese masculine given names
Masculine given names ...
and the university basketball team (he measured 1.71 m and weighed 70 kg).
[Kataoka, Yakichi (片岡 弥吉). ''The life of Nagai Takashi'' (永井隆の生涯). San Paolo, 1961, p. 21, 59, 61, 342, 349-50, 355-58, 361; ]
In 1930 his mother died from a
brain haemorrhage
Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...
, which lead him to ponder the works of
philosopher
A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...
and
scientist
A scientist is a person who conducts Scientific method, scientific research to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences.
In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, ...
Blaise Pascal
Blaise Pascal ( , , ; ; 19 June 1623 – 19 August 1662) was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, and Catholic Church, Catholic writer.
He was a child prodigy who was educated by his father, a tax collector in Rouen. Pa ...
. He began to read the
Pensées
The ''Pensées'' ("Thoughts") is a collection of fragments written by the French 17th-century philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal. Pascal's religious conversion led him into a life of asceticism, and the ''Pensées'' was in many ways his ...
which influenced his later conversion to Christianity and boarded with the
Moriyama family, who for seven generations had been the hereditary leaders of a group of
Kakure Kirishitan
''Kakure kirishitan'' () is a modern term for a member of the Catholic Church in Japan that went underground at the start of the Edo period in the early 17th century due to Christianity's repression by the Tokugawa shogunate.
History
Origin ...
s in
Urakami
Urakami was an area in the northern part of the city of Nagasaki, Japan.
History
In 1614, by the orders of shōgun leader Tokugawa Ieyasu, Christianity was banned in Japan in order to suppress European influence and to prevent the undermining of ...
. Takashi learned that the construction of the nearby
cathedral
A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...
was financed by poor Christian farmers and fishermen.
He graduated in 1932 and was supposed to deliver an address at the ceremony. However, five days before he became
intoxicated at a farewell party and had returned home completely soaked with water from the rain. He slept without drying himself and found the next morning that he had contracted a disease of the right ear (signs of meningitis), which made him depressed and partially deaf. He could not practice medicine and agreed to turn to radiology research.
On 24 December, Sadakichi Moriyama invited Nagai to participate in a midnight Mass.
In the cathedral, Takashi was impressed by the people in prayer, their singing, their faith and the sermon. He would later say: "I felt somebody close to me whom I did not still know." The next night, Sadakichi's daughter Midori was struck down by acute appendicitis. Nagai made a quick diagnosis, telephoned the surgeon at the hospital and carried Midori there on his back through the snow. The operation was successful; Midori survived.
Upon his return from Manchuria, he continued his reading of the Catholic catechism, the
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
, and the ''Pensées of Blaise Pascal''. He met with a priest, Father
Matsusaburo Moriyama, whose father had been deported to
Tsuwano
is a town located in Kanoashi District, Shimane Prefecture, Japan. As of March 2017, the town has an estimated population of 7,478 and a density of 25.0 persons per km². The total area is 307.09 km².
Description
Tsuwano is remotely locate ...
(Shimane Prefecture) for his faith, along with many other Christian villagers in Urakami by the
Meiji Government
The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan.
Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji o ...
from the 1860s to the 1870s (
Urakami Yoban Kuzure
was the last and biggest of four crackdowns on Christians in Urakami Village, Nagasaki, Japan in the 19th century.
Christianity was prohibited in Japan for 259 years, from 1614 after the Catholic Church was seen as a threat, when Nagasaki had gro ...
). Eventually, Nagai's spiritual progress took a decisive turn when he thought about Pascal's words: "There is enough light for those who only desire to see, and enough obscurity for those who have a contrary disposition."
Conversion to Catholicism
On 9 June 1934, Nagai received
baptism
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...
in the Catholic faith. He chose the Christian first name Paul and proposed to Midori. They married in August and had four children: a boy, Makoto (3 April 1935 – 4 April 2001), and three daughters, Ikuko (7 July 1937 – 1939), Sasano who died shortly after her birth, and Kayano (18 August 1941 – 2 February 2008).
Takashi received the
sacrament
A sacrament is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite that is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments ...
of
confirmation
In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. For adults, it is an affirmation of belief. It involves laying on ...
in December 1934. Midori was president of the association of the women of the Urakami district. Takashi became a member of the
Society of Saint Vincent de Paul
The Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP or SVdP or SSVP) is an international voluntary organization in the Catholic Church, founded in 1833 for the sanctification of its members by personal service of the poor.
Innumerable Catholic parishes have ...
(SSVDP), discovered its founder,
Frédéric Ozanam
Antoine-Frédéric Ozanam (; 23 April 1813 – 8 September 1853) was a French literary scholar, lawyer, journalist and equal rights advocate. He founded with fellow students the Conference of Charity, later known as the Society of Saint Vincent ...
, and his writings, and visited his patients and the poor, to whom he brought assistance, comfort and food. From 1931 to 1936, Father
Maximilian Kolbe
Maximilian Maria Kolbe (born Raymund Kolbe; pl, Maksymilian Maria Kolbe; 1894–1941) was a Polish Catholic priest and Conventual Franciscan friar who volunteered to die in place of a man named Franciszek Gajowniczek in the German death camp ...
lived in a suburb of Nagasaki, where he started a monastery. Takashi met Kolbe through involvement with his parish St. Vincent de Paul Society in Nagasaki.
Military service
In January 1933, Takashi began his military service with the Eleventh Hiroshima Regiment. In Manchuria, Nagai cared for the wounded and served in the sanitary service as a medic. He was strongly shaken in his faith in Japanese culture when saw for himself the exactions of the Japanese soldiers and their brutality towards the Chinese civilian population. While serving in Manchuria, Nagai had received a Catholic Catechism as a gift from his to-be wife Midori. The book immediately raised concerns with his commanding sergeant, who had it examined for “subversive ideas.” Though his sergeant found the Catechism to make no sense to him, he determined that it was not “particularly socialist”, returning the book to Nagai.
On 7 July 1937, the same day as the birth of his first daughter Ikuko, the war between Japan and China broke out and he was mobilized as a surgeon in the service of the Fifth division Medical Corps. He was affected by the harsh winter in China, and the distress of the civilians and soldiers, both Chinese and Japanese. On 4 February 1939, he received news of the death of his father and that of his daughter Ikuko. He remained in China until 1940. Upon his return, he continued his studies at the college.
World War II
After Japan declared war on the United States on 8 December 1941, Nagai had a somber presentiment: His city could be destroyed during this war.
He obtained his doctorate in 1944. On 26 April 1945, an air raid on Nagasaki left numerous victims. The hospital was overwhelmed. Takashi spent his days and nights serving the wounded in his radiology department. In June 1945, he was diagnosed with
leukemia
Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...
and given a life expectancy of three years.
This disease was probably due to his exposure to
X-rays
An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 Picometre, picometers to 10 Nanometre, nanometers, corresponding to frequency, ...
during radiological examinations which he performed by direct observation, since films were not available during the war period. He spoke to Midori about his disease, and she said to Nagai, "Whether you live or die, it is for God's glory."
In the evening of 6 August, Nagai learned that an atomic bomb had been dropped by the Americans on Hiroshima. With Midori, he decided to take their children away to Matsuyama, 6 km away in the countryside, accompanied by Midori's mother.
Relief activities
On 9 August 1945, at 11:02 am, the second atomic bomb struck Nagasaki. At the time of the atomic bombing, Dr. Nagai was working in the radiology department of Nagasaki Medical College Hospital. He received a serious injury that severed his right temporal artery but joined the rest of the surviving medical staff in dedicating themselves to treating the atomic bomb victims. He wrote a 100-page medical report about his observations detailing the "concentric circles of death" around the epicentre of the blast.
On 11 August, he found his house destroyed and his wife dead. Months later, Nagai was found to be seriously affected by his head wound. He was confined to bed for a month, with death for a time seeming close as he began suffering from
Cheyne-Stokes respiration. According to Nagai, when he drank water taken from Lourdes in Honkawachi, where Fr. Kolbe had founded a monastery, he heard a voice urge him to ask an intercession from the priest.
Postwar years
He returned to the district of Urakami (the epicenter of the bomb) on 15 October 1945 and built a small hut (about six
tatami
A is a type of mat used as a flooring material in traditional Japanese-style rooms. Tatamis are made in standard sizes, twice as long as wide, about 0.9 m by 1.8 m depending on the region. In martial arts, tatami are the floor used for traini ...
from pieces of his old house. He remained there with his two surviving children (Makoto and Kayano), his mother-in-law, and two other relatives.
In 1947, the local Society of Saint Vincent de Paul (SSVDP) built a simple two-tatami teahouse-like structure for him. Nagai named it "Nyokodo" (如己堂, Nyoko-dō to, literally "As-Yourself Hall", after Jesus' words, "Love your neighbor as yourself." He styled it as a hermitage and spent his remaining years in prayer and contemplation.
![Nyokodou 2009A](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Nyokodou_2009A.jpg)
For six months, he observed mourning for Midori and let his beard and hair grow. On 23 November 1945, a mass was celebrated, in front of the ruins of the cathedral, for the victims of the bomb. Takashi gave a speech filled with faith, comparing the victims to a sacred offering to obtain peace.
In the following years, Nagai resumed teaching and began to write books. The first of these, ''
The Bells of Nagasaki
is a 1949 book by Takashi Nagai. It vividly describes his experiences as a survivor of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. It was translated into English by William Johnston. The title refers to the bells of Urakami Cathedral, of which Nagai writes ...
'', was completed by the first anniversary of the bombing. Although he failed to find a publisher at first, eventually it became a best seller and the basis for a top box-office movie in Japan. In July 1946, he collapsed on a station platform. Now disabled, he was henceforth confined to bed.
In 1948, he used 50,000 yen paid by ''
Kyushu
is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surroun ...
Times'' to plant 1,000 three-year-old ''
sakura
A cherry blossom, also known as Japanese cherry or sakura, is a flower of many trees of Prunus, genus ''Prunus'' or Prunus subg. Cerasus, ''Prunus'' subg. ''Cerasus''. They are common species in East Asia, including China, Korea and especia ...
'' (
cherry
A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit).
Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The nam ...
) trees in the district of Urakami to transform this devastated land into a "Hill of Flowers". Although some have been replaced, these cherry trees are still called "Nagai Senbonzakura" ("1,000 cherry trees of Nagai"); their flowers decorate the houses of Urakami in spring. By 2010, the numbers of these cherry trees were reduced to only about 20 due to aging and other causes.
On 3 December 1949, he was made
freeman
Freeman, free men, or variant, may refer to:
* a member of the Third Estate in medieval society (commoners), see estates of the realm
* Freeman, an apprentice who has been granted freedom of the company, was a rank within Livery companies
* Free ...
of the city of Nagasaki. He received a visit from
Helen Keller in October 1948. He was visited, in 1949, by Emperor
Hirohito
Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...
and by
Cardinal Gilroy
Sir Norman Thomas Gilroy (22 January 1896 – 21 October 1977) was an Australian bishop. He was the first Australian-born cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.
Early life and priestly ministry
Gilroy was born in Sydney, to working-class par ...
of Australia, a papal emissary.
Death
On 1 May 1951, he asked to be transported to the college hospital in Nagasaki so that the medical students could observe the last moments of a man preparing to die from leukemia. He prolonged the day of hospitalization to wait for the statue of
Our Lady, a gift from the Italian
Catholic Medical Association
The Catholic Medical Association (CMA) is an organization of Catholic physicians, dentists, and health care professionals in the United States and Canada. it had about 900 members. Until 1997, it was known as the National Federation of Catholic ...
.
Until the evening, his condition seemed stable. However, around 9:40pm, Nagai complained of dizziness and became unconscious. After two injections of cardiotonics, he regained his consciousness and prayed "
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
,
Mary
Mary may refer to:
People
* Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name)
Religious contexts
* New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below
* Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...
,
Joseph
Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...
, into your hands, I entrust my soul." Then he took the cross from the hand of his son Makoto, who rushed into the room, and shortly after he shouted the words "Please pray!" Nagai breathed his last at 9:50 pm.
He died at the age of 43. On the following day, his body underwent an autopsy at the hospital according to his will. His spleen had swelled to 3,410g (normal weight: 94g), and his liver weighed 5,035g (normal weight: 1,400g).
On 3 May, his funeral Mass was celebrated by Bishop
Paul Aijirō Yamaguchi in front of the cathedral. On 14 May, an official ceremony took place in memory of Nagai. An estimated 20,000 attended. The city of Nagasaki observed one minute of silence while the bells of all the religious buildings rang. His remains were interred in the Sakamoto international cemetery.
Legacy
His "Nyokodo", with the addition of a library, became a museum in 1952: the Nagasaki City Nagai Takashi Memorial Museum. After undergoing restoration in 2000, it is managed today by Tokusaburo Nagai, the grandson of Takashi Nagai and son of Makoto Nagai.
The Dr. Takashi Nagai Memorial Museum is in
Unnan City,
Shimane Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Shimane Prefecture is the second-least populous prefecture of Japan at 665,205 (February 1, 2021) and has a geographic area of 6,708.26 km2. Shimane Prefecture borders Yamaguc ...
, where he spent his childhood.
His name was added to the
Monument to the X-ray and Radium Martyrs of All Nations
The Monument to the X-ray and Radium Martyrs of All Nations (also known as the X-ray Martyrs' Memorial) is a memorial in Hamburg, Germany, commemorating those who died due to their work with the use of radiation, particularly X-rays, in medicine. ...
erected in
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
, Germany.
In 1991, the Takashi Nagai Peace Award was founded. In Nagasaki, with the purpose of annually awarding individuals and/or organizations, both domestic and overseas, for their contributions to world peace through the improvements and developments of medicare for hibakusha and related social welfare, the Takashi Nagai Memorial Nagasaki Peace Award was founded.
On 1 April 2003, for the succession of Nagai's spirit and a center to offer medical care for domestic and overseas
hibakusha
''Hibakusha'' ( or ; ja, 被爆者 or ; "person affected by a bomb" or "person affected by exposure o radioactivity) is a word of Japanese origin generally designating the people affected by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at th ...
, the Nagai Takashi Memorial International Hibakusha Medical Center was founded at Nagasaki University Hospital.
Shunichi Yamashita
is a Japanese medical scientist serving as dean and professor at the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Nagasaki University.
Personal background
Shin'ichi Yamashita was born in Nagasaki City, Nagasaki Prefecture, in 1952. His mother was ...
, the director of the center, who was appointed as an adviser to
Fukushima prefecture
Fukushima Prefecture (; ja, 福島県, Fukushima-ken, ) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Fukushima Prefecture has a population of 1,810,286 () and has a geographic area of . Fukushima Prefecture borders Miya ...
on radiation exposure after the
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster
The was a nuclear accident in 2011 at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Ōkuma, Fukushima, Japan. The proximate cause of the disaster was the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which occurred on the afternoon of 11 March 2011 and ...
, wrote:
"I myself is just a younger alumnus of the same university, I found Nagai Takashi Memorial International Hibakusha Medical Center at Nagasaki University Hospital. Furthermore, by founding the Takashi Nagai Memorial Nagasaki Peace Award as an international activity of Nagasaki Association for Hibakushas' Medical Care, I am making an effort in order to honor the doctor for a long time succeeding the last wishes of those who knows the doctor like the late Soshino Hisamatsu, the director of nursing service department."
In
Korea
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
in 2004, the Most Rev.
Paul Moon-hee Rhee, then
Archbishop of Daegu, founded the Korean Association of "Love Your Neighbor as Yourself".
Nagai has been designated a
Servant of God
"Servant of God" is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint.
Terminology
The expression "servant of God" appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in th ...
by the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
.
Thought
Use of nuclear power
Although Nagai opposed the use of nuclear weapons, he hoped atomic energy might be used for peaceful purposes. At the end of ''Atomic Bomb Rescue and Relief Report'', he writes:
"We should utilize the principle of the atomic bomb. Go forward in the research of atomic energy contributing to the progress of civilization. A misfortune will then be transformed to good fortune. The world civilization will change with the utilization of atomic energy. If a new and fortunate world can be made, the souls of so many victims will rest in peace."
Works
Nagai left behind a voluminous output of essays, memoirs, drawings, and calligraphy on themes including God, war, death, medicine, and orphanhood. These enjoyed a large readership during the American occupation of Japan (1945–52) as spiritual chronicles of the atomic bomb experience. His books have been translated into languages, including Chinese, Korean, French, and German. Four of his literary works are currently available in English: ''We of Nagasaki'', a compilation of atomic-bomb victim testimonies edited by Nagai; ''
The Bells of Nagasaki
is a 1949 book by Takashi Nagai. It vividly describes his experiences as a survivor of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. It was translated into English by William Johnston. The title refers to the bells of Urakami Cathedral, of which Nagai writes ...
'' (trans. William Johnston); ''Leaving My Beloved Children Behind'' (trans. Maurice M. Tatsuoka and Tsuneyoshi Takai); and ''Thoughts from Nykodo'' (trans. Gabriele di Comite). His works were recently republished in new Japanese editions by
Paulist Press
The Paulist Fathers, officially named the Missionary Society of Saint Paul the Apostle ( la, Societas Sacerdotum Missionariorum a Sancto Paulo Apostolo), abbreviated CSP, is a Catholic society of apostolic life of Pontifical Right for men founded ...
.
Much of Nagai's writing is spiritual, consisting of Christian reflections on the experience (or, just as often, imagined future experience) of himself and the people around him, especially his children, in the aftermath of the war. His intensely personal meditations are often addressed to his children or to God, and he works out his own spiritual issues on the page as he writes in a visceral and uncensored prose. Nagai's more technical writings, in ''Atomic Bomb Rescue and Relief Report'' (''Nagasaki Idai Genshi Bakudan Kyuugo Houkoku''), were discovered in 1970.
Bibliography
Writing
*The Bells of Nagasaki (長崎の鐘 Nagasaki no Kane), August 1946.
*Records of the Atomic Wasteland (原子野録音 Genshiya Rokuon), a series in the Japanese journal "The Knights of the Immaculata" (聖母の騎士 Seibo no Kishi), 1947–1951.
*For That Which Passeth Not Away (亡びぬものを Horobinu Mono O), 1948.
*The Rosary Chain (ロザリオの鎖 Rozario no Kazari), 1948.
*Leaving These Children Behind (この子を残して Kono Ko o Nokoshite), 1948.
*The River of Life - The Stories of Radiation Disease (生命の河-原子病の話 Seimei no Kawa- Genshibyō no Hanashi), 1948.
*The Flower-Blooming Hill (花咲く丘 Hana Saku Oka), 1949.
*My Precious Child (いとし子よ Itoshi Ko Yo), 1949.
*The Otome Pass (乙女峠, Otometōge), 1951.
*Nyokodō Essays (如己堂随筆 Nyokodō Zuihitsu), 1957.
*Village Doctor (村医 Son-i), 1978.
*Tower of Peace (平和塔 Heiwa no Tō), 1979.
*Flowers of Nagasaki (長崎の花 Nagasaki no Hana), Daily Tokyo Times series, 1950.
NOTE: Dates of publication do not reflect the order in which the works were written; some were published posthumously, and all have been subsequently re-compiled for the Paulist editions.
*The New Morning (新しき朝 Atarashiki Asa), 1999.
Atomic Bomb Rescue and Relief Report (長崎医大原子爆弾救護報告Nagasaki Idai Genshi Bakudan Kyuugo Houkoku) Nagasaki Association for Hibakusha's Medical Care (NASHIM)
Translation
*(世界と肉体とスミス神父 Sekai to Nikutai to Sumisu Shinpu) Original Title:
The World, the Flesh, and Father Smith by
Bruce Marshall
Lieutenant-Colonel Claude Cunningham Bruce Marshall, known as Bruce Marshall (24 June 1899 – 18 June 1987) was a prolific Scottish writer who wrote fiction and non-fiction books on a wide range of topics and genres. His first book, ''A Thief ...
*(野鼠―フアンタジイ Nonezumi - Fantaji)
Editing and Writing
* Living Beneath the Atomic Cloud: The Testimony of the Children of Nagasaki. (原子雲の下に生きて Genshigumo no Shita ni Ikite)
*We of Nagasaki; The story of survivors in an atomic wasteland (私達は長崎にいた: 原爆生存者の叫び Watashitachi wa Nagasaki ni Ita: Genbaku Seizonsha no Sakebi)
Unpublished Writing
A Bright Port (輝やく港 Kagayaku Minato)
An Introduction of Takashi Nagai's Kagayaku Minato(A Bright Port) from the Original Manuscript (Part1)An Introduction of Takashi Nagai's Kagayaku Minato (A Bright Port) from the Original Manuscript (Part 2)
Media
In July 1949 a song titled "Nagasaki no Kane" ("The Bells of Nagasaki") was released by
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
. It was sung by
Ichiro Fujiyama with lyrics by Hachiro Sato.
Yuji Koseki Yuji or Yu Ji may refer to:
* Yuji Naka, is a Japanese video game programmer, designer and producer
* Yu Ji (painter), a Qing dynasty painter and calligrapher
* Yūji, a common masculine Japanese given name
* Consort Yu (Xiang Yu's wife) (虞姬; ...
was the composer for the song.
Nagai's "The Bells of Nagasaki" was used as the basis for a
film of the same name produced by
Shochiku
() is a Japanese film and kabuki production and distribution company. It also produces and distributes anime films, in particular those produced by Bandai Namco Filmworks (which has a long-time partnership—the company released most, if not all ...
movie studios and directed by
Hideo Ōba
Hideo Ōba (大庭 秀雄, ''Ōba Hideo'', 28 February 1910 – 10 March 1997) was a Japanese film director and screenwriter.
Life
Ōba was born on 28 February 1910, in Aoyama, Akasaka-ku, Tokyo.
After graduating from Keio University's Depa ...
. It was released on 23 September 1950. ''Leaving These Children Behind'' was filmed by
Keisuke Kinoshita
was a Japanese film director and screenwriter.Ronald Berganbr>"A satirical eye on Japan: Keisuke Kinoshita" ''The Guardian'', 5 January 1999. While lesser-known internationally than contemporaries such as Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi and Yasu ...
in 1983.
British film production company Pixel Revolution Films released the film ''
All That Remains'' based on the life of Nagai in 2016. The film is directed by Ian and Dominic Higgins and stars Leo Ashizawa as Dr. Nagai and Yuna Shin as his wife, Midori.
See also
*
Congregation for the Causes of Saints
In the Catholic Church, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, previously named the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia that oversees the complex process that leads to the canonization of saints, pa ...
Sources
*
* Kataoka, Yakichi(片岡 弥吉). The life of Nagai Takashi(永井隆の生涯). San Paolo, 1961;
* Makoto, Nagai(永井 誠一)). Nagai Takashi – The Radiologist Directly Hit by the A-bomb in Nagasaki(永井隆-原爆に直撃された放射線専門医師). Tokyo: San Paolo, 2000.
References
External links
Nagai Takashi Memorial Museum-Nyokodo*
日本ニュース 戦後編 第135号. 1948年8月10日 (Japan News. Postwar Collections. No.135 August 10, 1948)NHK Archives*
ttp://www.pixelrevolutionfilms.com/all-that-remains2.html All That Remains - Pixel Revolution Film's production on the life of Takashi NagaiMorning Interview: Dr. Takashi Nagai. Broadcast on August 9, 1950/14 minutes. NHK Peace Archivesby
Paul Glynn
Paul Glynn (1928) is a Marist missionary priest and writer from Australia. He is the author of several books, including ''The Song of Nagasaki'' (1988) and ''The Smile of the Ragpicker'' (1992), both best-sellers and translated into several lan ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nagai, Takashi
1908 births
1951 deaths
Converts to Roman Catholicism from atheism or agnosticism
Hibakusha
Japanese diarists
Japanese non-fiction writers
Japanese radiologists
Japanese Roman Catholics
People from Nagasaki
Roman Catholic writers
20th-century diarists
Writers from Shimane Prefecture