Looking Back to Look Ahead

There was a second story I heard yesterday on NPR that also has stuck with me. It featured the life and work of Japanese artist, Ikuo Hirayama, who survived the 1945 atom bomb drop on Hiroshima.

Hirayama was 15 when the bomb dropped, and he has chosen to explore the devastation, sorrow, rebirth, and aftermath of such a traumatic event through his artwork - both on a personal level and a more cultural and national level. Many survivors deeply connect with his paintings, and Hirayama's path out of the ashes, past radiation sickness and the death of friends and family, included the study of Buddhism, which lead to a very successful career as a painter of well-known Buddhist images.

They story described one of his largest and most famous works, "The Holocaust of Hiroshima," a replica of which is on display at the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Memorial Park. The painting not only seeks to visually depict his own experience on August 6, but also the overall effect the flash and fire of the bomb had on the city. The incorporation of Buddhist images speaks to his desire to see the city reborn so that it may rise again... hopefulness in the wake of true devastation.

It reminded me of a book I read a long time ago called Requiem by Shizuko Go. It is no longer in print, and my attempts to find it so I may give it as a gift to others ended, for years, in failure; however, you can now find used copies available on Amazon.com.

It follows a young girl through the dropping of the bomb and its aftermath upon her home, her family, and her friends. I think I first read it in high school, and I remember being so moved by the story. No history class or textbook had ever delved into the human cost and traumatic aspect of the event, and it helped me to see and contextualize that part of my history as an American much more fully.

I am not nearly as adept with history as I would like to be. I'm always amazed at the way Andy can remember important facts and figures and can contextualize history across decades and centuries, countries and continents, so that he sees larger patterns and parallels. People who are able to do that always amaze me, and stories like the one featuring Hirayama remind me how important it is to remember our past and the ways in which our cultural heritage informs our future self.