The Japanese and The Atomic Bomb

Paper Summary:

This paper investigates the initial reaction of the Japanese government and press to the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagaskai. According to the paper, the average Japanese who survived the attacks, suffered with survivor's guilt. The paper also contains a review of the Japanese literature, art and films on the atomic bombings, as well as the peace movement started in the aftermath of the war.

Outline:
Perspective of the Japanese Government and the Local Press
Perspective from the Ground
Suppressed Feelings During the American Occupation
Divine Providence
Feelings of Guilt
Focus of Anger
The Hibakusha Literature and Pacifist Movement
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Nevertheless, a minority of the hibakusha did express feelings of hostility towards the people who were responsible for their suffering. There was a certain amount of resentment toward the pilots who dropped the bomb or toward "the Americans" in general. It has also been reported that there was a good deal of general antagonism among the Japanese public towards "foreigners" or Westerners right after the bombs fell. (Lifton 52) Such feelings, however, did not last for long or were not as intense as would have been expected. Some of the anger of the survivors was also directed toward Japanese military and civilian authorities for having deceived the public about the real state of the war and having ultimately brought them to ruin; for not having prevented the bombing or adequately preparing the population for a nuclear attack, and most of all--for failing to provide adequate help to the victims of the bombing. Some of the people even reserved their ire for the Japanese scientists and physicians for not having developed adequate techniques for fighting the effects of the bomb. There was even resentment on the part of those severely injured toward those who were not (Ibid.)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Braw, Monica. The Atomic Bomb Suppressed: American Censorship in Occupied Japan. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 1991.
• Hume, Mick. "Hiroshima: the 'White Man's Bomb' revisited." Spiked Essays. August 2, 2005. May 24, 2006. <http://www.spiked-online.com/Printable/0000000CACD0.htm>
• Kagan, Donald. "Why America Dropped the Bomb." Commentary Sept. 1995: 17+.
• Kamata, Sadao, and Stephen Salaff. "The Atomic Bomb and the Citizens of Nagasaki." Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars 14.2 (1982): 38-50.
• Lifton, Robert Jay. Death in Life Survivors of Hiroshima. New York: Random House, 1967.

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