Fukushima looks very different from outside Fukushima and outside Japan. Mostly it is quiet and invisible. In Korea, it is buried under mixed emotions of Korean sentiment toward Japan.
Today is 66th anniversary of the atomic bombing in Nagasaki, Japan. Because of the timing (3 days later than Hiroshima) and the lesser degree of devastation than Hiroshima, Nagasaki does not make it to news very much. (But more importantly, it is because the people of Nagasaki responded to such devastating disaster much differently than Hiroshima as you read one of the quotes below.)In Korea, whether Hiroshima or Nagasaki, Japan does not make a good news in August. It is because by the defeat and surrender of Japan the independence was brought to Korea just 6 days after the devastation in Nagasaki in 1945.
I am not going to comment on the socio-political impact on both nations by what happened between August 6 and 15 in 1945, but I want to honor a Christian radiologist who sacrificially served the afflicted in Nagasaki after the bombing. Dr. Takasi Nagai (1908-1951) is very little known to most people (including Japanese) today, but he inspired thousands of people to rebuild post-war Nagasaki with a gospel-led vision for life. For the past few weeks, I have been enthusiastically sharing about his dedicated life in Nagasaki to Japanese friends. Today, as my humble tribute to him, I post two quotes of his insights and wisdom from A Song for Nagasaki by Paul Glynn (Eerdmans Publishing, 1988)
“And just then, at 11.02 a.m., an atom bomb exploded over our suburb. In an instant, 8,000 Christians were called to God and in a few hours flames turned to ash this venerable Far Eastern holy place.
“At midnight that night our cathedral suddenly burst into flames and was consumed. At exactly that same time in the Imperial Palace, His Majesty the Emperor made known his sacred decision to end the war. On August 15, the Imperial Rescript which put an end to the fighting was formally promulgated and the whole world saw the light of peace. August 15 is also the great feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. It is significant, I believe, that Irakami Cathedral was dedicated to her. We must ask: Was this convergence of events, the end of the war and the celebration of her feast-day, merely coincidental or was it the mysterious Providence of God?
“I have heard that the atom bomb… was destined for another city. Heavy clouds rendered that target impossible and the American crew headed for the secondary target, Nagasaki. Then a mechanical problem arose and the bomb was dropped further north than planned and burst right above the cathedral… It was not the American crew, I believe, who chose our suburb. God’s providence chose Urakami and carried the bomb right above our homes. Is there not a profound relationship between the annihilation of Nagasaki and the end of the war? Was not Nagasaki the chosen victim, the lamb without blemish, slain as a whole-burnt offering on an altar of sacrifice, atoning for the sins of all the nations during World War II?”
(ch. 24, Not from Chance our Comfort Springs, p. 188)
He expressed grave suspicions about “angry people” in peace movements. There is a great need for peace movements, he wrote, but only if made up of people with hearts that are at peace. He warned of any peace movement that was “merely political” or ideological and not dedicated to justice, love and patient hard work. Angry shouting in the streets about peace often cloaked very unpeaceful hearts, he commented…. In one place Nagai says all of us are called to “contemplation, which is not difficult. You see children praying this way, for instance, before the crib at Christmas time.” He quotes the Gospel: “I thank you Father for hiding these things from the clever and revealing them to little ones.”… Looking out at the nuclear wasteland Nagai said with the faith of Isaiah, “God will turn (Jerusalem’s) desolation into Eden, and the wasteland into a garden of Yahweh.”
(ch. 26, The Little Girl who Couldn’t Cry, pp. 213-214)
My prayer for Fukushima today is that it may also turn to a garden of Yahweh, a garden of Easter Hope.
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