“Suddenly we found that the world was competing to create more powerful nuclear weapons,” says Ogura. “So despite our fear of radiation aftereffects, despite discrimination — we spoke out.”
Client: Japan Times, providing the latest news and features from Japan including business, politics, culture, entertainment, and more.
Project Description: Write a front-page, special feature for the Japan Times’ Sunday edition for August 1st in the lead up to the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
A Quote
“Suddenly we found that the world was competing to create more powerful nuclear weapons,” says Ogura. “So despite our fear of radiation aftereffects, despite discrimination — we spoke out.”
The Inside Scoop
I made a pitch to JT for a feature exploring the efforts to preserve the A-bomb legacy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki for the 75th anniversary of the bombings. To my delight and honor, they chose to slap it on the front page of their Sunday edition. They even included my fancy photo of the A-bomb Dome as the cover spread — a three exposure blend shot at sunset along the banks of the Motoyasu River. Nice!
Pieces like this always present a unique challenge even beyond the research and interviews. And by that I mean emotional fortitude. You’ve gotta be able to dig deep and drudge up some dark, heartbreaking, harrowing shit to tell these stories effectively.
Of course the details come from your sources, but in the end it’s your words, your writing, your damashi (to use a Japanese word — your “essence” or even “spirit,” if you like) that breathe life into the story and prop it up on the page. To write about pain, you have to feel pain on some level. Yes, even atomic fireball pain. It’s a process that requires processing of its own, but it’s also beautiful and humbling to write about things like this. Things that touch gently yet cut deeply. Things that plunge to the core of suffering even as they grasp for justice. Things that have the power to create change.
As a resident of Hiroshima, I’m always thrilled when I can help share its history, its tragedy, and its beauty. I don’t know that my efforts amount to much, but there’s solace to be had in trying. So try I must. The great psychologist Robert Jay Lifton, author of Death in Life: Survivors of Hiroshima, once remarked, “If one is to grasp holocaust from a distance, one must at some inner level decide to become a ‘survivor’ of the holocaust, and take on the ‘survivors mission’ of giving it form in a way that contributes to something beyond it.”
I’m not saying my humble scratchings live up to that noble mark. I’m just saying that I’m going to keep trying as long as it takes. And this article felt like a step in the right direction.
My Favorite Part
Seeing firsthand the inspirational ways in which young and old alike are working to preserve the legacy of the A-bomb survivors.
See the results:
Is time running out to preserve Japan’s A-bomb legacy?
