

of its responsibility for using indiscriminate weapons – which continued to be tested and produced in the U.S.

On the other hand, his understanding of Buddhist doctrine, which interpreted a particular historical incident as a universal sin of humankind, may have diverted attention from the Japanese government’s responsibility.
#Aftermath of hiroshima and nagasaki bombing how to#
victimizers – may offer an insightful perspective on how to escape cycles of violence. His critical self-reflection and attempts to go beyond a black-and-white understanding of good and evil – such as Japanese vs. Such human nature, according to Kōji, invited the atomic bombing. However, Kōji criticized Hiroshima citizens as selfish, writing that they had abandoned the injured after the bombing condemned Japan for its military aggression and lamented that humans had become warmongers. He failed to mention that the city was one of Japan’s military bases sending soldiers to occupied lands and battlefields across Asia. In his essay, Kōji viewed the atomic bombing as representing three circles of sins: the sins of Hiroshima residents, of Japanese nationals and of humanity as a whole. Nonetheless, their interpretations allow people today to reconsider the ethics of responsibility in the atomic age.Ī Japanese man sits in a Buddhist temple in Hiroshima in front of ceremonial boxes containing ashes of victims of the blast. At times, their interpretations of the bombings have been used to promote political agendas. Religious leaders’ understandings, rooted in their own experiences living in post-atomic Hiroshima and Nagasaki, offer insights into our violent world. Popular culture seems to value their tragic stories, but not their struggle to come to terms with the event. and Japan, I have been frustrated to see that their philosophical, religious and spiritual perspectives on the matter are largely overlooked in English-language literature. However, as an ethicist working on nuclear discourses in the U.S.

In the United States, they hold an important place in the national psyche, regarded as ultimate protection.įor years, hibakusha have shared their testimonies and memories with the public. Yet the production and possession of nuclear weapons has not stopped. attack left between 110,000 and 220,000 people dead, and hundreds of thousands more who survived the bomb but suffered its effects – people known in Japan as “hibakusha,” many of whom died of related illnesses. It has been over seven decades since the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Aug.
