How the atomic bombing of Nagasaki tore apart Japan’s understanding of motherhood

When Kikuyo Nakamura’s adult son discovered bumps on his back, she assumed it was just a rash. Still, she urged him to go to the hospital — better safe than sorry.Hiroshi, her second son, was born in 1948, three years after the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki. As a survivor of the bombing, Nakamura had long feared she might pass on health problems to her children. In 2003, at age 55,