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We Of Nagasaki
188 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1951
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About the author
Takashi Nagai
35 books44 followersTakashi Nagai was a physician specializing in radiology, a convert to Roman Catholicism, and a survivor of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. His subsequent life of prayer and service earned him the affectionate title "saint of Urakami".
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 20, 2025
A fairly short book (188 pages) consisting of 8 survivor accounts of the Nagasaki A-bomb. There is additionally a short Introduction and a moving last chapter by the compiler, Dr Takashi Nagai. It was first published in English in 1951 and was, it seems, the first book to feature first hand accounts of the Nagasaki bomb, rendered into the English language.
The Introduction advises that the original Japanese title translates as Psychology of People on an Atomic Battlefield, and whilst that title sounds rather dry, it probably tells you more of what the book is really about. Most of the witnesses suffer from "survivor guilt," particularly around whether they should have done more to help others. This may be a reflection of Japanese culture during this period. I doubt whether many modern readers would be judgemental about their actions.
The eight witnesses quoted all lived in the same neighbourhood and all were known to Dr Nagai. They were all devout Christians - Roman Catholics. Christians are a tiny minority in Japan but Nagasaki contained by far the largest number.
The accounts are horrifying, as you might imagine. One notable aspect is just how unimaginable an A-bomb attack was to people in 1945. Nowadays we have enough awareness of atomic weapons to have some understanding of their destructiveness, but not then. Most of the accounts describe how many of those who survived the initial blast, sickened and died over the next few days, suffering uncontrollable diarrhoea and vomiting. We now know this was acute radiation poisoning, but at the time it baffled Japanese doctors. One witness comments that she thought the Americans must have used some sort of death ray. In a sense, they had.
In the last chapter, Dr Nagai comments that some people survived, the city is being rebuilt, and the radioactivity has dissipated, but the psychological effects remain. Immediately after the blast, the city was engulfed in a huge firestorm, from which the only escape was in immediate flight and, "...those who did take flight met quick death if they stopped to help anyone on the way."
"In general then, those who survived the atom bomb were the people who ignored their friends crying out in extremis; or who shook off wounded neighbours who clung to them, pleading to be saved...and we know it, we who have survived. Knowing it is a dull ache without surcease."
The accounts are painfully impressive in their honesty.
The Introduction advises that the original Japanese title translates as Psychology of People on an Atomic Battlefield, and whilst that title sounds rather dry, it probably tells you more of what the book is really about. Most of the witnesses suffer from "survivor guilt," particularly around whether they should have done more to help others. This may be a reflection of Japanese culture during this period. I doubt whether many modern readers would be judgemental about their actions.
The eight witnesses quoted all lived in the same neighbourhood and all were known to Dr Nagai. They were all devout Christians - Roman Catholics. Christians are a tiny minority in Japan but Nagasaki contained by far the largest number.
The accounts are horrifying, as you might imagine. One notable aspect is just how unimaginable an A-bomb attack was to people in 1945. Nowadays we have enough awareness of atomic weapons to have some understanding of their destructiveness, but not then. Most of the accounts describe how many of those who survived the initial blast, sickened and died over the next few days, suffering uncontrollable diarrhoea and vomiting. We now know this was acute radiation poisoning, but at the time it baffled Japanese doctors. One witness comments that she thought the Americans must have used some sort of death ray. In a sense, they had.
In the last chapter, Dr Nagai comments that some people survived, the city is being rebuilt, and the radioactivity has dissipated, but the psychological effects remain. Immediately after the blast, the city was engulfed in a huge firestorm, from which the only escape was in immediate flight and, "...those who did take flight met quick death if they stopped to help anyone on the way."
"In general then, those who survived the atom bomb were the people who ignored their friends crying out in extremis; or who shook off wounded neighbours who clung to them, pleading to be saved...and we know it, we who have survived. Knowing it is a dull ache without surcease."
The accounts are painfully impressive in their honesty.
April 26, 2019
The atomic bomb as told from the point of view of nine survivors, being Dr Nagai, the nominal author (editor is a better term), and eight others. Each survivor is a member of the same Christian community in the neighbourhood of Urakami, above which the bomb exploded in August 1945. Several of the narrators were temporarily outside Urakami at the time of the explosion, but many were in Urakami very close to the hypocentre, making their survival near miraculous.
The people known by each of the narrators overlap substantially, as do their stories, so you see the same incident from several perspectives (indeed, sometimes, contradictory accounts of the same incident). This is a technique that is often quite effective in fiction stories. In the factual accounts, it allows the impact of the blast to be reiterated. It is a flash of red light then blue, a thunderous noise, a strong shockwave, followed by near darkness as grey black smoke filled with sky.
The most harrowing images are of these that survived temporarily - extremely badly burned and begging for water which they mostly vomited back up. Several of the narrators state that they did not immediately recognise that these apparitions were human, one describing them as roast chickens, another as lizards.
The scope of the story is not wide, it is not intended to be. There is little moralising, except a short chapter at the end from Dr Nagai noting the enormous blow to the psyche of those who survived, discussing the suggestion that it is only those who ran away that survived. From the descriptions, one would suggest that it is only the extremely fortunate who survived. Most narrators mention the Japanese surrender that occurred six days later, and the relief that brought, that they could go out in the open again. It was the threat of another bomb that made many reluctant to go searching for survivors, even members of their own family, and it is the memory of this reluctance that provides the survivors with guilt, even though they suspect that there is little that they could have done.
The people known by each of the narrators overlap substantially, as do their stories, so you see the same incident from several perspectives (indeed, sometimes, contradictory accounts of the same incident). This is a technique that is often quite effective in fiction stories. In the factual accounts, it allows the impact of the blast to be reiterated. It is a flash of red light then blue, a thunderous noise, a strong shockwave, followed by near darkness as grey black smoke filled with sky.
The most harrowing images are of these that survived temporarily - extremely badly burned and begging for water which they mostly vomited back up. Several of the narrators state that they did not immediately recognise that these apparitions were human, one describing them as roast chickens, another as lizards.
The scope of the story is not wide, it is not intended to be. There is little moralising, except a short chapter at the end from Dr Nagai noting the enormous blow to the psyche of those who survived, discussing the suggestion that it is only those who ran away that survived. From the descriptions, one would suggest that it is only the extremely fortunate who survived. Most narrators mention the Japanese surrender that occurred six days later, and the relief that brought, that they could go out in the open again. It was the threat of another bomb that made many reluctant to go searching for survivors, even members of their own family, and it is the memory of this reluctance that provides the survivors with guilt, even though they suspect that there is little that they could have done.
September 11, 2017
Simply told, honest and graphic firsthand accounts of several who survived the bombing of Nagasaki. The accounts come from a wide age group, including Nagai's children.
March 17, 2025
Very powerful testimonies of Catholic survivors of the Atomic bomb, both young and old, male and female, and an excellent state of an ignored part of the study of the atomic age: the moral and social impacts of the bomb within a society. I never would have even thought of that aspect until I read this book. Very insightful.
February 6, 2022
Should be required reading for anyone with any power at all over nuclear weapons.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews