ATOMIC BOMB LITERATURE

The shock and devastation of the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 affected many Japanese, both directly and indirectly. Many postwar authors, such as Inoue Mitsuharu and Oe Kenzaburo, used the bombings symbolically in their writings, finding in the deep pathos and tragedy a symbol for the confusion of the modern world. Other writers, such as Ibuse Masuji, found hope for humanity in the stubborn resilience of both the victims and nature. Authors emerged as well from among the victims themselves, who compiled anthologies of stories, poetry, diaries, essays, and dramas, establishing a genre of literature dubbed hibakusha bungaku (literature of the bombed) that has grown to many volumes of published writing. Among the notable hibakusha writers are novelists Ota Yoko (1903–63) and Hayashi Kyoko (1930–) and poets Toge Sankichi (1917–53) and Shoda Shinoe (1910–65).

See also MILITARISM; NATIONALISM; WAR LITERATURE.