“The sorrow never fades”: Osaka man uses picture-story show to convey the horrors of the atomic bombing; translated into over 110 languages.

sankei shimbun

A man is performing a kamishibai (picture-story show) in a bustling downtown area of ​​​​Osaka, frequented by foreign tourists, to convey the horrors of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the last war and his desire for the abolition of nuclear weapons. His efforts have borne fruit, and this summer he even had a dialogue with Melissa Parke, the executive director of the NGO “International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons” (ICAN), which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017. With the cooperation of high school students in Osaka, the kamishibai has been translated into over 110 languages ​​​​and is being disseminated worldwide.

“Just one nuclear weapon took the lives of over 100,000 people.” “For those who died and those who survived, that sorrow has not faded even after decades.”

In Shinsekai, Osaka (Naniwa Ward, Osaka City), a bustling area with many foreign tourists, Daisaku Yoshimura (45) from Tsurumi Ward, Osaka City, a journalist who disseminates information about war and peace and local social issues, was performing a kamishibai on a stepladder, narrating it in English.

The kamishibai is titled “The Cloud That Won’t Disappear By Kei,” and is based on the story of Keiko Ogura (88), who has been sharing her experiences as an atomic bomb survivor around the world. It depicts the life of a girl who lost her family and town in the atomic bombing and suffered deep emotional wounds. A 19-year-old American exchange student visiting from Tokyo said, “It was a work filled with a very heavy message. We must always remember this tragedy.” He spoke with a look of shock on his face.

“I want to eliminate war.”

Mr. Yoshimura has previously been involved in activities such as brokering jobs for displaced people from Ukraine who lost their jobs due to the Russian invasion, and creating art works using debris from disaster-stricken areas. Amidst this, coinciding with the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the Osaka-Kansai Expo this year, she decided to stage a kamishibai (picture-story show) to give tangible form to her childhood dream of “eliminating war.”

The illustrations were created by Yulia Bondarenko, a female artist who evacuated from Ukraine to Japan. To enhance the realism, Yoshimura wears clothing reminiscent of wartime Japan when performing the kamishibai. She has been performing on the streets since April 13th, the opening day of the Expo, and says the response has been excellent, with many foreign tourists stopping to listen.

Translation assistance provided by high school students

 

The interview with Melissa Parke, Executive Director of ICAN, came about after Yoshimura learned of the Executive Director’s visit to Japan and contacted her through social media to share her activities. Yoshimura said she “never imagined” such a meeting would happen. The interview took place on August 10th in Osaka City, and the Executive Director praised it as “moving and very creative,” stating, “The kamishibai conveys both the message and the emotions. Everyone should see it.”

The kamishibai has been translated into over 110 languages, including French and Chinese, with the cooperation of students from the Mechatronics Research Club at Osaka Prefectural Miyakojima Technical High School. Yoshimura expressed her gratitude, saying, “I want to thank the students for their support. I hope that by having the kamishibai read in various parts of the world and conveying the reality of the atomic bombing, we will move closer to a world without war and nuclear weapons.” (Norihiro Akiyama)