Black Rain

“A ‘walk’ was unthinkable in terms of traditional custom, and thus unthinkable in principle.”

One of the biggest challenges faced by the victims of the Hiroshima bomb is resolving the tension between long-held traditions and the reality of the current moment. Taking a walk may be medically necessary for people with radiation sickness, but traditional culture prevents a healthy-looking head of the household from taking this course of action. Tradition and culture constrain people, trapping them in a society not ready for the challenges of the modern age.

“Besides preventing upset stomachs caused by drinking strange water, it was supposed to be a mark of respect for the water god who dwelt in the well or spring.”

Shigematsu gargles water three times before drinking due to a superstitious practice that has become second nature to him. The superstition is intended to be a tribute to a water god, but this superstition does nothing to protect him from the brutal reality of the atomic bomb. The more radioactive water Shigematsu drinks, the worse his radiation sickness will become. The old gods cannot compete in the atomic age and relying on traditional culture becomes actively harmful.

“And I realized, too, that war's a sadistic killer of human beings, young and old, men and women alike.”

The sadism of war is not only in the death and violence but the way in which famine and food shortages can decimate a culture. The people of Shigematsu's village are not soldiers, but they are forced to suffer because of their government's actions. The war brings famine, suffering, and death to their doorstep, destroying their community and ruining their lives even though they are nowhere near the fighting.

“Once so terrifying, it was now no more than a shadow of its former self, and seemed to have little power left to do anything.”

Shigematsu watches the mushroom cloud fading away into nothing above Hiroshima. The city is destroyed and even the survivors are being unknowingly poisoned, but the cloud itself fades away leaving no evidence of what happened. The strangely shaped cloud seems incongruent with the destruction caused by the bomb. The fading power of the bomb is an echo of Japan's own fading importance, which is now vanishing into nothingness as the country is overwhelmed by the war.

“All those hours of firefighting drills with the members of the association had come to nothing now.”

The hours of preparation conducted by the firefighting team are utterly useless in comparison to the power of the atomic bomb. No training in the world could prepare the firefighters for such an unprecedented technology; they do not even understand the lingering effects of the radiation the bomb leaves behind. Given that there is no way for the people to prepare for the destructive power inflicted on them, any form of preparation seems pointless. The atomic bomb transcends any kind of expectation or preparation, showing the victims the futility of their attempts to stay alive. The bomb robs people of their agency and shows them how little control they have over their fate.

“Moreover, I had been responsible for bringing her to Hiroshima in the first place.”

Shigematsu is so concerned for Yasuko because he blames himself for her suffering. He feels obliged to find her a husband and protect her from the radiation sickness because he brought her into range of the bomb site. He works so hard to transcribe the diary despite his sickness because he blames himself for Yasuko's suffering; he hopes that by helping one person overcome the effects of the bomb he can reassert some sort of control over his life.

“It's not for you or me to assume that this is a kind of tragic finale. This is precisely what we've been brought up for. It's fate.”

The atomic bomb is so powerful and unprecedented that the people in Hiroshima seem to treat it as a force of nature. The “tragic finale” (70) of their lives is not brought about by anything they control. The Americans are never portrayed in the novel, and the bomb simply appears out of nowhere, like an earthquake or some other natural event. Thinking about the bomb in this way absolves the victims of any blame. The suffering was unavoidable and fated to happen regardless of their actions. As such, they frame themselves as passive victims rather than complicit actors in the war effort.

“You won't think ill of me, son?”

The chaos of the bomb attack is so powerful it rips apart family bonds. A father leaves his son to (seemingly) die in a burning house, and his last words to the boy are to ask for forgiveness. However, the boy escapes. The institution of the family is broken apart as easily as the buildings and institutions of the state. The power of the bomb is such that it can even destroy the structure of a loving family.

“I'm just not qualified to attend to the welfare of the dead.”

Shigematsu is asked to perform the funeral rites for the dead at the factory. He feels underqualified but soon becomes proficient at repeating the words. In a sense, the novel itself is an extension of this moment. Shigematsu's transcription of the diary is akin to him attending “to the welfare of the dead” (86), creating a document of people's suffering for the sake of posterity to ensure they are remembered. The novel itself is a funerary service for the victims of the bombing, both in the immediate aftermath and in the long-term.

“War, I concluded, paralyzes people's power of judgement.”

The devastation of the atomic bomb has changed the perspective of the victims. Shigematsu is made to oversee the funerals of so many dead people he did not know, and in witnessing the scale of the destruction firsthand, he realizes how people have become paralyzed by the war. Their suffering and pain are so much that their ability to judge the world is eliminated. All they can do is try to survive. 

“I hated war. Who cared, after all, which side won?”

Shigematsu comes to hate war because it has devasted his life. In a rural community in Japan, he was somewhat insulated from the effects of the distant war at first. However, the struggles eventually become overwhelming and culminate in the bombing of Hiroshima. Any sense of patriotism Shigematsu once felt is gone, and he simply wants the war to be over so he can return to his simple life.

“As the person in charge of the funeral of an outsider, I made a memorandum of all these details.”

Shigematsu's role as the de facto person in charge of funerals gives him a way to take back control over his life. He can organize events and ideas into a bureaucracy. By creating a memorandum, he feels as though he is doing something proactive rather than simply reacting to terrifying events. The busy work distracts him and makes him feel useful, helping him to not think about the futility of his life and the meaningless of his actions in comparison to the power of the atomic bomb.

“However much I thought about it, I couldn't see how light and sound could make weeds start growing so furiously.”

Shigematsu does not understand the true nature of the atomic bomb. The radiation sickness and the bomb's effects on the wildlife he encounters are unlike anything he can comprehend. The unseen forces that are making the weeds grow are also infecting Shigematsu with the radiation sickness that will have such an important effect on his life. The unspoken power of the atomic bomb is the extent to which is transcends everything Shigematsu thinks he knows and forces him to see the world differently.

“Abstract phrases of this kind were no comfort at all.”

The devastation of the bomb throws everything into sharp relief. Shigematsu comes to realize that hollow phrases and platitudes are worthless in the face of the death and destruction he has witnessed firsthand. Shigematsu is not only sickened by the radiation; he is also sickened by his society's inability to provide any substantive or meaningful response.

“The thing was that the enemy must be made to realize that Japan had a formidable navy as well as an army...”

The rumors and conversations between the Japanese people in the aftermath of the bombing of Hiroshima show the extent to which they have been deceived by their government. They talk to one another, trying to reassure themselves that their country has the means to fight back against any enemy that has destroyed Hiroshima in a new and terrifying fashion. They want to cling to their old beliefs even though the reality of the atomic bomb has changed the war completely. 

“I've resigned myself to the thought that both my brother-in-law and his nephew are so much charcoal by now.”

The brutal practicality of accepting the deaths of family members shocks Shigematsu. However, the reality of their situation means that there is no other option for many people. The atomic bomb is so powerful and so beyond the boundaries of comprehension for the victims that they have no choice but to simply continue with their lives.

“True or not, such talk was rumor-mongering and defeatism of the most barefaced kind.”

 The alternative to brutal practicality is a desire to barter with reality. Truth no longer matters for some people, as they continue to criticize anyone who spreads rumors or suggests Japan may not be able to win the war. People fall back on their familiar behavior and beliefs and desperately cling to the idea that they can return to their old lives.

“There'll be some scarring of the skin, won't there? Won't it be a little hard on her?”

The physical scars on the victims' skin are metaphors for the emotional scars they will bare for the rest of their lives. The emotional trauma of seeing so much death and destruction will shape the remainder of these people's lives. They will not be able to forget what they have seen and who they have lost, and this will change their reality forever. The emotional scars caused by Hiroshima, like the physical injuries, will stay with the victims until they die. 

“Another is the hope that you will perceive how essential for the patient is the determination to fight his sickness.”

The atomic bomb causes problems far beyond the levelled city. The doctors in Japan are forced to deal with a new illness they did not expect and do not understand. Their medical knowledge is ill-equipped for radiation sickness, so human qualities become even more important. Determination and a desire to endure become more important given the paucity of medial solutions. Given the overwhelming nature of the atomic bomb, however, determination is not easy to maintain.

“It was a sad, shambling procession of ghosts.

The atomic bomb has caused an emotional damage that is less visible than the physical destruction. The “sad, shambling procession of ghosts” (161) is a physical manifestation of this emotional trauma. The people have been hollowed out by pain and loss. They have become empty shells of their former selves, dead on the inside but continuing to move forward because they have no other option. 

“Item: if the American forces occupied Japan, all Japanese men would probably be castrated.”

The rumors spread in the aftermath of the bomb echo the deepest fears felt by the members of the devastated society. The Japanese people worry all their men will be castrated once the Americans invade Japan. The physical castration is a manifestation of the symbolic castration caused by the bomb. The atomic bomb is so much more powerful than anything Japan has that the use of the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki symbolically castrates the Japanese war effect and renders it unable to continue. The people spread rumors about physical castration because they already fear they have been symbolically castrated.

“But from the time that the bomb was dropped, my ideas had suffered an abrupt about-face, and I began to feel that what I had been believing was a lot of nonsense.”

The atomic bomb has the power to alter Shigematsu's worldview. Staring at the ruined city of Hiroshima, he realizes how much he has been lied to by his government. He becomes disillusioned and unsure of what to believe in a world where so much can change so quickly in such a traumatic fashion. Everything he had believed to this point is revealed to be “nonsense” (180). 

“The trouble was that all of us, spiritually, were bound hand and foot, and fiercely suppressed every urge to express anxiety, let alone dissatisfaction. Such was the power of the state.”

The “power of the state” (183) has trapped the Japanese people in a story they wanted to believe. They wanted to believe they were winning the war, but the destructive power of the atomic bomb shows them the reality of the situation. The war is no longer a distant matter; the war is now being fought at home with technologies far beyond the reach of the Japanese military. The true power of the bomb is not only that it can destroy a city, but also that it can destroy the belief in Japanese society. Physical and social institutions are both destroyed.