Volume 13 | Issue 32 | Number 2 | Article ID 4356 | Aug 10, 2015 The Asia-Pacific Journal | Japan Focus The Politics of Reconstruction and Reconciliation in U.S-Japan Relations—Dismantling the Atomic Bomb Ruins of Nagasaki’s Urakami Cathedral Tomoe Otsuki Abstract: This paper explores the politics surrounding the dismantling of the ruins of Nagasaki’s Urakami Cathedral. It shows how U.S-Japan relations in the mid-1950s shaped the 1958 decision by the Catholic community of Urakami to dismantle and subsequently to reconstruct the ruins. The paper also assesses the significance of the struggle over the ruins of the Urakami Cathedral for understanding the respective responses to atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It further casts new light on the wartime role of the Catholic Church and of Nagai Takashi. Keywords: Nagasaki, Atomic Bomb, Urakami Cathedral, the People-to-People program, Lucky Dragon # 5 incident, Japanese antinuclear movement, the peaceful use of nuclear energy, sister city relation between Nagasaki and St. Paul, U.S.-Japan Security Alliance. The two photographs below depict the remnants of the Urakami Cathedral following the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. Both were taken in 1953 by Takahara Itaru, a former Mainichi Shimbun photographer as well as a Remnants of the Southern Wall and statues of the Nagasaki hibakusha. Most of the children saints of Urakami Cathedral playing beside the ruins were born after the Photo courtesy of Takahara Itaru atomic bombing and grew up in Urakami’s atomic field. Takahara’s photographs capture the remnants of the cathedral in shaping the Children play in remnants of belfry of Urakami postwar landscape and lives of people in and Cathedral 1 around Urakami. Photo Courtesy of Takahara Itaru 1 13 | 32 | 2 APJ | JF The Urakami Cathedral was inaugurated in Nagasaki due to haze and smoke obscuring the 1914 and completed in 1925 with thetarget site of the large ammunition arsenal in installation of the twin belfries. But events the city of Kokura. None of the twenty-five leading to its construction date back to the late people in the cathedral survived the bomb nineteenth century. Christianity was outlawed explosion. In March 1958, the remnants of the by the Japanese government from thecathedral were demolished. In 1959, the seventeenth century to the late nineteenth Urakami Cathedral was completely century. In 1873, when the Meiji government reconstructed, leaving no trace of the lifted the ban on Christianity, approximately destruction of the original cathedral or the 1,900 Urakami Catholic villagers, who had demolition of its remnants. Only photographs survived exile and persecution, returned to remain to testify to its destruction. Urakami. In June 1880, they purchased land from the village headman and converted a While many older residents remember the house into a temporary church. The property dismantling of the ruins as an ‘unfortunate’ had been the site of the memory of the Urakami event, younger residents were generally Catholics’ martyrdom; it was exactly the site oblivious of the existence of the ruins until where their ancestors were ordered to trample 2000 when Nagasaki Broadcasting Company on Christian images (the practice was called (NBC), a private media corporation, produced a ‘fumi-e’) in order to demonstrate renunciation documentary entitled “God and the Atomic of Christianity to the feudal authorities. This Bomb – The Past 55 Years of the Urakami was also the site where many of their ancestors Catholic Hibakusha” (神と原爆―浦上カトリッ refused to renounce their faith in the face of クの５５年). NBC’s documentary depicts how the torture and death.2 In 1895, about 5,000 the General Headquarters of U.S. occupation Urakami Catholics decided to construct a (GHQ) decided to permit the publication of The cathedral. According to the oral history of the Bells of Nagasaki written by Nagai Takashi, Urakami Catholic community, the construction Urakami’s Catholic doctor and atomic bomb of the cathedral was paid for by a tithe in which victim, in 1949, and how Nagai’s biblical each parishioner donated a portion of their interpretation of Nagasaki’s atomic bombing as scant wages. Many of them went to town to sell “divine providence” and his biblical narrative of vegetables, and purchase bricks on their way “forgiveness,” “reconciliation” and “prayers” back with the money they had earned. They have shaped the historical consciousness of also physically contributed to the construction Urakami Catholic atomic bomb survivors over by manually carving stones and laying bricks. It subsequent decades. In one of scene in the took thirty years to complete the Romanesque documentary, a female Urakami Catholic cathedral. Every corner was adorned with hibakusha quietly watches the local TV news carvings and statues of Christ, Mary, and the report on a U.S. nuclear test. The viewer sees saints. The Urakami Catholics believed that the only her face and her gaze turning towards the cathedral symbolized retribution for four TV screen as an anchor reports that the centuries of faith and sacrifice. It was the purpose of the nuclear test was to examine the 3 grandest church in the Far East. “safety” and “reliability” of U.S. nuclear weapons. Her face, half of which is covered by On August 9, 1945, twenty-four Urakami a keloid, seems impassive. But she bites her lip Catholics were preparing to celebrate the as if holding back tears. After the news, she Assumption of the Virgin Mary, and Father offers a prayer. Then, she says: Tamaya Fusayoshi was hearing confession. At the same time, the American B-29 bomber “Bockscar” was redirected from Kokura to I did have anger inside me toward 2 13 | 32 | 2 APJ | JF America. But all I could do was United States”.7 Consequently, a considerable seek the support of God and pray sum of money was donated from the United to him to keep me alive another States to the Nagasaki Catholic Church to day and give me the strength to reconstruct the Urakami Cathedral on survive tomorrow. I am still angry, condition that the ruins be dismantled. but there is nothing I can do. I Ikematsu, however, never revealed where the can’t join a movement or cry out in money came from because, he said, “those who protest. All we can do as part of are involved in the politics are still alive”.8 our [Catholic] teaching is to pray for peace. That is all we can do in In 2009, Takase Tsuyoshi, a journalist and our position, no matter how angry second generation Nagasaki atomic bomb we may be.4 survivor, published a book entitledNagasaki: Another Atomic Bomb Dome Lost (ナガサキ— 消えたもうひとつの原爆ドーム). Takase The documentary records how Nagasaki mayor, conducted archival research in the United Tagawa Tsutomu, who had previously favoured States and Japan to find out whom Tagawa had preservation of the ruins of the cathedral, met during his 1956 trip, and if, and how those changed his position following a 1956 trip to he met had persuaded Tagawa to dismantle the the United States. The official purpose of ruins. He traced the role of the United States Tagawa’s trip was to visit Nagasaki’s sister Information Agency (USIA) in the sister city city, St. Paul. The sister city agreement was project, and shows that St. Paul officials had signed on December 7, 1955, the daydrafted an agreement for sister city relations to commemorating the attack on Pearl Harbour. be signed by Mayor Tagawa on his scheduled The documentary also discloses that Bishop (but postponed) trip to the city on December Yamaguchi Aijiro, an influential figure in the 7th, 1955, the fourteenth anniversary of the Nagasaki Catholic community who was also Pearl Harbor Attack. Takase concludes that the invited by an American Catholic institution to purpose of the sister city relationship was to the United States in 1955, determined to symbolize the mutual forgiveness and dismantle the ruins upon his return. During one reconciliation between the United States and scene of “God and the Atomic Bomb,” an Japan, and that the ruins were dismantled as a interview is conducted with Nakajima Banri, an symbolic gesture of Nagasaki’s commitment to Urakami priest who, in response to themove toward a more peaceful future by question of why the Urakami Catholicforgetting the tragedy. One retired Nagasaki community agreed to the dismantling of the official I interviewed in August 2010 ruins, reluctantly said, “there were some acknowledged that city workers had been external forces from the United States and aware of the role that politics played in 5 international politics ...” Nakajima also dismantling the ruins of Urakami, but added mumbled that, “the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that discussion of the topic had remained of Japan was also concerned… because the ‘taboo’ among them.9 Urakami Cathedral was damaged by the United States…”6 Similarly, Ikematsu Tsuneoki, a Takase was the first to catalogue the evidence former Nagasaki city official and the first chief of U.S. involvement in Nagasaki’s decision to curator of the Nagasaki International Cultural dismantle the ruins. However, some questions Hall (The predecessor of today’s Nagasaki have not yet been fully answered. For instance, Atomic Bomb Museum), told a close friend that why did the United States seek a symbolic “preservation of the ruins [of the cathedral] gesture of reconciliation between Japan and the would have caused some problem for the United States centered on the atomic bombing 3 13 | 32 | 2 APJ | JF in the mid-1950s? What role did the Nagasaki intend to preserve as a reminder of and Japanese governments play in the politics the bombing? If a decision is made of dismantling the Urakami Cathedral ruins and to remake everything anew without shaping remembrance/oblivion of the atomic preserving the ruins, it will prove bomb memory? What accounts for the very that Nagasaki has deliberately different action of Hiroshima in the forgotten the reasons for its preservation of the Atomic Dome, and with special designation as an what consequences? international cultural city.11 This article examines the politics surrounding the dismantling of the ruins of the Urakami This was the sentiment of the council and many Cathedral in the face of strong opposition Nagasaki hibakusha and residents.