著者

西村 明

出版者

東京大学文学部宗教学研究室

雑誌

東京大学宗教学年報 (ISSN:02896400)

巻号頁・発行日

no.19, pp.47-61, 2001

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This paper deals with Nagai Takashi's thoughts on the victims of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. Nagai, a doctor of radio therapeutics at Nagasaki Medical College, wrote many literary works about the aftermath of the atomic bomb. Just before 1995, the fiftieth anniversary of the attack, Takahashi Shinji criticized Nagai's thought, describing his works as "Urakami holocaust doctorine." Two Catholic thinkers, Kataoka Chizuko and Motoshima Hitoshi, argued against Takahashi. This paper further evaluates Takahashi's criticism of Nagai's ideological role in postwar Nagasaki. Nagai's attitude toward the atomic bomb dead was influenced by his experience of continually facing the death of the victims of radiation throughout his life and career. He deliberated on the meaning of death, and came to use the term "holocaust" to describe the atomic bombing. However, though he defined the atrocity, he was ultimately unable to articulate ideas that would lead to an end to war and the establishment of permanent peace.