Masuji Ibuse (井伏鱒二) "Black Rain" (黒い雨)

Masuji Ibuse was a Japanese writer, the author of many novels, he did not graduated Waseda University in Tokyo due to sexual harassment by one of the gay professor, his field of interest was French Literature. He was very attached to Fukuyama, he missed the place while he was studying in Tokyo. The publication of “Black Rain” changed his career forever, he was recognized, admired.

“Black Rain” takes us back to Hiroshima, it tells its tragedy, the tragedy of people who died and those who survived and had to live in contaminated city. Their life was lethally endangered by acute radiation syndrome. The plot concentrates on the past and a young girl – Yasuko as well as her guardians; Mr. Shigematsu and Mr. Shigeko, both men tried to engage a poor girl, unsuccessfully – no one wants her, she is believed to have traces of acute radiation syndrome. The narrator Mr Shizuma may be perceived as a very strange character, namely, he is looking for history or rather he wants to turn back time a bit to comprehend of what he sees around – in-comprehensive abyss. The remains of the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima are looked after all the time, the bomb doesn't have a name … it is often called a ‘new weapon’, after the explosion the hell appeared, the narrator knows that what he saw was the end of the world, it was absolutely nothing left. He wants to remember everything, the life he had before the bomb, he wants to remember his wife, his house, any single thing they have to beg for, the food that was scarcely available, small details of great importance. He sees in the nightmares the people, the people who died with a blink of an eye, he describes their fight for life, how they tried to cure their burns, their bodies, every letter describes the pain and suffering, loss and grief, emptiness. The narrator skilfully balances between the past and presence; describing everyday life of Hiroshima, people after the explosion and present times; “the same people” struggle fiercely to go on with the hurtful past behind, they cannot forget. The narrator also tells the story of Yasuko; she tried to live a normal life, “a happy life”, she wants to have a chance for marriage, for a normal life, unfortunately, the past, the bomb, the radiation, crossed out her dreams. Yasuko has got clear health file, yet, the gossips and fake stories destroy every attempt made by Mr. Shizuma to marry her. The image the author presents is doomed, the words reflect people’s faces, the images create the plot and frame of the novel. “Black Rain” is the most important literary piece of writing after the Second World War. Hiroshima is a horror image, the terror of radiation, sickness spreads like fire. The author adds meticulous description to justify himself, to justify his powerless and hopelessness. He survived the bomb explosion he has never been a victim of radiation. The novel is strictly based on the documents the author derived after the war.  Everyone lives with that tragedy, and young Yasuko – is terrified, even though the war ended long time ago, she feels its tentacles squeezing and suffocating her future. As was mentioned all her engagement efforts are aborted because of gossips and tales that she was exposed to radiation, she assures her uncle that it is impossible that she is unaffected by the radiations sickness, the uncle believes her, yet, he decides to copy her diary to be sure. What he discovered in the diary worries him a lot, Yasuko writes about the black rain, it discredited young girl for the rest of her life, she remained unmarried.  The author wants Us to show how fragile human life is, how deceitful untrue gossips are and how easily they ruin human life irreversibly. Even Yasuko’s mild illness is perceived by others as a radiation sickness, people do not listen of what they talk about just bubble around. She got very ill, eventually, she was almost terminating, the miracle survived her. She got well and tries to live, she doesn't want to be a victim any longer, however, it is not that simple, the place she lives in – Hiroshima is a place of victimization, it is a living tomb of those who died and those who survived, the future generation will mark it as well. They must survive to shake off the notion of ‘victim’ and replace it by ‘thrive’ ‘heroism’, ‘humane being’.

‘…hundreds of middle school students and voluntary war workers lay dead. They were piled up at the edge of the reservoir, halfnaked since their shirts had been burned away. Seen from a distance, they looked like beds of tulips planted round the water…’

The destruction is immerse, the future uncertain, the area announced ‘ground zero’ – nothing is believed to live in that place again, nothing is about to grow, there will be no tulips, no cherries, nothing … but people have hope that time passes by the tragedy, the life will return, the new future begins. Instead, they have image of what they saw …

‘…Hiroshima is a burnt-out city, a city of ashes, a city of death, a city of destruction…’

“Black Rain” is a deep and profound novel, it goes back into history to tell the tragedy, the victims of Hiroshima had to understand the answer for the questions … ‘why it happened’ and ‘why was it so necessary’. Still historians and political scientists put the decision of nuclear bomb drop under question as one of not being invariable but mistaken.