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Kiyoshi Tanimoto

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Kiyoshi Tanimoto
Cốc bổn thanh
Kiyoshi Tanimoto, c. 1950
Born(1909-06-27)June 27, 1909
Kagawa prefecture,Japan
DiedSeptember 28, 1986(1986-09-28)(aged 77)
OccupationMethodistminister

Kiyoshi Tanimoto(Cốc bổn thanh,Tanimoto Kiyoshi,June 27, 1909 – September 28, 1986)was aMethodistminister famous for his work for theHiroshima Maidens.He was one of the six Hiroshimasurvivorswhose experiences of the bomb and later life are portrayed inJohn Hersey's bookHiroshima.[1]

Biography

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Tanimoto converted to Christianity in his youth, opposed by his Buddhist father. He studied at theCandler School of Theologyin Atlanta, Georgia, on an international Methodist scholarship. Ordained a minister atEmory Universityin 1940, he served in churches in California, Okinawa and then Hiroshima.[2]

On the morning of August 6, 1945, the dayHiroshima was bombed,Tanimoto was outside moving furniture with a friend. Seeing a bright flash of light, he sought cover between two large rocks. Tanimoto, unhurt, ran into the city, and found his family safe. He quickly put himself to work aiding others by bringing water, carrying them to safety, and if there was nothing else he could do, reading them verses from the Bible in Japanese.[2]

Starting in 1948 he went on extensive speaking tours of the US, talking about the impact on the bomb victims and raising funds for his project of a Hiroshima peace center and for theHiroshima Maidens.Within two years he had given 582 lectures; he then returned to Japan.[1][3]On May 11, 1955,[4]believing he was there for a news interview, Tanimoto unwittingly appeared on atelevisionprogram popular in the United States at that time,This Is Your Life,where his experience was highly dramatized with sound effects, dramatic music, and actual footage of the city being destroyed in the bombing, as he was asked to walk the studio audience and viewers through the events. He, his wife, and his four children, including his daughter and eventual peace activist,Koko Kondo,[5][6]were placed in the uncomfortable position of meeting with CaptainRobert A. Lewis,copilot of theEnola Gay,whichdropped the first atomic bombonHiroshima.At the end, the audience was encouraged to donate to the Hiroshima Maidens.[5][7][2]The episode would later be described as "[exemplifying] a number of the ways in which America comes to terms with...its responsibility for Hiroshima. The first of these ways is Disneyfication, the tendency to view Hiroshima as a dramatic spectacle, an exercise in special effects: the ticking clock, the rolling kettledrums, and the image of the mushroom cloud produce an emotional frisson, and little more than that."[4]

Due to his public fundraising activities, he developed an unwanted reputation as a publicity seeker and attracted the attention of the US and Japanese authorities as a potential "anti-nuke trouble-maker".[1]In 1972, he was interviewed byThames Television,[8]for the 24th episode of the acclaimed British documentary television series,The World at War.He died in Hiroshima in 1986.[3]

The annualKiyoshi Tanimoto Peace Prizeis named after him.[9]

See also

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References

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  1. ^abcHersey, John(1946).Hiroshima.The 1985 edition contains an updated chapter.
  2. ^abcBarker, Rodney (1985). "Prelude: This Is Your Life".The Hiroshima Maidens: a story of courage, compassion, and survival.New York: Viking.ISBN978-0-670-80609-6– viaArchive.org.
  3. ^ab"Kiyoshi Tanimoto Dies; Led Hiroshima Victims: [Obituary]".New York Times.Associated Press.September 29, 1986.RetrievedAugust 10,2024– viaProQuest.
  4. ^abSchwenger, Peter; Treat, John Whittier (Spring 1994)."America's Hiroshima, Hiroshima's America".boundary 2.21(1).doi:10.2307/303414– viaJSTOR.
  5. ^abEdwards, Ralph; Gruenberg, Axel (May 11, 1955)."Rev. Kiyoshi Tanimoto"(MP4).This Is Your Life.Season 3. Episode 32 (YLN141). NBC-TV. Archived from the original on April 7, 2017.RetrievedAugust 8,2022.{{cite episode}}:CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. ^Unger, Mike (2015-11-01)."After the Flash: The painful past and peaceful rebirth of Hiroshima".American University Magazine.American University Magazine.Retrieved2022-08-07.At the age of 10, she had her shot. On a moment's notice Kondo's mother took her and her siblings to Los Angeles, where they were whisked to a television studio. Tanimoto, a Methodist minister who had gained a bit of notoriety from his role in the book, was to be featured on the television show, This Is Your Life. Standing in a corner next to the stage was a man young Koko had never seen before, yet one who had impacted her life profoundly. "I asked my mother, 'Who is that guy?'" she recalls. "She said, 'He's Captain Robert Lewis.'"
  7. ^Davies, Dave (August 19, 2020)."'Fallout' Tells The Story Of The Journalist Who Exposed The 'Hiroshima Cover-Up' (an interview of historian Lesley M.M. Blume) ".NPR.Fresh Air. NPR. 30:56.RetrievedAugust 7,2022.Reverend Tanimoto turns up at the [NBC] station [in Los Angeles], and it turns out he's not doing a news interview; he has been booked unwittingly on an episode of This Is Your Life.... In this case, they were bringing out people from reverend Tanimoto's life... including one of the bombers from the Enola Gay. And so poor reverend Tanimoto, he's sitting there on the set and trying to maintain his composure, and the set is full of bells and whistles. They have the sound of the bomb whirring. They have the sound of the clock ticking. It's just this highly produced dramatic production, and this poor reverend is sitting there totally bewildered but trying so hard to stay composed. And the moment where they bring out the bomber to shake hands, I mean, you can't even imagine what's going through Tanimoto's mind. And Hersey would report on this later on, and he said that the bomber (Captain Robert A. Lewis) appeared to be crying, to many millions of viewers who were watching this, but in reality Hersey reported it turned out that he had been out bar-hopping beforehand.
  8. ^"Tanimoto, Kiyoshi (Oral history)".
  9. ^Hernon, Matthew (2022-09-28)."Kiyoshi Tanimoto: The Hibakusha Who Came Face-to-Face With the Man Who Bombed Hiroshima".Tokyo Weekender(in Japanese).Retrieved2024-08-10.
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