『社会科学ジャーナル

(1)

『社会科学ジャーナル

J35 (!997

〕

The Journal of Soda/ Sc≪= 35 ( 1997

〕

NAGAI TAKASID AND THE MEANING OF SUFFERII

^河

G

Shaun Kmgsley Malarney

Prologue

At I I.02am on the morning of August 9, 1945, a 9000 pound plutomum bomb w

田

detonatedsome 500 mete

目

aboveUrakami dis

困

ctin downtown Nag

描北

i τne bomb, nickr

四

nedFat Man for the resembl

阻

ceit apparently bore to

血

eco

中

u‑ lent ph

戸

iqueofBntish Prime Minister Wmston Churchill, had not onginally been intended for Nagasaki When the United States government made

出

decisionto use the atomic bomb against Japan

皿

ddrew up its bst of potential targ

出，

Nagasakiw

昌

也

e

白

irdoffo

町

citieslisted.

百

rreedays earlier, at 8 1 Sam

，血

ecity ofH1Toshima had been des

住

uyed

h 血

e

日目

tever detonation of

叩

atomicbomb against a c1v!li

姐阻

rget in war time When the American B‑29 Bocks Car left

血

eisland ofTIIll

四

earlyin

也

emoming of August 9, it proceeded to its mtended destination, the city ofKokura on

也

enor

也

e

田

tshore of the island of Kyushu.

百四

ai

回目立

madesever

ョ

lp

田

sesover Kokura but, hindered by smoke

四

dclouds, w

田

unableto acqmre

出阻

rget.R

町田

mg short on

白

el,BockS Car's crew decided to proceed to the secondary

阻唱

et,Nag

出法

i. This city had been chosen because of the Mitsubishi H

田

wIndus

困

esshipy

訂

ds

叩

d several munitions factories located around Nagasaki harbor. Passing again over a city obscured by clouds, Bocks Carw

出回

ableto locate its target, but just

田

itwas about to ab

阻

donthe mission, a bnef opening revealed

也

ecity below and the bomb

W 田

droppedUnknown to

血

epilots, poor

回

rgetingand winds put the bomb abnost two miles north of its

回

iet,where it fmally detonated over Urakami

In a matter of seconds

血

ecity w

田

reducedto rubble and of the s

回 C 血

resleft S

阻

nding,many we

田

laterconsumed by

血

eext

凹

sive

f i r 田

1gmtedby

血

eexplosion's mtense heat τne human costs of the bombing are well known・ 73,884 dead, 74,909

(2)

2

町

ured

，阻

d120,820 suffe

回目

Althoughthe bombing of Nagasaki h

田

histoncally been JUS!Ified in Amen can government circl

白血血

en

町

neofbnnging a quick end to

也

ewar and avo1dmg an even more massive loss oflife, it cames w1

出

ita

位

・emen‑ dous h1stoncal irony in

白

atwi

血

oneexplosion

，血

espiri

加

alcenter of Catholicism m Japan was des

位

・oyed.From Saint Francis Xavier's first mission to Japan in 1549, western Kyushu and the region aronnd Nag

田

akihad been

由

ecenter of Catholicism inJap

問、羽田

nattemp

臼

toban Christianity in Jap

四

wereintensified in

出

e1590s,

也

eCatholics of Nag

田叫

dwere h

師

hlypersecuted and the 26 m

町ザ四

whogave

曲目

r hves m 1597

岡山

erthan renounce their

五回出町

estill commemorated m Nagasaki today. When

血

ebomb exploded, an estimated 9,000 ofNag

田誼

is17,000 Ca

血

olics were killed(Treat 1995:30

の，四

d

出

eU

四

k

副

niCa

血

e

金百

l

，血

eI

町

gestca

血

edr

叫

inAsia

阻

d

血

ecen

仕ヨ

lpansh for Nagasaki Catholics, was destroyed 1 A local priest was in fact celebrating Mass in the cathedral when the bomb detonated and the rosaries of parish10ne

四

werelater fonnd in

白

erubble.

Theoretical Orientations

Max Weber, in The Socw/ogy of Religion, identifies one of the most impor‑

阻

ntproblems that con

世

・ontsevery system ofrehgious knowledge: how c

四

it

白

ce the problem of the worlds imperfections' Weber 1978 519). Human hfe is punc

加 −

ated with death, su

宜

imng

，叩

dpam, experiences

也

ato

世間

challengethe basic pnn‑

ciples of religion In order for a religious system to remain compelling, it must pro‑ vide a satisfactory explanation

お

rwhy these even

臼

occ

町.

Such religious systems of explanal!on

町

edescribed in

血

esocial sciences and theology

田

theod1cyA theodicy articulates reasons for death, suffering, and misfortune. Theodicies often vary be‑ tween rehgions Among

百四国

vadaBuddhists, for ex

町

nple,the concept of karma is used to account for death and su

而

enng(cf.Obeyesekere 1968) In Viet Nam, the ideas offate（so phan) or ch

祖国（

mayrui) are employed for similar purposes. Theodicy

，国

Webernotes, not only provides an explanation, it is also critical to

白

e

(3)

Nogai T

曲箇

hiond

白

e

M 田

ningofSuffonng 59 maintenance of a

町田

anmgfulworld order

・（＇

Weber1978:519). Theodicy takes

血

e seemingly

町

b1

紅白

yand meaningless expenence and, ideally, provides 1t with a com‑

pelling meaning Such meanings help to lessen the personal

四

dexisten!Ial crises that anomic expenences

（c

f. Berger 1967) produce and renders them sensible. As Peter Berger has aptly noted

，

It is not happmess

也

attheodicy primanly provides, but meaning(Berger 1967"58).

The atomic bombings ofHrroshima and Nagasaki represent two instances of

出

emost incomprehensible death

阻

dSU

古

ering

出

athave occurred in human history.

百

1eexpenence of such intense hoπor and suffenng had profound physiological and psychological consequences for the v1c!Ims Known in Japane

喧

eas the hibakusha, alter

^宜

iativelyglossed as explosion‑a

宜』

ctedpe

悶

on(Li

白

on1967:6) or

＇

s

町

VIV

。，

for exp。^sê^d。ⁿê^{' Lindee 1}⁹⁹⁴⁵⁾^,^t^hê^sê^men

^叩

^dwomen s^u

^{依田}

^dt^hê^dê^bⁱ^lⁱ^tâ^tⁱⁿ^gê^f^‑

fee ts of severe b

町

ns

，回

diationsickness, and other physical complications, as well

田

the loss of family members and loved ones Many also faced mtense crises of faith

阻

dme

佃

mg

曲血

eysought to comp

問

hendhow1tw

田血

atsuch temble violence and suffenng could be mfhcted on humans.' Peoples responses were indeed varied Robert Jay Lifton records

血

at

i n H

iroshima a Protestant ministers response was

血

at

This was God's judgment on m

叩（L

ifton1967:22), while

お

ranother person he describes

、

師

^dê^vôû^t^l^yrê^lⁱ^gⁱôû^s^dô^mê^s^tⁱ^c^wô^r^kê^r^.

^，t

^hêⁱ^m^mê^dⁱâ^tê^rê^s^pôⁿ^sê^was

that 'There is no God, no Buddha

（L

1

貴

on1967・23)In Nagasaki, one pe

四

onasked ma haiku

，

I look across wide and

免

.rwhere is the Lord, autumn wind

（S

elden and Seldenl989:14). Ano

由

erpainfully declared in a

出向，明白

eCa

由

edral

i n

the ruins of boundless expanse, I stayed one mght critic1zmg God

（S

elden and Selden 1989.139). For many Nagasaki Catholics, their crisis of

白

ithwas compounded as

血

eywere

白

cedwi

出血

equestion of how it w

自由

at

血

eirch

凹む

hand so many of

血

eir co‑relig10msts could have been destroyed

i n

such v10lent and seemmgly meanmgless fashion.

Pe

四

onalreligious respons

田

tothe atomic bombings have not been a m

司

or

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