Valley of Memories

Abstract

This chapter begins with discussing the published article of the former Nagasaki mayor Motoshima Hitoshi entitled “Hiroshima yo, ogoru nakare” (Hiroshima, be not proud!). It spotlights Motoshima's viewpoint in Hiroshima's memory of the war and its perpetuation of Japan's sense of victimhood and inability to confront its wartime aggression. The chapter also examines Motoshima's way of thinking, his career as a politician, and how he exemplified Nagasaki's convergence of atomic narratives. His view of the atomic bombings as an unavoidable end to Japan's war of aggression was sometimes misunderstood as a moral justification of the bombings, or even senility, especially when he played so prominent a role in Nagasaki's peace movement during his time as mayor. Ultimately, the chapter talks about the condition of Nagasaki today as a vibrant city that both champions its international past and commemorates its atomic tragedy.