Hiroshima

Tanimoto was the pastor of the Hiroshima Methodist Church. He was taking some things to a friend’s home in the suburbs when the bomb hit. He was far enough away from the city center to avoid injury. His wife and children spent nights in the suburbs since Hiroshima was expected to be a target of the Americans’ bombing campaign; they were also unhurt. As someone whose job was devoted to caring for others and who was not injured in the attack, Tanimoto does what he can to help the wounded.

As the final chapter illustrates, Tanimoto devoted his life to the cause of peace. On a trip to the United States, he came up with the idea of raising funds to help repair his church. He decided to create a center in Hiroshima to study peace and prevent future nuclear war. During his stay in the States, he promoted the idea to a few prominent individuals, including author Pearl Buck and editor Norman Cousins of the Saturday Review.

Despite his selflessness, people eventually saw him as seeking the limelight. He was involved in many endeavors and people saw him as a campaign spokesperson or “face.” Some of his ideas got out ahead of him; he lost control over them while still being associated with them.