Faces of Hiroshima: A report

by Anne Chisholm

Tells the stories of the Hiroshima maidens, twenty-five Japanese teenagers who were brought to the United States for plastic surgery to correct their disfigurement, and recounts the controversy surrounding the privately sponsored project.

Genres: History

182 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Anne Chisholm is a biographer and critic who has also worked in journalism and publishing. Her first biography, Nancy Cunard (1979), won the Silver PEN prize for non-fiction; in 1992 the biography of Lord Beaverbrook she wrote jointly with her husband, Michael Davie, was runner up for the Hawthornden prize.

Reviews

[Serena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was an interesting report, but I will say it wasn't quite what I expected. I was hoping for more anecdotes from the women directly, but the author really just kind of told the story. There was a lot of interesting historical context as well. I will say some of the language is outdated/not PC, and some of the authors comments about the women's appearance seemed odd and unnecessary (e.g., "she was pretty in one light, but ugly in another" type comments). Interesting content, and would recommend.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting book. It was published in 1985, forty years after the bomb, by a British journalist reflecting on the big issues and determined not to sensationalise the story. There are no photos of the women whose faces were deformed by the bomb.
The Hiroshima maidens were a group of 25 girls, all teenagers who had been in a the 1.5-2.0km zone when the bomb fell. In Japan they are called hibakusha and they have a special place in Japanese consciousness. They are both fortunate because they survived, and feared because they symbolise the event. Their disabilities, whether hideous scarring or radiaiton sickness, woke pity and disdain. They are meant to hide themselves away, not to marry and not to make a fuss.
Enter the Americans, keen to expiate guilt. 25 girls are chosen, 18 rejected and thousands more not considered. The 25 are sent to America, feted, and sent back home with newly improved faces, entrepeneurial skills for self-employment and greatly enhanced self-confidence.
Chisolm explores the underside of all this. It wasn't just the envy of those not chosen, but also the complex emotional dilemma of Japanese victims not wanting to accept help from the victors who had done it to them. Japanese doctors were ambivalent about US surgical techniques being superior - although there wasn't much plastic surgery done in Japan this was for cultural reasons, not because they were a third world country that needed to learn skills.
The Japanese wanted to put their militarism behind them; they also did not want Hiroshima the city nor Hiroshima the event to be exploited by the peace movement. Their culture of suppressing the individual and the emotions is in sharp conflict with the American way. When the girls returned home, they made grateful, tactful speeches at a reception then faded away into obscurity.
Sadly, the project didn't spawn much in the way of efforts to help others with scarring or reduced mobility, in or out of Japan. The fear that exposure to radiation is linked to cancer seems justified and perhaps dealing with that has been the nation's highest priority.
It's a sad tale which humanises an inhuman event. Chisolm deals with the issues calmly and dispassionately and she writes well.