Status Updates From Zvony Nagasaki

“Though it may not be apparent to the eye, the atomic desert is gradually sending forth new shoots of life. Living with deep faith and enduring courageously, this tiny group of people, who know the happiness of weeping, is suffering to make amends for the sins of the world. People without faith have not returned. Faith alone is the motivating force behind the reconstruction of Urakami.”

“One can well imagine the terrific efforts made by the American scientists. Meanwhile, there must have been many victims, too."
　"Of course. There’s no progress in science without victims."

“Some scientists even hold that the gigantic quantity of energy emanating constantly, day and night, from the sun is nothing other than atomic energy from the constant explosion of the sun's atoms. If this is true, we could call the atom bomb a man-made, or artificial, sun.”

“I considered all that had happened since the previous day, and it tallied in every detail with what we were expecting from the phenomenon of the atomic bomb. Had this laborious work of research reached perfection? The victory of science: the defeat of my country. The triumph of physics: tragedy for Japan. Conflicting emotions churned in my mind and heart as I surveyed the appalling atomic wasteland around me.”

“From one of the hospital rooms, Dr. Ōkura brought out a big white sheet. Taking a handful of the blood that was dripping from my chin, I traced a huge circular sun on the sheet, which now became a Japanese flag. Attaching this "Rising Sun" to a bamboo pole, we lifted it up and watched it flutter loudly as the hot wind blew all around.”