Barefoot Gen vol.1: A Cartoon Story of Hiroshima (Barefoot Gen) Paperback – September 1, 2004

WWII took its toll in multiple ways in Japan, which is depicted and portrayed vividly in the series. Not all people would find the story pleasant but all people should know this side of WWII.The series should be translated into multiple languages and read by people now fighting somewhere in the world in the name of the common good.

I am awed by this book, which I purchased after having watched a documentary recently about the author and his “Gen” novels on Japan’s public television station (NHK).First published in serial form in 1972 and 1973 “Barefoot Gen”, which opens in April 1945, tells the story of what life was like in Hiroshima before the atomic bomb was dropped, and ends in its aftermath. Almost more than any other book, Keiji Nakazawa’s manga (cartoon) masterpiece is a novel of resourcefulness at a time when Japan was literally on the ropes. It was a time of appalling deprivation for the civilian population, and appalling losses by the Japanese military. “Barefoot Gen” is the story of Keiji Nakazawa’s experience of life in Hiroshima at that time, when the world was falling apart around him and, on that fateful day on August 6th, 1945 when the Enola Gay dropped “Little Boy” on Hiroshima and life as its citizens had known it came to a horrifically disastrous end. The story is graphically told in way that is mesmerizing and unforgettable.More than an autobiographical account, “Barefoot Gen” is an antiwar masterpiece, focusing as it does on the horrendous consequences of modern war on armies and, more importantly, on civilians. “Human beings are foolish,” he writes in an introductory note. “Thanks to bigotry, religious fanaticism, and the greed of those who traffic in war, the Earth is never at peace, and the spectre of nuclear war is never far away. I hope that Gen’s story conveys to its readers the preciousness of peace and the courage we need to live strongly, yet peacefully.” It’s a message that we need to take to heart today.

All humans in the world should read this.

英語での表現を学ぶつもりで買いました。読み終わればVol.2も買うつもりです。

はだしのゲンの英語版を手に取って見たかった故。ＮＨＫテレビでゲンが２０か国語に翻訳されているのを知ったことが購入のきっかけ。保存状態も良かった。

It is a great privilege to have an English version of Barefoot Gen, which is an important reference about the dolorous Hiroshima atomic bombing. It was announced as used, second hand, but it came like new!