America, land of mercy

Abstract

Kurihara Sadako, poet of Hiroshima, survived the atomic bombing of that city. Then thirty-two and today eighty-one, she has dedicated her life to the memory of 6 August and to the fight against nuclear weapons. Many of her eloquent poems deal with postwar attempts to hide the true face of Hiroshima. They also indict Japan and its rulers for wartime crimes and the Japan-U.S. alliance. Kurihara wrote the following poem after hearing that the U.S. Senate had called the dropping of the bombs merciful.