War through the Eyes of Children
With the Help of Barefoot Gen
Original pictures from
Picture Book-Barefoot Gen
1980
Donated by Keiji Nakazawa
The atomic bombing was hell. But the war that had brought it about was even more terrifying. With Barefoot Gen, I wished to convey the reality of the war. I mustered all my strength and wrote a story about Gen. When I was tired from writing and instead acted like a weakling, a child reader encouraged me.
In this picture book, I focused on the period around the atomic bombing and described the living hell on earth created by this horrible weapon. The terror of the A-bombing and the tragedy of the survivors left their marks deeply on people’s lives thereafter.
From the author’s postscript in Picture BookâBarefoot Gen, Chobunsha Publishing Co., August 1, 1980