Black Rain By Masuji Ibuse

All for One

“Thundery black clouds had borne down on us from the direction of the city, and the rain from them had fallen in streaks the thickness of a fountain pen” (Ibuse 34). In Masuji Ibuse’s Black Rain, Shigematsu Shizuma is a main character that cares for his niece Yasuko, a young woman who experienced the “black rain” that fell on the city of Hiroshima after the bombing. Shigematsu as well as several friends and family members suffer from radiation sickness after the war, but his main concern is finding a husband for Yasuko that will believe she was not affected by the black rain. Throughout the story it is conveyed that one simple action can change everything, as the black rain staining Yasuko’s skin, a man finally wanting to marry her, and the hiding of her illness from her family all play a
part in determining the path of Yasuko’s future.
On August 6th, 1945, the Americans dropped an atomic bomb over Hiroshima.
It was a rainy day, and when droplets started to fall from the sky after the explosion they came down black, due to the large amounts of smoke and soot and rubble from the explosion, rather than transparent like water. Yasuko, currently evacuating their home near Hiroshima, is in the middle of escaping the explosion on a boat with her aunt when they are caught in the black rain that stains their face and hands. This is where all the trouble begins for Yasuko. Being a very pretty woman, many men wish to marry her, but change their minds when they find out where she was during the bombing. One bomb turned all men away from Yasuko, for fear that she might die or their children will get radiation sickness too. The war between the United States and Japan affected the citizens more than the militaries of each side, as seen in Yasuko’s situation. Something that wasn’t intended for a person changed the path of their future, putting their life at risk and turning everyone away from them. The black rain on Yasuko shows what an impact one thing not even intended for them can change someone’s life
forever.
Four years and nine months after the war ended, things started to look up for Yasuko. She had been examined by a doctor and was pronounced normal, and was proposed to by a young master named Gentaro Aono of Yamano village via a go-between. The family was certain this one would work out, but when delivering the health certificates Shigematsu sent in the go-between must have heard about Yasuko and the rumor of her being in Hiroshima. They received a letter asking for them to specify about Yasuko’s movements around Hiroshima at the time, and after she was finished crying she showed her family her journal that she had kept during the war. Shigematsu decided to copy and edit the journal entries for proof to send to the go-between, and all the while Yasuko receives letters from Gentaro that Shigematsu think show his interest in her. However, this one man’s simple action of proposal caused Shigematsu to not only copy down Yasuko’s diary but his own too so people could read it in the future. The journals are a big part of the story because they explain what happened during the war and the bombing and help the reader learn more about the events that led up to where all the characters are now and how they are doing. They also symbolize how much work Shigematsu was willing to do for Yasuko to have a husband. Gentaro’s proposal changed the family possibly for the better at the time, but things would not stay that way. “Yasuko has begun to show signs of radiation sickness. Everything has fallen through” (Ibuse 219). Yasuko has finally been struck with the curse that is radiation sickness. Though her symptoms came very late and slow, she was still at risk of death like everyone else. Shigematsu became aware of the symptoms when the Aono family broke off the marriage agreement after Gentaro received Yasuko’s letter of despair about her starting to have symptoms. Once everyone became aware of Yasuko’s symptoms, her well state of being started to decrease rapidly. Yasuko could have done more to prevent herself from getting this ill if she had asked for help from her aunt and uncle, who also should have been more aware of Yasuko’s behavior and health. The doctors told them that the disease had already spread fairly far because of how long Yasuko kept her secret. Doctor Kajita even caught Yasuko looking at home medicine books so she would treat herself with no one finding out. Once Yasuko’s illness started getting worse, she stopped trying to care for herself and gave up on taking all medicines and anything to help. She was eventually admitted to the hospital, but nothing seemed to be working. Yasuko’s lack of communication shows that not revealing her problem made it an even bigger, scarier problem. If she had mentioned something earlier to a doctor or family member they could’ve started treating it sooner and possibly had a more positive outcome. Unfortunately, she decided to keep it to herself and create even more complications.
When people do things, they don’t realize how drastically they could be changing a situation or life. The Americans bombing Hiroshima affected citizens lives all over the city, especially that of Yasuko’s, when she was caught in the black rain. Gentaro’s proposal meant everything to Yasuko and her family, and they were doing everything they had to in order to make sure it didn’t fall through. Yasuko’s lack of communication and failure to properly address an issue resulted in a much more perilous situation than she should’ve had. A simple action can change everything is a theme that this book conveys through these choices characters made and went through with that changed a young woman’s life forever. “Shigematsu looked up. ‘If a rainbow appears over those hills now, a miracle will happen,’ he prophesied to himself. ‘Let a rainbow appear – not a white one, but one of many hues – and Yasuko will be cured.’ So he told himself, with his eyes on the nearby hills, though he knew all the while it could never come true” (Ibuse 300).

Works Cited

Ibuse, Masuji. Black Rain. New York: Kodansha, 1969. Print.