ABSTRACT
The Effects of the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki is a mysterious film in every way. 1 For decades it was known as the maboroshi atomic bomb film in Japan. Maboroshi loosely translates ‘phantom’ and is used for objects whose existence is known but whose location remains a mystery. Their shadowy presence tugs on the mind. In fact, this film came close – on many occasions – to a very real non-existence. Its production stopped and resumed by the American military, subsumed and redirected by both Japanese and American governments, confiscated on several occasions, suppressed and lost for decades, censored by the Japanese government, and defiantly repatriated by common Japanese citizens, The Effects of the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki has a complex history closely intertwined with the postwar experience of Japan. Simply described, it is a 2 hour 45 minute science documentary about the aftermath of the atomic bombings from a scientific perspective. Shot in 1945 and finished in the first months of 1946, it represents the first full-fledged documentary on the atomic bomb attacks. However, its meaning expands far beyond this. Since surfacing from its maboroshi existence, it has been picked apart and appropriated by countless feature films, documentaries, books, magazines, and television reports. Its images have even been converted into other media, such as still photography, animation, and the special effects of feature films. These appropriations have turned The Effects of the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki into the source for many of humanity’s images and icons for the atomic bomb attacks. Had the suppression of this film been successful, every single film about the bombings would be different. More importantly, our very memory of the events would be radically altered. In this sense, we can say The Effects of the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki is the starting point for hibakusha cinema… ironic for a film often described as ‘an accumulation of scientific facts [that] eliminates the human factor altogether.’ 2
