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City of Matsue restricts access to “Barefoot Gen” in schools, saying A-bombing depictions are “too graphic”

by Koji Higuchi, Staff Writer

On August 16, it was learned that, last December, the Matsue Municipal Board of Education urged elementary and junior high schools in the city to restrict access to Hadashi no Gen(Barefoot Gen), a manga series which depicts the horror of the atomic bombing, and stop lending the books at school libraries. Calling Barefoot Gen “too graphic,” the board of education has raised concerns involving freedom of expression with this action.

Barefoot Gen is the signature work of Keiji Nakazawa, originally a Hiroshima native, who passed away last December. Among the ten volumes of the series, the board of education deemed that volumes six to ten “would be harmful to a child’s development.” Scenes cited include those which depict acts by the former Imperial Japanese Army in mainland China, such as the beheading of a Chinese woman with a sword and the sexual assault of women.

According to the board of education, at a meeting last December that was attended by 35 elementary school principals and 17 junior high school principals, board members asked the principals to place the Barefoot Gen series in storage rather than putting the books on library shelves so students would not have access to them. The schools are said to have accepted the request and continue to keep the books from their students.

In August 2012, the Matsue City Assembly had received a petition from a citizen who argued that the books provided a “misguided” view of history to children and demanded that they be removed from school libraries in the city. But the city assembly decided unanimously not to adopt the petition at its plenary session held last December.

Yasunori Furukawa, deputy superintendent of the board of education, explained, “This isn’t about perceptions of history. Our basic belief is that the graphic depictions found in the books aren’t suitable for children.” He added, “Although I think the series has significant value as peace education material, we have no intention of changing our policy.”

Kazuyoshi Masakado, president of Chobunsha, the publisher of the Barefoot Gen series, responded, “Mr. Nakazawa would say ‘As many times as I’ve tried to depict the atomic bombing, I still can’t fully express the horror.’ I’m appalled at a decision like this, which censors the thoughts that children are permitted to think.”

Keywords

Barefoot Gen
Barefoot Gen is a manga series based on author Keiji Nakazawa’s own experience of the atomic bombing. The main character of the story, Gen Nakamoto, loses family members in the blast and then struggles to go on. More than 10 million copies of Mr. Nakazawa’s books in different forms have been published, with translations in about 20 languages, including English and Spanish.

(Originally published on August 17, 2013)

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