Voids in Weather Map — Manuscript handwritten with fountain pen by Kunio Yanagida on display in Hiroshima
Nov. 6, 2023
by Ikumi Yorikane, Staff Writer
A handwritten manuscript of the non-fiction publication Kuhaku no Tenkizu (in English, ‘Voids in weather map’), authored by Kunio Yanagida, is part of the special exhibit “Voids in Weather Map” (eponymous title) now being held at the Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims, in the city’s Naka Ward. The book depicts the struggles faced by staff of the Hiroshima Regional Meteorological Observatory immediately after the atomic bombing. The handwritten manuscript is on loan from the author, Mr. Yanagida, who is 87 years old, and will be available for public viewing through February 2024.
The manuscript’s 700 pages, inscribed with 400 characters per page, show the author’s repeated edits and revisions with his fountain pen. Mr. Yanagida discovered the original manuscript in the fall of this year while sorting out his own papers and materials. The Peace Memorial Hall decided to exhibit the manuscript for a limited period, starting on November 6, to coincide with its holding of the special exhibit.
A visitor to the exhibit, Misa Uchiyama, 28, a freelance writer living in Hiroshima’s Saeki Ward, peered at the handwritten manuscript. “The characters have a flow to them. I can imagine that Mr. Yanagida wrote all at once the impressions he had after his interviews with the staff.”
The book was published in 1975. It paints a picture of Hiroshima, a city that was struck by the double disasters of the atomic bombing in August 1945 and the Makurazaki typhoon the following month in September. The special exhibit also features personal accounts written by meteorological observatory staff members at the time. The exhibit will run until February 29 of next year. Admission is free.
(Originally published on November 8, 2023)
A handwritten manuscript of the non-fiction publication Kuhaku no Tenkizu (in English, ‘Voids in weather map’), authored by Kunio Yanagida, is part of the special exhibit “Voids in Weather Map” (eponymous title) now being held at the Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims, in the city’s Naka Ward. The book depicts the struggles faced by staff of the Hiroshima Regional Meteorological Observatory immediately after the atomic bombing. The handwritten manuscript is on loan from the author, Mr. Yanagida, who is 87 years old, and will be available for public viewing through February 2024.
The manuscript’s 700 pages, inscribed with 400 characters per page, show the author’s repeated edits and revisions with his fountain pen. Mr. Yanagida discovered the original manuscript in the fall of this year while sorting out his own papers and materials. The Peace Memorial Hall decided to exhibit the manuscript for a limited period, starting on November 6, to coincide with its holding of the special exhibit.
A visitor to the exhibit, Misa Uchiyama, 28, a freelance writer living in Hiroshima’s Saeki Ward, peered at the handwritten manuscript. “The characters have a flow to them. I can imagine that Mr. Yanagida wrote all at once the impressions he had after his interviews with the staff.”
The book was published in 1975. It paints a picture of Hiroshima, a city that was struck by the double disasters of the atomic bombing in August 1945 and the Makurazaki typhoon the following month in September. The special exhibit also features personal accounts written by meteorological observatory staff members at the time. The exhibit will run until February 29 of next year. Admission is free.
(Originally published on November 8, 2023)
