Memories of Hiroshima: Imanishi Sukeyuki, storyteller and victim

Imanishi Sukeyuki was born on October 28th, 1923, in Ōsaka. In 1942 he started to attend a course on French literature at Waseda University, where he was a student of Professor Tsubota Jōji 坪田譲治 (1890-1982). In 1943 he was forced to abandon his studies to join Gakutoshutsujin (学徒出陣), the military leverage campaign of students from all over Japan who were called to make up for the lack of men at the front. In August 1945 he wore the Navy uniform while providing help on the site of Hiroshima disaster, where he was exposed to high doses of radiation. When the Japanese empire surrendered at the end of the conflict, Imanishi resumed his studies and graduated in 1947. In the following years, he published a large number of works which opened a new phase in the history of Japanese children’s literature.