Legacy of Japan's champion of medicine, faith who persevered after atomic bomb endures

(OSV News) -- Takashi Nagai was a medical doctor and atomic bomb survivor.

But it was his radical conversion to Christ that started a new chapter in the life of a man who -- thanks to his faith and medical genius -- would save his countrymen from the crushing consequences of the August 1945 atomic bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Japan.

Born into a Buddhist family in 1908, Nagai's early years offered little indication that he would one day become one of the most significant Catholic voices in modern Japan.

According to Tokusaburo Nagai, his grandson and director of the Nagai Takashi Memorial Museum in Nagasaki, Nagai's conversion to Catholicism began after his mother's death of brain hemorrhage in 1930.

"He opened his eyes to the 'essence of the soul'" through her passing, his grandson told OSV News.

Still, conversion did not come quickly. A brilliant student of medicine, Nagai became a pioneer in radiology.

"Yet it was precisely this commitment to reason and truth that eventually led him to Christianity," Kevin M. Doak, professor at Georgetown University in Washington, told OSV News.

On Dec. 24, 1932, he was invited for Christmas vigil Mass and dinner by the Moriyama family -- Catholics who prayed that he could "know Christ through his sick." That night he met their daughter -- Midori -- who'd turn out to be the love of his life.

Having experienced the Lord's presence for the first time that Christmas night, he'd recall later: "I felt someone close to me that I didn't know yet."

"His spiritual journey was nurtured by the Moriyama family -- descendants of the 'hidden Christians' who had preserved their faith in secret during centuries of persecution -- and, above all, by Midori, the devout Catholic woman he married," emphasized Doak, a professor who specializes in Japanese nationalism and democratic thought.

Gabriele Di Comite, leader of the Italian private association Amici di Takashi e Midori Nagai (Friends of Takashi and Midori Nagai) -- whose goal is to spread the witness of the married couple and promote their sainthood cause -- underlined the importance of Nagai's wife in his spiritual journey.

"Midori was a very discreet and silent person, although very strong in faith," he told OSV News. "She accompanied him through every stage of his life, showing him that life is God's calling, that God calls us to Himself."

When Nagai was ordered to fight in Japan's war against China in January 1933, it was Midori's lovingly knit sweaters and gloves that kept him warm. Upon returning from the front where he saw the worst of brutalities, instead of turning to parties and alcohol, like many soldiers did, he decided to visit the Urakami Cathedral in Nagasaki.

There, a monk told him: "The Gospel is experienced by praying, it cannot be understood with intelligence" like radiology. Nagai further immerses himself into the Catholic faithand prepares for his June 9, 1934, baptism, for which he chose the name Paul.

Takashi and Midori married in August that same year, and they had four children: son Makoto (1935-2001), and three daughters, Ikuko (1937-1939), Sasano, who died shortly after her birth, and Kayano (1941-2008).

Life was not easy for them -- on the day when his daughter Ikuko was born, the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out (1937-1945) and Takashi was sent to the front as a surgeon. While he was away, Ikuko died during an epidemic. Both then and when he diagnosed himself in 1945 with chronic myeloid leukemia -- a consequence of his work as a radiologist -- he and Midori turned to God to seek answers.

When the bomb exploded over Nagasaki on that fateful August morning, Nagai's world -- his hospital, community and home -- was obliterated. His beloved Midori was killed instantly, one of an estimated 40,000 to 75,000 inhabitants of Nagasaki who perished.

Di Comite explained: "It was through his faith that he was able to live the tragedy of the atomic destruction to the truth of its very meaning. He understood that we normally hang on to things destined to become ashes. Therefore, we must live for 'That which never dies.'"

The Italian advocate of Nagai's sainthood cause pointed out that the title of Nagai's essay -- available in several European languages, though still not in English -- "That Which Never Dies," became the core message of the Catholic grassroots movement that has formed around his memory.

The couple's two children Makoto and Kayano escaped the atomic bombing only because they've been evacuated to the countryside to stay with their grandmother prior to Aug. 9 dropping of the American "Fat Man."

"I have to postpone the moment when these children become orphans, even by one day or one hour," Nagai wrote as he struggled with his leukemia. The couple's son was 10 and their daughter was 4 at the time.

"Even if it is only one minute or one second I want to reduce the length of time they must suffer loneliness," the doctor wrote.

Nagai's life after his conversion, according to his grandson, was marked by acts of service.

"As a medical professional, he conducted X-ray examinations for a long period of time without regard for danger -- and despite being seriously injured after the atomic bombing -- he worked in rescue operations for the victims," Tokusaburo Nagai told OSV News.

"Even while bedridden, he appealed for peace through his writings and donated royalties to the city's reconstruction," he said.

As a father, he passed on his beliefs to his children. "He taught them Christ's teachings: 'Love your neighbor as yourself,' and even if you are the last person in this world, you should definitely shout against war," his grandson said.

Professor Doak, for his part, told OSV News that Nagai "is a key figure in the history of Catholicism in modern Japan."

What makes him unique, he said, "is that he was a medical doctor, an expert in radiology, who was working near ground zero when the atomic bomb exploded over Nagasaki and not only lived to write about it, but had a quick grasp of the scientific work that led to the building of the atomic bomb. He always told his children not to fear nuclear power, as it can be used for good (healing people) or bad (killing innocent people)."

The Georgetown professor also emphasized Nagai's role in postwar Japanese literature and culture. His memoir, "The Bells of Nagasaki," was published shortly after the war and adapted into a film in 1950. "The book, movie, and songs based on it have had a significant impact on postwar Japanese discourse," Doak explained.

Di Comite told OSV News that Nagai's faith was what allowed him to interpret the atomic tragedy in spiritual terms: "It was through his faith that he was able to understand and declare that the destruction of the Christian people and city was a sacrifice offered to gain peace for the entire world (after that, in fact, World War II ended)."

It was his faith thanks to which "he was able to bring hope and peace to the survivors of that tragedy, shedding light in that environment dominated by death and suffering; that he was able to generate around himself a movement of faith and hope, in prayer, among his people who started reconstructing the city of Nagasaki."

According to Doak, "more attention to the Catholic victims in Nagasaki is important for Americans and others to understand -- few seem aware that the bomb went off almost directly over the Cathedral of Urakami, then the largest Catholic church in Asia."

Nagai exemplified a form of Catholic Japanese patriotism that is often overlooked, Doak added. This dual identity, he said, reflects the broader contribution of Christianity to Japanese national identity.

"Christianity has played a larger role in shaping 20th-century Japan than it often gets credit for," the Georgetown professor told OSV News. "Far disproportionate to its official number of adherents, Christianity, especially Catholicism, is regarded positively by most Japanese people."

Doak pointed out that Japan has had several Christian prime ministers, including three Catholics, and that even the Empress Emerita Michiko is widely recognized as a Catholic.
Nagai died on May 1, 1951, at age 43.

Tokusaburo told OSV News that the Nagai Memorial Museum in Nagasaki receives approximately 120,000 visitors each year, 70% of whom are students.

"I think it is a great thing for students to learn about the historical facts of war and the atomic bomb through Takashi's life," he said.

Di Comite added that young people today, both in Japan and abroad, still respond strongly to Nagai's story. "All the people, Christians and non-Christians, including young people who get to know the story of Takashi and Midori, are deeply moved. They feel, through their testimony, that we are made for great things -- for truth and true love."

In 2021, the Catholic association Amici di Takashi e Midori Nagai submitted a formal request for the opening of a sainthood cause for the Japanese couple. "With this, Takashi and Midori Nagai have become Servants of God," Di Comite told OSV News. "We are now working with the church of Japan to accomplish the other steps required to start the actual investigations."

When asked by OSV News about the family's view of the process, Tokusaburo, Midori and Takashi's grandson responded: "We only obey God's will."