Midori Naka
Encyclopedia
Midori Naka (19 June 1909 — 24 August 1945) was a Japanese
stage actress of the Shingeki
style, famous in her country at the time of her death. She survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima
on 6 August 1945, only to die 18 days later. She was the first person in the world whose death was officially certified to be a result of radiation poisoning
. Her notability helped publicize the adverse effects of exposure to radiation and encouraged more research on this area.
district of Chūō, Tokyo
in Japan
, the third of four daughters of a military officer. She graduated from Osaka Jogakuin College
, before joining the Asakusha samurai drama group in 1928. In 1931, she entered the newly-formed Tsukiji Shokekijo (Tsukiji
Little Theater) and distinguished herself as an actress of the Shingeki
style, especially for her performancesas the titular character in the production of Lady of the camellias. In the mid-1930s, she helped her sisters run a coffee shop in the Asakusa district in Tokyo. In 1940, the Tsukiji troupe was shut down by the police. She joined the Kuraku-za(Pain and Pleasure) theater company in 1942. Tokyo air raids made activity difficult, and the troupe disbanded in January 1945. In March 1945, Naka became lead actress in the Sakura-tai (Japanese for "Cherry Blossom Unit"), a newly-formed mobile theater group organized by actor Sadao Maruyama.
on 7 June 1945, intent on spending the season there. The nine members of the troupe rented a house that was located about 650 metres (2,132.5 ft) from the ground zero of the atomic bombing of August 1945. They shared this house with members of another theater troupe of six members, the Sangoza.
Naka and sixteen of her colleagues were at the house in Hiroshima on 6 August 1945, when an atomic bomb detonated over the city. Thirteen of the seventeen actors were killed instantly. Naka survived, along with Sadao Maruyama, Keiko Sonoi and Shozo Takayama. Naka later described her experience:
was 37,8°C and her pulse
80. In the following days, her hair began to fall out and her white blood cell
count sank from the normal count of 8,000 to 300-400 (other sources indicate 500 to 600 white blood cells), much to the surprise of the doctors. Her red blood cell
count was at the 3,000,000 level. By August 21, her body temperature and pulse had risen to 41°C and 158 respectively. On August 23, twelve to thirteen purple patches appeared upon her body. The same day, Naka maintained she felt better. However, she died the following day, on 24 August 1945. She was the last surviving member of Sakura-tai; all three other survivors had already perished by then, also due to radiation poisoning. Naka was the first person to have radiation poisoning as an official cause of death. She also provided the first live testimony of the Hiroshima bombing to be widely publicized in the media.
argues that the publicity surrounding the illness of Midori Naka, owing to her status as a public figure, was instrumental in catapulting the so-called "radiation sickness" to the public eye. Until Naka's story came forward, there was confusion and obscurity surrounding the mysterious "new sickness" from which many of the atomic bombing survivors were suffering. Jungk argues that, thanks to the prominence of Naka and her personal story, proper investigation and examination of the radiation poisoning phenomenon commenced, potentially saving the lives of many of the people exposed to radiation during the bombings.
On 11 September 1945, the results of 37 autopsies of bomb victims conducted by the scientific team of Kyoto University were confiscated by the US Army General Thomas Farrell. The confiscated material removed to the United States included the remains of Naka. Her remains were carefully studied and were returned to Japan in 1972, in a set of glass preserving jars. They are since exhibited in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial
.
French poet Jacques Gaucheron references Naka in his poem Sous le Signe d'Hiroshima (Under the Star of Hiroshima), likening her to a "flake of snow". The poem was included in the Volume 48 of literary journal Europe: Revue Littéraire Mensuelle, published in 1970.
In 1988, a docudrama
that dealt with the formation of the Sakura-tai and the fate of its members was released. The film, Sakura-tai Chiru was directed by Kaneto Shindō
. Midori Naka was portrayed by actress Yasuko Yagami.
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
stage actress of the Shingeki
Shingeki
Shingeki was the Japanese retelling of Western realist theatre during the late 19th century through to the early 20th century. Retellings included the works of Western writers such as Henrik Ibsen, Anton Chekhov, Maxim Gorky, and Eugene O'Neill, and reflected the styles of Russian proscenium theatre...
style, famous in her country at the time of her death. She survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
During the final stages of World War II in 1945, the United States conducted two atomic bombings against the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, the first on August 6, 1945, and the second on August 9, 1945. These two events are the only use of nuclear weapons in war to date.For six months...
on 6 August 1945, only to die 18 days later. She was the first person in the world whose death was officially certified to be a result of radiation poisoning
Radiation poisoning
Acute radiation syndrome also known as radiation poisoning, radiation sickness or radiation toxicity, is a constellation of health effects which occur within several months of exposure to high amounts of ionizing radiation...
. Her notability helped publicize the adverse effects of exposure to radiation and encouraged more research on this area.
Early Life and Acting career
Midori (Japanese for "green") Naka was born in the NihonbashiNihonbashi
, or Nihombashi, is a business district of Chūō, Tokyo, Japan which grew up around the bridge of the same name which has linked two sides of the Nihonbashi River at this site since the 17th century. The first wooden bridge was completed in 1603, and the current bridge made of stone dates from 1911...
district of Chūō, Tokyo
Chuo, Tokyo
is one of the 23 special wards that form the heart of Tokyo, Japan. The ward refers to itself as Chūō City in English.Its Japanese name literally means "Central Ward," and it is historically the main commercial center of Tokyo, although Shinjuku has risen to challenge it since the end of World War II...
in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, the third of four daughters of a military officer. She graduated from Osaka Jogakuin College
Osaka Jogakuin College
is a private women's university in Osaka city, Osaka Prefecture, Japan.-External links:*...
, before joining the Asakusha samurai drama group in 1928. In 1931, she entered the newly-formed Tsukiji Shokekijo (Tsukiji
Tsukiji
Tsukiji is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, Japan, the site of the Tsukiji fish market. Literally meaning "reclaimed land," it lies near the Sumida River on land reclaimed from Tokyo Bay in the 18th century, during the Edo period....
Little Theater) and distinguished herself as an actress of the Shingeki
Shingeki
Shingeki was the Japanese retelling of Western realist theatre during the late 19th century through to the early 20th century. Retellings included the works of Western writers such as Henrik Ibsen, Anton Chekhov, Maxim Gorky, and Eugene O'Neill, and reflected the styles of Russian proscenium theatre...
style, especially for her performancesas the titular character in the production of Lady of the camellias. In the mid-1930s, she helped her sisters run a coffee shop in the Asakusa district in Tokyo. In 1940, the Tsukiji troupe was shut down by the police. She joined the Kuraku-za(Pain and Pleasure) theater company in 1942. Tokyo air raids made activity difficult, and the troupe disbanded in January 1945. In March 1945, Naka became lead actress in the Sakura-tai (Japanese for "Cherry Blossom Unit"), a newly-formed mobile theater group organized by actor Sadao Maruyama.
Hiroshima bombing
Together with the Sakura-tai troupe, Naka moved to HiroshimaHiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...
on 7 June 1945, intent on spending the season there. The nine members of the troupe rented a house that was located about 650 metres (2,132.5 ft) from the ground zero of the atomic bombing of August 1945. They shared this house with members of another theater troupe of six members, the Sangoza.
Naka and sixteen of her colleagues were at the house in Hiroshima on 6 August 1945, when an atomic bomb detonated over the city. Thirteen of the seventeen actors were killed instantly. Naka survived, along with Sadao Maruyama, Keiko Sonoi and Shozo Takayama. Naka later described her experience:
Illness and death
A few days later, thanks to her status as a famous actress, Naka was able to find a seat into one of the rare trains that were then travelling to the capital. On August 16, Naka voluntarily entered the hospital of Tokyo University where she was examined by some of the best doctors in the country, including Dr. Matsuo Tsuzuki, arguably the foremost radiation expert in Japan at the time. In the hospital, she was given repeated blood transfusions by the doctors in an attempt to save her life. At the beginning of her hospitalization, her body temperatureFever
Fever is a common medical sign characterized by an elevation of temperature above the normal range of due to an increase in the body temperature regulatory set-point. This increase in set-point triggers increased muscle tone and shivering.As a person's temperature increases, there is, in...
was 37,8°C and her pulse
Pulse
In medicine, one's pulse represents the tactile arterial palpation of the heartbeat by trained fingertips. The pulse may be palpated in any place that allows an artery to be compressed against a bone, such as at the neck , at the wrist , behind the knee , on the inside of the elbow , and near the...
80. In the following days, her hair began to fall out and her white blood cell
White blood cell
White blood cells, or leukocytes , are cells of the immune system involved in defending the body against both infectious disease and foreign materials. Five different and diverse types of leukocytes exist, but they are all produced and derived from a multipotent cell in the bone marrow known as a...
count sank from the normal count of 8,000 to 300-400 (other sources indicate 500 to 600 white blood cells), much to the surprise of the doctors. Her red blood cell
Red blood cell
Red blood cells are the most common type of blood cell and the vertebrate organism's principal means of delivering oxygen to the body tissues via the blood flow through the circulatory system...
count was at the 3,000,000 level. By August 21, her body temperature and pulse had risen to 41°C and 158 respectively. On August 23, twelve to thirteen purple patches appeared upon her body. The same day, Naka maintained she felt better. However, she died the following day, on 24 August 1945. She was the last surviving member of Sakura-tai; all three other survivors had already perished by then, also due to radiation poisoning. Naka was the first person to have radiation poisoning as an official cause of death. She also provided the first live testimony of the Hiroshima bombing to be widely publicized in the media.
Legacy
Midori Naka was the first person in the world whose death was officially certified to be a result of "atomic bomb disease" (radiation poisoning). Journalist Robert JungkRobert Jungk
Robert Jungk , also known as Robert Baum and Robert Baum-Jungk, was an Austrian writer and journalist who wrote mostly on issues relating to nuclear weapons....
argues that the publicity surrounding the illness of Midori Naka, owing to her status as a public figure, was instrumental in catapulting the so-called "radiation sickness" to the public eye. Until Naka's story came forward, there was confusion and obscurity surrounding the mysterious "new sickness" from which many of the atomic bombing survivors were suffering. Jungk argues that, thanks to the prominence of Naka and her personal story, proper investigation and examination of the radiation poisoning phenomenon commenced, potentially saving the lives of many of the people exposed to radiation during the bombings.
On 11 September 1945, the results of 37 autopsies of bomb victims conducted by the scientific team of Kyoto University were confiscated by the US Army General Thomas Farrell. The confiscated material removed to the United States included the remains of Naka. Her remains were carefully studied and were returned to Japan in 1972, in a set of glass preserving jars. They are since exhibited in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial
Hiroshima Peace Memorial
Hiroshima Peace Memorial, commonly called the Atomic Bomb Dome or , in Hiroshima, Japan, is part of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996. The ruin serves as a memorial to the people who were killed in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on August 6,...
.
French poet Jacques Gaucheron references Naka in his poem Sous le Signe d'Hiroshima (Under the Star of Hiroshima), likening her to a "flake of snow". The poem was included in the Volume 48 of literary journal Europe: Revue Littéraire Mensuelle, published in 1970.
In 1988, a docudrama
Docudrama
In film, television programming and staged theatre, docudrama is a documentary-style genre that features dramatized re-enactments of actual historical events. As a neologism, the term is often confused with docufiction....
that dealt with the formation of the Sakura-tai and the fate of its members was released. The film, Sakura-tai Chiru was directed by Kaneto Shindō
Kaneto Shindo
, Hiroshima, Japan) is a Japanese film director and screenwriter. His best known films include Children of Hiroshima, The Naked Island, Onibaba, Kuroneko and A Last Note.Shindō has often made films dealing with Hiroshima or the atomic bomb...
. Midori Naka was portrayed by actress Yasuko Yagami.