News29 May 2025
[Webinar in Japanese with automated English translation] 80 years after the War - Auschwitz, Atomic Bombs, and Japanese Cherries
The large-scale massacres at the Auschwitz camps and the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II were some of the cruellest and most tragic events in human history. Naoko Abe’s non-fiction book The Martyr and the Red Kimono: A Fearless Priest’s Sacrifice and A New Generation of Hope in Japan (Chatto & Windus) carefully traces the footsteps of Father Maximilian Kolbe, who was killed at Auschwitz after offering his life in place of another prisoner, Tōmei Ozaki, who survived the Nagasaki atomic bombing, and the cherry researcher and peace activist Masatoshi Asari. The book tells the story of how in their quest for light and humanity, these three men went through unimaginable sufferings in the fight against evil. Japanese cherries, as a symbol of peace, form a surprising link between the three of them.
In this webinar, the author Naoko Abe will first discuss the lives of these three men, their message of peace, and the importance in our increasingly troubled world of learning about their lives and deaths and heeding their words. She will then be joined for a discussion by Masatoshi Asari, who is still going strong at 94 years of age. They will discuss Mr. Asari’s peace activities over the last 70 years, in which he sends overseas beautiful cherry trees he has created himself, with the intention of atoning for Japan’s past and building friendly relationships with the UK and other countries around the world.
Contributors:
Naoko Abe
Based in the UK, Naoko Abe writes as a journalist and non-fiction author in both Japanese and English. She has published five books in Japanese. The Japanese version of her book “Cherry” Ingram: The Englishman Who Saved Japan’s Blossoms won the 64th Nihon Essayist Club Award in 2016, and the English version was published in spring 2019 in both the US and the UK. The book attracted a great deal of attention, was translated into eight languages, and was long-listed for the Historical Writers’ Association Non-Fiction Crown. The English version of The Martyr and the Red Kimono was published in February 2024, with the Japanese version due to be published in July this year by Iwanami Shoten.
Masatoshi Asari
Born in 1931 in Nanae, Hokkaido, he is one of Japan’s leading cherry tree breeders. Alongside his work as a primary school teacher he has researched cherries for many years, and has created 116 new varieties. Known as Matsumae cherries, these have spread around the world and are much loved. As a local historian, he has revealed the facts about Korean forced labourers and Allied prisoners of war in Hokkaido during the War. To atone for Japan’s behaviour before and during the War, and to build peace with other countries, he continues to send overseas cherries he has grown himself.
- Date: Thursday 26th June 2025
- Time: 10:00 am – 11:30 am BST (UK)
- Location: online, accessible via Zoom
- Language: Japanese with automated English translation