Tamiki Hara

was a Japanese writer and survivor of the bombing of Hiroshima, known for his works in the atomic bomb literature genre.

Biography Hara was born in Hiroshima in 1905. In his early years, he was an introverted personality who suffered from anxiety states. While he was a middle school student, Hara became familiar with Russian literature, and also began to write poetry. He particularly admired the poets Murō Saisei and Paul Verlaine. After graduating from the English literature department of Keio University, he published prose and poetry works in Mita Bungaku magazine. In 1933, he married Sadae Sasaki, sister of literary critic Kiichi Sasaki. For a limited time, he was also affiliated with Japan's left wing movement.

The 1951 short story The Land of Heart's Desire (Shingan no kuni) was Hara's final, posthumously published work. and her 1954 novel Han ningen.

Commemoration An epitaph to Tamiki Hara was built at the site of Hiroshima Castle in November 1951 by writers and literary scholars who had been close to him. After it had been repeatedly exposed to vandalism, it was remodeled and moved to the present site next to the Atomic Bomb Dome in July 1967. The monument bears an inscription of a poem by Hara which reads:

Engraved in stone long ago, Lost in the shifting sand, In the midst of a crumbling world, The vision of one flower. （遠き日の石に刻み/砂に影おち/崩れ墜つ/天地のまなか/一輪の花の幻）

The anniversary of Tamiki Hara's death was named Kagenki (花幻忌, "Flower vision mourning"). The "Kagenki society", formed by admirers of Hara's work, hosted an exhibition in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Hara's death in 2001, and organises a memorial service in front of his monument every year.

Selected works 1945: Genbaku hisai-ji no nōto (published 1953) 1947: Summer Flower 1947: From the Ruins 1949: Prelude to Annihilation 1949: Chinkonka 1950: Utsukushiki shi no kishi ni 1951: The Land of Heart's Desire