SENKA-NO-NAKANO-KODOMOTACHI

Chihiro began illustrating Senka no naka no Kodomotachi (Children in the flames of War) from 1972 to 1973, during the final stages of the Vietnam War, when the entire country was being heavily bombed. At the time, she said, “The reason why I’m in a hurry to continue illustrating books on Vietnam is because if I don’t do it now, I’m afraid all the Vietnamese people, and all those children would disappear. So, I have to finish these pictures as soon as possible.” Chihiro began working on this book soon after completing Kaasan wa Orusu (Mother is not Home). The fact that the bombers flying daily over the heads of Vietnamese children were launched from U.S. air bases in Japan greatly pained Chihiro. When creating this picture book, she thought about those children while recalling her own experience of World War II. Chihiro, who was already in poor health when working on this picture book, passed away on August 8, 1974, one year after finishing the book, without knowing the end of the Vietnam War. Senka no naka no Kodomotachi (Children in the flames of War) was the last picture book that she completed.

Last year, the year before last, and the year before that,
Red cyclamen flowers
Gave a touch of color
To my winter workroom.
One by one, as each burst into bloom,
They would exchange glances with me as I worked.

Last year, the year before last, and the year before that,
Bombs rained down upon the faces
Of Vietnamese children.

In the pellucid petals
Of red cyclamen I see them,
The children who died―
And with their eyes they speak to me:
All we ever knew was war
Our whole lives long.

From Senka no naka no Kodomo-tachi (Children in the Flames of War), Iwasaki Shoten, 1973