{"id":1733,"date":"2024-02-28T17:13:18","date_gmt":"2024-02-28T08:13:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chihiro.jp\/en\/?page_id=1733"},"modified":"2024-02-28T17:29:17","modified_gmt":"2024-02-28T08:29:17","slug":"senka-no-nakano-kodomotachi","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/chihiro.jp\/en\/forpeace\/#senka-no-nakano-kodomotachi","title":{"rendered":"The Picture Book: Senka no naka no Kodomo-tachi<\/em> (Children in the Flames of War)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Chihiro began illustrating Senka no naka no Kodomotachi<\/em> (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, \u201cThe reason why I\u2019m in a hurry to continue illustrating books on Vietnam is because if I don\u2019t do it now, I\u2019m afraid all the Vietnamese people, and all those children would disappear. So, I have to finish these pictures as soon as possible.\u201d Chihiro began working on this book soon after completing Kaasan wa Orusu<\/em> (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<\/em> (Children in the flames of War) was the last picture book that she completed.<\/p>\n

\nLast year, the year before last, and the year before that,
\nRed cyclamen flowers
\nGave a touch of color
\nTo my winter workroom.
\nOne by one, as each burst into bloom,
\nThey would exchange glances with me as I worked.<\/p>\n

Last year, the year before last, and the year before that,
\nBombs rained down upon the faces
\nOf Vietnamese children.<\/p>\n

In the pellucid petals
\nOf red cyclamen I see them,
\nThe children who died\u2015
\nAnd with their eyes they speak to me:
\nAll we ever knew was war
\nOur whole lives long.<\/p>\n

From Senka no naka no Kodomo-tachi <\/em>(Children in the Flames of War), Iwasaki Shoten, 1973<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"

Children among Cyclamen Flowers, From Senka no naka no Kodomo-tachi <\/em>(Children in the Flames of War), Iwasaki Shoten, 1973<\/p><\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
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Activities to convey Chihiro\u2019s wish<\/h3>\n

To convey Chihiro’s wish for peace
to as many people as possible<\/p>\n

More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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, \u201cThe reason why I\u2019m in a hurry to continue illustrating books on Vietnam is because if I don\u2019t do it now, I\u2019m afraid all the Vietnamese people, and all those children would disappear. So, I have to finish these pictures as soon as possible.\u201d 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":1544,"menu_order":6,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1733","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chihiro.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1733"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chihiro.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chihiro.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chihiro.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chihiro.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1733"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/chihiro.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1733\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1736,"href":"https:\/\/chihiro.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1733\/revisions\/1736"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chihiro.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chihiro.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}