“I Survived the Atomic Bomb”: Pedro Arrupe’s Japan

The USF Center for Asia Pacific Studies welcomes our Kiriyama Fellow James Stone Lunde to give a talk on Pedro Arrupe’s experience surviving the atomic bomb. Pedro Arrupe SJ was a Spanish member of the Society of Jesus stationed in Hiroshima when the Americans dropped their first atomic bomb on the city. In the immediate aftermath of the attack, Arrupe converted his mission into a makeshift clinic in order to help Japanese civilians injured by the blast. Upon his return to Spain, Arrupe compiled his experiences into a memoir entitled Yo viví la bomba atómica. In this book, Arrupe outlines the history of Japan, describes the Jesuit mission in Japan, then details his activities in Imperial Japan prior to the outbreak of the Pacific War, and then his experiences surviving and providing succor after the atomic strike. This talk covers the history of the Jesuit mission in Japan from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries, and introduces Arrupe's remarkable memoir of humanitarian and spiritual work in the midst of apocalyptic war.
 

James Stone Lunde is a Kiriyama Fellow at the Center for Asia Pacific Studies and lecturer for East Asian Civilizations. He was born and raised in Andalusia, Spain and studied Japanese and Chinese philology at the University of Oxford. Dr. Stone Lunde pursued his graduate degree at the History Department of the University of California, Berkeley, where he has served as Visiting Lecturer for Japanese History. Dr. Stone Lunde has conducted extended research at Waseda University, Japan, with a special focus on China-Japan relations, Japanese colonialism, and the history of fascism and communism in Asia. He is currently preparing a book on the experiences of Japanese members of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, a paper on Fray Luis Sotelo and Hasekura Rokuemon Tsunenaga's visit to Seville, and a translation of Pedro Arrupe's Yo Viví La Bomba Atómica. Dr. Stone Lunde continues to be passionate about Asian art and literature, from the classics of the Heian and Tang courts to modern manga and films.
 

Community Partners: MA in Asia Pacific Studies, Theology and Religious Studies, Asian Studies, University Ministry, and Department of History