Takashi Nagai

Japanese physician and witness of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. Nicknamed the saint of Urakami. His paternal ancestors were physicians; his father served as a doctor at a rural clinic, and his mother came from an ancient samurai family. Takashi spent his early childhood in the countryside, in the area of the village of Mitoya (now Unnan), where he was raised according to Confucian and Shinto traditions. In 1920 he was sent to relatives living near Matsue. There Takashi Nagai received a primary and secondary Western education. During his studies, under the influence of materialist teachers, he became an atheist. In April 1928 he entered Nagasaki Medical College. He joined a student poetry circle and the university basketball team (his height allowed it). The death of his mother in 1930 shocked Takashi Nagai, led him to a spiritual search, and made him believe in the existence of the soul. Reading Blaise Pascal’s Pensées changed his worldview, making him more sensitive and compassionate toward the world around him. In 1932 he graduated from the college; however, because of hearing problems he was not allowed to practice medicine and began research in radiotherapy. In 1933 he was sent to the front in Manchuria. Upon returning to his homeland, he was baptized and took the new name Paul in honor of the Japanese Catholic Saint Paul Miki. In 1934 he married his fiancée Maria. Four children were born in the marriage: three daughters and a son. Takashi Nagai became a member of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul (SSVDP). He visited poor patients at home and provided them with medical, spiritual, and material assistance. His wife became president of the Urakami District Women’s Association. In 1937, during the war between Japan and China, Nagai was mobilized as a surgeon in the 5th Division; in 1940 he was demobilized. He continued his research in radiotherapy while also teaching at the university. In 1944 he received a doctorate. After the bombing of the city of Nagasaki in April 1945, Paul Nagai spent day and night in the radiotherapy department, where he was exposed to radiation. In June 1945 he was diagnosed with leukemia. On the evening of August 6 of that year, after learning of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, he decided to remain in place