"Barefoot Gen" by Keiji Nakazawa
Group of Volunteers Translating and Publishing a Comic
"Barefoot Gen" by Keiji Nakazawa
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日本語TOP | ENGLISH_TOP | ГЛАВНАЯ | 英語版ロシア語版の本の注文 |
| For Project Gen Project Gen is a volunteer group translating and publishing the comic/graphic novel, “Barefoot Gen,” the Japanese comic classic about the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Its purpose is to disseminate “Barefoot Gen” all over the world. It has about twenty volunteers from Russia, America and Japan |
Message from Project Gen
Sixty years have passed since the Japanese
first experienced the fear of nuclear weapons, atomic bombs in the closing days
of World War II in human history. Hundreds of thousands people fell victims to
the atomic bombs, and their aftereffects have been causing A-bomb survivors
terrible pain. Nevertheless, increasing threat of the bombs are undeniable
facts in the 21st century.
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Under the circumstances, we believe that Japan, the only country that had
A-bomb victims, must convey what the A-bombs brought to Hiroshima and Nagasaki
and what nuclear weapons will bring to human beings in order not to repeat
those tragedies. In this respect, a series of the comic "Barefoot
Gen," written by Mr. Keiji Nakazawa, is playing an important role
to condemn nuclear weapons and wars, while focusing on the precious peace.
People in the world know the words of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and “atomic
bomb” and that nuclear weapons are dreadful, but people don’t seem to know
the reality of these words. Data and records can’t express how the victims
feel. In the terrible devastation of the atomic bombings, they died asking
for water. They have their own names, history, relatives and friends. Though
they were terrified to die in the hellfire, they had lived for dreams and
hopes, and experienced the joys and sorrows of life. Others lost relatives,
got terrible burns, hid keloid scars, were discriminated because of being
bombed, and have lived in fear of radiation. How much of their suffering
and grief is truly understood? Japan is the first victim of the atomic
bomb, and at the same time Japan has to be the last. Japan has a duty to
keep telling the terror of nuclear weapons in order not to repeat the tragedy
for human beings. In that sense, a comic/graphic novel “Barefoot Gen” accuses
atomic weapons and wars, shows the importance of peace and has much to
contribute.
We hope that children and the young read “Barefoot
Gen” in libraries, schools and homes in the world, become aware of the terror
of nuclear weapons, and understand of the main character, Gen.
When Gen travels all over the world from
someone to another and talks to them in various languages, we believe that he
can play a role, if even a small one, against nuclear weapons, and the goal of
peace in the twenty-first century.
“Barefoot Gen” was performed on the stage as a musical at home and abroad.
It was also made into a film. An animated feature was made as well. When
it showed in Dallas, Texas, the author, Mr. Keiji Nakazawa, was there for
questions and answers, for which there was a long line of the audience.
Gen is taking an active role in various forms, such as an opera and “kodan.”
The book with ten volumes has started to be translated into different languages.
In the dicker of international politics, a grass-roots movement like this
seems ineffectual in some situations. We, however, through this movement,
feeling the importance to convey anew the wonderful aspect of people’s
empathy with humanism, will continue our movement.
Project Gen’s History and Activities
Originally Project Gen was made in Tokyo in 1976 in order to translate
a comic “Barefoot Gen” by Keiji Nakazawa into various languages. It was
translated into English, German, Esperanto, Indonesian, Norwegian, Swedish
and so on. Vol. 1 was published in each language. The English version was
translated as high as Vol. 4. Later Project Gen ended its activities.
Minako Tanabe, who studied in
Coincidentally Yuria Tachino and Namie Asazuma started to translate “Barefoot
Gen” into Russian in
Project Gen in Russia started to edit the pictures from Vol. 4 along with
translation in cooperation with Russian women and foreign students in 1999.
We published and started to sell copies in Japan.
We changed our name to Project Gen-Group of Volunteers Translating
and Publishing "Barefoot Gen." The tenth and last Russian volume was
published in June 2001.
In 2000, we looked for volunteers to translate “Barefoot Gen” into
English. Eight people joined us.
We edit pictures on personal computers. We published Vol. 1 and 2
through Last Gasp, a publisher in the
We are editing the English version, We sell the Russian version. We
make the speech and write to magazines to promote “Barefoot Gen.” We have
contact with the readers. We respond to inquiries from overseas publishing
companies and media.
Information
“Barefoot Gen” was translated
into various languages through other countries' publishers as well as the
English and Russian version by Project Gen: Korean, Spanish, French,
Polish, Dutch, German and so on.
