Nobel Prize winner Kenzaburo Oe, dead at 88, used words to preach pacifism

Mar 13, 2023 3:16 PM PHT

Rappler.com

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Nobel Prize winner Kenzaburo Oe, dead at 88, used words to preach pacifism

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He wrote about gruesome tales of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima

TOKYO, Japan – Kenzaburo Oe, who won Japan its second Nobel Prize for literature with books about pacifism and his disabled son, has died.

His death on March 3 at the age of 88 was due to old age, his publisher Kodansha said.

Ten years old when Japan was defeated in World War Two, Oe was scarred by his memories, which included being asked in school every day if he was willing to die for the Emperor and feeling shame when realizing in bed at night that he wasn’t.

He wrote about gruesome tales of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and noted how his shock at what he heard may have been his inspiration for becoming a writer. – Rappler.com