Hiroshima

by

John Hersey

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Hiroshima makes teaching easy.

Reverend Kiyoshi Tanimoto Character Analysis

A Methodist minister, and one of the six central characters of Hiroshima, Reverend Tanimoto is uninjured in the bombing on August 6, 1945. In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, he tends to the wounded, ferries victims across the river toward a Christian Novitiate where they can obtain medical care, and generally prioritizes the happiness and safety of other people. For the rest of his life, Hersey explains in the long final chapter of the book, Tanimoto devotes himself to raising money for his church (which was destroyed in the explosion) and campaigning for the design of a global peace center in Hiroshima. Tanimoto succeeds in raising funds for his church, and for burn victims from the bombing; however, he has difficulty enacting any of his more ambitious plans, partly because he acquires a reputation for being self-absorbed and publicity-starved.

Reverend Kiyoshi Tanimoto Quotes in Hiroshima

The Hiroshima quotes below are all either spoken by Reverend Kiyoshi Tanimoto or refer to Reverend Kiyoshi Tanimoto. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
The Atomic Age, Politics, and Morality Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

A hundred thousand people were killed by the atomic bomb, and these six were among the survivors. They still wonder why they lived when so many others died.

Related Characters: Dr. Masakazu Fujii, Father Wilhelm Kleinsorge, Hatsuyo Nakamura, Dr. Terufumi Sasaki, Reverend Kiyoshi Tanimoto
Page Number: 2
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 2 Quotes

All the way, he overtook dreadfully burned and lacerated people, and in his guilt he turned to right and left as he hurried and said to some of them, "Excuse me for having no burden like yours."

Related Characters: Reverend Kiyoshi Tanimoto (speaker)
Page Number: 30
Explanation and Analysis:

He experienced such horror at disturbing the dead—preventing them, he momentarily felt, from launching their craft and going on their ghostly way— that he said out loud, "Please forgive me for taking this boat. I must use it for others, who are alive."

Related Characters: Reverend Kiyoshi Tanimoto (speaker)
Page Number: 37
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3 Quotes

The sounds came from one of the sandspits, and those in the punt could see, in the reflected light of the still-burning fires, a number of wounded people lying at the edge of the river, already partly covered by the flooding tide. Mr. Tanimoto wanted to help them, but the priests were afraid that Father Schiffer would die if they didn't hurry, and they urged their ferryman along.

Related Characters: Reverend Kiyoshi Tanimoto, Father Schiffer
Page Number: 44
Explanation and Analysis:

When they came to know the war was ended—that is, Japan was defeated, they, of course, were deeply disappointed, but followed after their Emperor's commandment in calm spirit, making whole-hearted sacrifice for the everlasting peace of the world—and Japan started her new way.

Related Characters: Reverend Kiyoshi Tanimoto (speaker), Emperor Hirohito
Page Number: 65
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 5 Quotes

Nor did he have any place in the Japanese peace movement, for he had been out of the country at crucial moments in its development and, besides, his Christian outlook made him suspicious of the radical groups that were on the cutting edge of antinuclear activity.

Related Characters: Reverend Kiyoshi Tanimoto
Page Number: 148
Explanation and Analysis:

He was slowing down a bit. His memory, like the world's, was getting spotty.

Related Characters: Reverend Kiyoshi Tanimoto
Page Number: 152
Explanation and Analysis:
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Reverend Kiyoshi Tanimoto Quotes in Hiroshima

The Hiroshima quotes below are all either spoken by Reverend Kiyoshi Tanimoto or refer to Reverend Kiyoshi Tanimoto. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
The Atomic Age, Politics, and Morality Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

A hundred thousand people were killed by the atomic bomb, and these six were among the survivors. They still wonder why they lived when so many others died.

Related Characters: Dr. Masakazu Fujii, Father Wilhelm Kleinsorge, Hatsuyo Nakamura, Dr. Terufumi Sasaki, Reverend Kiyoshi Tanimoto
Page Number: 2
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 2 Quotes

All the way, he overtook dreadfully burned and lacerated people, and in his guilt he turned to right and left as he hurried and said to some of them, "Excuse me for having no burden like yours."

Related Characters: Reverend Kiyoshi Tanimoto (speaker)
Page Number: 30
Explanation and Analysis:

He experienced such horror at disturbing the dead—preventing them, he momentarily felt, from launching their craft and going on their ghostly way— that he said out loud, "Please forgive me for taking this boat. I must use it for others, who are alive."

Related Characters: Reverend Kiyoshi Tanimoto (speaker)
Page Number: 37
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3 Quotes

The sounds came from one of the sandspits, and those in the punt could see, in the reflected light of the still-burning fires, a number of wounded people lying at the edge of the river, already partly covered by the flooding tide. Mr. Tanimoto wanted to help them, but the priests were afraid that Father Schiffer would die if they didn't hurry, and they urged their ferryman along.

Related Characters: Reverend Kiyoshi Tanimoto, Father Schiffer
Page Number: 44
Explanation and Analysis:

When they came to know the war was ended—that is, Japan was defeated, they, of course, were deeply disappointed, but followed after their Emperor's commandment in calm spirit, making whole-hearted sacrifice for the everlasting peace of the world—and Japan started her new way.

Related Characters: Reverend Kiyoshi Tanimoto (speaker), Emperor Hirohito
Page Number: 65
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 5 Quotes

Nor did he have any place in the Japanese peace movement, for he had been out of the country at crucial moments in its development and, besides, his Christian outlook made him suspicious of the radical groups that were on the cutting edge of antinuclear activity.

Related Characters: Reverend Kiyoshi Tanimoto
Page Number: 148
Explanation and Analysis:

He was slowing down a bit. His memory, like the world's, was getting spotty.

Related Characters: Reverend Kiyoshi Tanimoto
Page Number: 152
Explanation and Analysis: