"What Never Dies"
-
The Life of Takashi and Midori Nagai
"The neighbourhoods, the factories, the schools, the churches, the forests, the fields. Everything that had been alive and was now lifeless - everything had become just a cloak of white ash. My beloved wife was dead.
My house and all my possessions had turned to ashes.
And yet...
When I realised that I had to look for something that never dies, a new and great hope settled in my heart. I started a new life."
(T. Nagai)
You are cordially invited to the exhibition on the Irchel campus of the University of Zurich from 13 to 20 September.
What makes a Japanese couple from the last century interesting all over the world? Why an exhibition about them decades later and thousands of kilometres away?
It is the hope and message of peace that their lives radiate.
In co-operation with the association ‘Knotenpunkt - Begegnung verbindet e.V.’ we are showing the short version of the exhibition ‘What Never Dies - the Life of Takashi and Midori Nagai’ in bilingual form (German and English).
Save the Date!
An introductory event with aperitif and introductory impulse will take place on 17.09.2024 for all interested parties - participation is free of charge!
Guided Tours
Guided tours of the exhibition are offered daily free of charge, but individual appointments can also be arranged on request.
Opening hours
The regular opening hours of the university are Monday to Friday from 7 am to 7 pm. The exhibition can also be viewed outside opening hours on request.
Help us make the Nagais known!
You can also donate here:
Kulturinitiative Zürich
CH86 8080 8009 0467 1791 2
Purpose: Nagai
Background information on the exhibition
Joy, hope, happiness, a new life - it seems incredible that Japanese radiologist Dr Takashi Nagai can use these words to describe his everyday life after losing his beloved wife Midori and all his material possessions in the atomic bombing of Nagasaki in 1945. Even after the nuclear disaster, he retained the desire to discover the beauty hidden in everything.
He became a ‘mystic of peace’ as he channelled all his energy into the spiritual and material reconstruction of Nagasaki. The doctor is not characterised by hatred and vindictiveness, but by a willingness to reconcile. Through decisive life events, the writings of the scientist and philosopher Blaise Pascal and an encounter with a Christian family, he found his way to the Catholic faith. He and his wife Midori became witnesses of selfless charity for the Japanese people, who had been wounded in two wars.
Today there is war in Europe. It challenges us, politically and personally, and makes us ask ourselves: Who do we look to, who can we look to for guidance? Where is the root of peace? These questions make it worthwhile to look at the lives of Takashi and Midori Nagai here and now.
Their journey through life is characterised by the search for truth, meaning and personal vocation in the certainty that the answer can be discovered day by day. Their faith enables Takashi and Midori to devote themselves selflessly and become important figures in their surroundings.
Takashi survives the atomic bombing of Nagasaki in 1945 and despite progressive radiation sickness, which soon confines him to bed, his zest for life is unbroken. He wrote scientific and autobiographical books and campaigned tirelessly for reconciliation, peace and reconstruction. He has inspired new courage in many people. He is a decisive source of hope in his neighbourhood and far beyond Japan.
The exhibition shows the life of Takashi and Midori Nagai on 10 illustrated panels and also honours the history of Christianity in Japan as well as the local Shinto and Buddhist spirituality and Confucian ethics.