Struck by Black Rain

Struck by Black Rain, known in Japan as Kuroi Ame ni Utarete, was created by manga artist Keiji Nakazawa in the early 1970s. Drawing from his own harrowing experience as a child survivor of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Nakazawa produced this work as part of his lifelong commitment to documenting the horrors of nuclear warfare. The narrative serves as a brutal, visceral exploration of the immediate aftermath of the blast and the subsequent physical and psychological trauma faced by the Hibakusha, reflecting the author's indignation toward the political systems that enabled such catastrophe.

The visual style of the volume is defined by Nakazawa's raw, expressive linework, which eschews conventional beautification to emphasize the grim reality of the ruins. The work was met with significant gravity upon its release, recognized for its unflinching honesty rather than traditional entertainment value. It laid the thematic and aesthetic groundwork for his later magnum opus, Barefoot Gen, and remains a definitive piece of anti-war literature that underscores the artist’s dedication to historical memory through the medium of gekiga.