Town of Evening Calm and Country of Cherry Blossoms (Yūnagi no Machi, Sakura no Kuni) are two individual but related short manga written and illustrated by Fumiyo Kouno. They were first published separately in the seinen magazine Weekly Manga Action in 2003 and 2004, and then compiled into a single tankōbonnote volume. Both manga are licensed in English for North America and the United Kingdom by Last Gasp.
The stories both revolve around the negative impact the Hiroshima bombing has on a Japanese family at two different periods. Town of Evening Calm tells the story of the generation that survived: Minami Hirano, her mother Fujimi, and her brother Asahi. Country of Cherry Blossoms is about Minami's niece, Nanami Ishikawa, and the Generational Trauma provoked by the tragedy that pervades her neighbors, her relatives, and herself.
In 2006, it would be adapted into a novel and a radio drama. In 2007, it got a Live-Action Adaptation in the film Yunagi City, Sakura Country.
Kouno would later write and illustrate In This Corner of the World, which also touches on the Hiroshima bombing but instead takes place during the years leading up to the event in World War II.
Tropes:
- Generational Trauma: Japan is so traumatized by the atomic bombings that most people marginalize the survivors and the survivors (and their children) suffer the long-term effects of radiation exposure or have to see their loved ones die. This affects Nanami's childhood in several ways —she has painful memories of her mother and grandmother's radiation-induced illness, her father has flashbacks of the tragedy causing him to wander off without telling his family, and her friend Toko's parents demanded she stop spending time with her because they think Nanami's brother's asthma is a consequence of the radiation. There's also Kyoka Ota (Asahi's neighbor and eventual wife), who was thought by everyone to be stupid because of the exposure. Heck, even Fujimi, a survivor herself, forbids Asahi from dating her because of that.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: The first part of Town of Evening Calm builds up Minami and her mother Fujimi's desire to pay a visit to Minami's brother, who lives in another town. So they save up their money. It seems that Asahi was doing the same because he and Minami's aunt go to visit her. Unfortunately, radiation poisoning has caught up to Minami and she dies just as her brother and aunt arrive.
- Textplosion: Justified Trope. At the end of Town of Evening Calm, the illustrations disappear when Minami becomes too ill from radiation poisoning to open her eyes.
