Obasan Chapter 37 Summary

  • There are two letters. The first one says that Grandma Kato, her niece's daughter, and Naomi's mother are the only ones alive in the family.
  • Then there is the second letter. It begins with black flames, and maggots crawling in the sockets of her niece's eyes. Guys, it is gonna get way worse from here.
  • The letters came before all communication was cut off. By this time Naomi's great-grandmother was feeling much better and even walking around outside. She didn't need Naomi's mom or grandmother anymore.
  • Nakayama-sensei is unsure if he should continue, so he asks Stephen. He says to go ahead.
  • Grandma's niece just had a baby in Nagasaki, so she decided to leave Tokyo and help her. Everything was going great at her mom's place, so she wasn't sad to go. That would change. Grandma's sister, mother, and brother-in-law all died the next day, in the March 9, 1945, bombings.
  • Grandma explains that she doesn't want to talk about what happened in Nagasaki, but she can't bear it anymore. So here is the letter. Naomi's mom, on the other hand, wanted to keep it a secret until her grave. And she did.
  • August 9 is a normal day. Then there is a flash in the sky. Grandma is thrown against the wall and there is heat, blood, and voices. By the time that she gets out of the wreckage, Nagasaki looks like an alien world. All the buildings are flat. Everything is on fire. It gets worse, but you really should read this because it really explains the horror of living through the Nagasaki bombing.
  • Grandma wanders the streets looking for Naomi's mom. One day she comes across a naked woman who is cremating a dead baby. Her nose and cheeks are gone, and maggots wriggle in her wounds. It's Naomi's mom.
  • The doctors thought that she would die, but Mother survives. The niece's daughter is dying of leukemia. That's the end of the letter.
  • What happens after that? We don't know.
  • Nakayama-sensei puts the letter back into its envelope. He tries to be comforting, but everyone is pretty shaken by what they've just heard. He prays, but Naomi is not listening. She's trying to think about her mother.