text: If I may contribute this to those who will either see or read "Silence"... please consider the book by Mako Fujimura  "Silence and Beauty". From the introduction, Silence and Beauty sheds light on a wealth of topics-a classic novel, Japanese Culture, Martin Scorsese's filmmaking, the fine arts, theology, the enigmas of East and West-and leave the reader with a startling new encounter with Christ."
  
  "...Fugimura writes of standing on Martyrs Hill, a mile from Nagasaki's ground zero. In one of history's cruel ironies, the second atomic bomb exploded directly above Japan's largest congregations of Christians, many of whom had gathered for mass at the cathedral. (Clouds obscured the intended city, forcing the bombing crew to select analternate target.) In the end, more Christians died in the atomic destruction of Nagasaki than in the centuries of persecution that followed the deaths of the 26 martyrs in 1597, for over the years by far the majority of believers had apostatized."