A Fearless Priest’s Sacrifice and A New Generation of Hope in Japan

The Martyr and the Red Kimono

On the 14th of August 1941, a Polish monk named Maximilian Maria Kolbe was murdered in Auschwitz. 
 
Kolbe's life had been remarkable. Fiercely intelligent and driven, he founded a movement of Catholicism and spent several years in Nagasaki, ministering to the 'hidden Christians' who had emerged after centuries of oppression. A Polish nationalist as well as a monk, he gave sanctuary to fleeing refugees and ran Poland's largest publishing operation, drawing the wrath of the Nazis. His death was no less remarkable: he volunteered to die, saving the life of a fellow prisoner. 
 
It was an act that profoundly transformed the lives of two Japanese men. Tomei Ozaki was just seventeen when the US dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, destroying his home and his family. Masatoshi Asari worked on a farm in Hokkaido during the war and was haunted by the inhumane treatment of prisoners in a nearby camp. Forged in the crucible of an unforgiving war, both men drew inspiration from Kolbe's sacrifice, dedicating their lives to humanity and justice. 
 
In The Martyr and the Red Kimono, award-winning author Naoko Abe weaves together a deeply moving and inspirational true story of resistance, sacrifice, guilt and atonement.

Naoko Abe is a Japanese journalist and non-fiction writer. She was the first female political writer to cover the prime minister’s office, the foreign ministry and the defence ministry at Mainichi Shimbun, one of Japan’s largest newspapers. Since moving to London with her British husband and their two boys in 2001, she has worked as a freelance writer and has published five books in Japanese. Her biography of Collingwood Ingram in Japanese won the prestigious Nihon Essayist Club Award in 2016. She has now written an adaptation of the book for English-language readers. She is a trained classical pianist and an advanced yoga practitioner.

Naoko Abe

Yasuko Arakawa

Yu-Jou Chenn

Nicole Churchill

Rachael Levitan

John Lowe

Gillian Melton

Soeren Otter-Sharp

Nicholas Ruban

Elizabeth Tiu

The Englishman Who Saved Japan’s Blossoms

The irresistible story of Japanese cherry blossoms, threatened by political ideology and saved by an unknown Englishman 
 
'This is not just a tale of trees, but of . . . endeavour, war and reconciliation' Sunday Times 
 
Collingwood Ingram, born in 1880, became known as 'Cherry' for his defining obsession. As a young man, he travelled to Japan and learned of the astonishing displays of cherry blossoms, or sakura. 
 
On a return visit in 1926, Ingram witnessed frightening changes to the country's cherry population. A cloned variety was sweeping the landscape and being used as a symbol for Japan's expansionist ambitions. Determined to protect the diversity of the trees, Ingram began sending the rare varieties from his own garden in England back to Japan with the help of a network of 'cherry guardians'. 
 
This is an eloquent portrait of an extraordinary man whose legacy we enjoy every spring, and his unsung place in botanic history. 
 
'Engrossing . . . A portrait of great charm and sophistication' Christopher Harding, Guardian 
 
Winner of the 2020 Award for Excellence from The Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries

Naoko Abe

'Cherry' Ingram

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