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This paper introduces “the Marathon of Life”, a narrative project developed in collaboration with four Hibaku Nisei – second-generation survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings in Japan. Although they did not directly witness the bombings, their lives have been shaped by intergenerational trauma, moral responsibility and enduring histories of silence. Born into the aftermath of the bombings, these individuals became peace activists. The project offers one contribution to ongoing conversations within narrative therapy and collective narrative practice about how our work may respond to historical trauma, activism and intergenerational memory. Through the collaborative development of the Legacy Marathon map, familiar narrative practices such as definitional ceremony and outsider witnessing were thoughtfully adapted in ways that reflected participants’ lived realities. The project explores how narrative practice can remain accountable to social and political contexts while sustaining a non-pathologising ethic. Practices including goinkyo community dialogue and an informal ethics process are shared not as prescriptive models but as locally situated responses to questions of care, accountability and collaboration. The Marathon of Life work also invited critical reflection among Japanese narrative practitioners, supporting deeper understanding of the Hibaku Nisei’s position in society. By centring lived experience and collective meaning-making, this paper suggests a possible pathway for narrative practitioners engaging in peacebuilding and social justice contexts.

Key words: metaphor; trauma; Japan; Hiroshima; nuclear disarmament; Hibaku Nisei; activism; collective narrative practice; narrative therapy

Tsuzuki, K. (2026). The Marathon of Life: Storytelling for healing and peacebuilding with second-generation survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings. International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work, (1), 112–127. https://doi.org/10.4320/RTLD4344