Dr. [Takashi] Nagai [author of The Bells of Nagasaki] described when he found his wife’s bones in the ruin of his previous house. He wrote that he couldn’t take the bones, just ash on his hand. “My wife escaped from my fingers.”
The red-back boy was sixteen years old, riding on a bicycle to deliver letters—a postman. He was burned directly from the back. He was half naked, unfortunately, because of the summertime, too hot. Then, his skin was all destroyed and peeled off. Later, he recovered. Age 80, he became a very famous atom bomb–eradication activist, Mr. [Sumiteru] Taniguchi.
The agonizing period ended within three months. After three months, survivors became fairly well in early 1946. But in 1947 to 1948, survivors faced the very surprising phenomenon of [an] increasing number of acute leukemia, especially among small children and later adults. Within 1.5 kilometers, the curves rapidly elevated, maybe ten times or more compared to the normal non-exposed population, remained high for almost fifteen years and then declined gradually. But this was not the disappearance of [effects of] atomic bomb radiation.
Later, the throat cancer phase began and continues until now, seventy-three years after the bombing. Most of the survivors who are suffering from cancers at this time—over age 73—were very young at the time of bombing, less than ten years old. Now [they are] getting older and older, but still suffering from throat cancer and also another type of leukemia called MDS [myelodysplastic syndromes].
The atomic bomb radiation’s effect on human bodies is a real lifelong effect. There is very scientific data. About 80,000 survivors were calculated for their exposure dose based on the U.S. Army data. They have individual dosimetry that measure their individual doses. The leukemia excess cases appear to depend on the dose to which they were exposed.
Recently, we are facing a very dangerous situation. It is a multi-cancer occurrence among short-distance survivors. This is almost three times higher among 1.5-kilometer, shorter-distance survivors. In my hospital, Atom Bomb Hospital, this is the present situation.
In my nursing home, 400 survivors are being cared for. Some of them have no relatives remaining to care for them. The effects of the atomic bombing cannot be seen easily. They look very healthy, but they show some abnormalities, still. If they finally develop cancer, for example, breast cancer, colon cancer, most of them say, “Doctor, you know our bodies. The atomic bomb is still living.”
Their whole life was psychologically very depressed for a long time, almost seventy or eighty years. They suffer from real depression sometimes, real depression, especially in summertime. Beginning in June, July, their psychological condition deteriorates. If they passed August 9 [the anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki], their psychological situation gradually improves every day. Their memory of their dead families continues their whole lives.
Such a Tragedy Should Never Happen Again
Mayor of Hiroshima Kazumi Matsui discusses the importance of preserving the memory of Hiroshima and educating the next generations about the reality of atomic bombing.
From AHF Voices from Japan
INTERVIEW WITH KAZUMI MATSUI, MAYOR OF HIROSHIMA
Japan and the United States take different stances over the motives for the development of atomic bombs. However, instead of pursuing which side is to blame, we would like to work with those who share in our spirit of Hiroshima by collecting the wisdom of many people from civil society so that such a tragedy of claiming as many as 140,000 innocent citizens’ lives will never be repeated. I believe that President [Cindy] Kelly [of the Atomic Heritage Foundation] shares in our spirit, and I hope this visit will help reinforce your initiatives.
Two days ago, I visited the embassies of the United States and Russia in Tokyo. At that time, I delivered letters of request addressed to their presidents regarding the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF). Both the Russian ambassador and a representative of the U.S. embassy blamed the collapse of the INF Treaty on each other.
I told them that we must acknowledge that the collapse of the INF Treaty will create a situation in which the nuclear buttons in U.S. and Russia, or possibly, in other nuclear weapons states, might be pushed mistakenly. I, as the Mayor of Hiroshima, and also the head of Mayors for Peace, encouraged them to embrace the concept of preventing such a situation from happening with their intelligence.
I told them to think what they should do for our future, taking into consideration the consensus of civil society, so that such a tragedy will never happen again.
That is why we have been requesting that the heads of state of the U.S., Russia, and other nations visit the A-bombed cities. I believe that if they see the reality of the atomic bombing here, they will understand such a tragedy should never happen again.
The City of Hiroshima makes efforts to preserve the facts of the atomic bombing and to convey what happened here to future generations.
The memory of the atomic bombing is fading. I hope that a lot of people, especially young people, will understand such a tragedy should never happen again. I hope that many people will visit our city to take to heart the reality of the atomic bombing.
Why Do People Need Such Cruel Weapons?
Mayor of Nagasaki Tomihisa Taue discusses the impact of the atomic bomb, the suffering of the hibakusha [atomic bomb survivors], and the role of civil society in ensuring the end of nuclear weapons.
From AHF’s Voices from Japan
INTERVIEW WITH TOMIHISA TAUE, MAYOR OF NAGASAKI
It is important to pass on the history, not from the Japanese perspective or from the United States perspective, but as the whole human being’s perspective. That is the important legacy that we need to pass on.
Hibakusha [Japanese atomic bomb survivors] are aging, and the population is decreasing. There are fewer and fewer people who can travel long distances, for example, to the United States.
The Nagasaki atomic bomb was dropped three days after the Hiroshima bomb, on the ninth of August 1945. When the atomic bomb was dropped, the population of Nagasaki was about 240,000. Among them, 74,000 died, and 75,000 were injured. Therefore, two-thirds of the population were affected by the atomic bomb.
The atomic bomb was dropped on the northern part of the city. The force of the atomic bomb that was dropped in Nagasaki was far more powerful than the one used in Hiroshima. However, since Nagasaki was surrounded by mountains, the damage was less than in Hiroshima.
The atomic bomb is created by three forces. One is heat, the second is blast, and the third is radiation. The atomic bomb is not just a big bomb, a giant bomb. The difference between the conventional bomb and the atomic bomb is the atomic bomb emits radiation. When the radiation penetrates through the human body, it destroys the cells. Some of the acute, immediate symptoms caused by the radiation are hair loss, bleeding from the gums, diarrhea, and vomiting.
The citizens did not know anything about nuclear weapons, so they did not understand what was happening to their bodies or their cities. Many people who survived the atomic bombing looked healthy but suddenly had symptoms such as bleeding from their gums and died a few days later from radiation sickness. After a few years, many survivors became very weak and felt very tired all the time.
One of the characteristics of the atomic bomb survivors is that they are plagued by anxiety because they do not know when the symptoms of radiation sickness will occur. They live in fear every day. Every time I hear [a] hibakusha story, I wonder why people need such cruel weapons. The atomic bomb survivors’ first and foremost wish is that no one in this world will ever experience what they have gone through. I believe that it is our mission to convey their wishes to the world.
I believe that the power to create peace not only relies on the political leaders, but also civil society. I believe that civil society has a role to move the government more towards creating peace.
Political leaders have various difficult issues and sometimes they might think twice before stepping in the direction that we are hoping for. But I believe it is the civil socie
ty’s role to support them in taking such steps towards peace.
The conferences held at the United Nations are discussing [these issues] from the perspective of the mushroom cloud… of national interest or military balance. But for us, it is important to see from beneath the mushroom cloud. The purpose of my attending such conferences is to appeal to them not to forget Hiroshima and Nagasaki—the experience of the two cities—and to have the discussion based on what has happened to our cities.
Mayors for Peace: Achieving a Better World
From AHF’s Voices from Japan
INTERVIEW WITH YASUYOSHI KOMIZO
Yasuyoshi Komizo has been the Chairperson of the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation since 2013. The former Special Assistant to the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, he worked as a diplomat for four decades.
Mayors for Peace was proposed by then-Mayor of Hiroshima, Mr. [Takeshi] Araki, in 1982 in the Second Special General Assembly kind of conference. It was agreed to immediately by the Mayor of Nagasaki, and the Mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki took the initiative to form a group of mayors, non-partisan mayors, from all over the world, to accelerate the work towards a world without nuclear weapons.
Now, we have 7,709 cities in 163 countries and regions. And it is increasing almost every month, with 10, 20, 30, or 40 new memberships. The total population within those cities is about one billion citizens. It is a growing organization working towards a world without nuclear weapons.…
We have around 215 cities in the United States. The lead city in the United States is Des Moines, Iowa [led by] Mayor [Frank] Cownie. And we have around 100 cities in Russia, and the Volgograd mayor is the lead mayor. In the U.K. and Ireland, Manchester is the lead city. We have also memberships in Israel, Palestine, and Iran, as well as Latin America and Asia.
The basic understanding is that we would like to have peace for humanity. Peace which can be supported by everybody. Of course, this is very far from the reality, but that is the reason why we need a vision.…
The basis of our work is the message of hibakushas [atomic bomb survivors] that “No one else shall ever again suffer as we have.” That is a very, very important message coming from ordinary people. And therefore, we honor hibakushas’ message.
We are trying to achieve that message in the real world. We need to coordinate with scholars, with philosophers and educators, with the environmentalists and politicians and youth and women and the various groups. That is the way we can achieve peace which can be supported by everybody.
Of course, this is maybe an unachievable dream, but if many people work towards that direction, then the world we live in, even with problems, is a much better world.
Open Discussion Is the Only Way to Solve Problems
Kenji Shiga is the former director of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Shiga talks about his hope that Americans and others will visit the museum and reflect upon what happened to Hiroshima after the atomic bombing in 1945.
From AHF’s Voices of Japan
INTERVIEW WITH KENJI SHIGA
I would like to talk about what I felt after President Obama visited this museum. When I heard the news that President Obama would visit our museum, the news reminded me of the Smithsonian incident that happened from 1993 to 1995. It was over a program to exhibit the B-29 bomber, Enola Gay, with an explanation of what happened here in Hiroshima.
We provided materials to the Smithsonian [National Air and Space] museum. But finally, because of the opposition from the American government and veterans, they decided just to exhibit the Enola Gay [without presenting the impacts of the atomic bombs]. When I heard the news, I thought, “Oh, they thought it’s not necessary to understand what happened in Hiroshima!”
But President Obama visited this museum [May 27, 2016] and saw what happened on that day [August 6, 1945]. I believe that because of his visit to our city, it is easier for the American people to visit our city and see what happened here seventy-five years ago.
We hope that all the people will see what happened in Hiroshima in 1945. Our museum will keep asking the visitors for their opinions. We will ask the visitors to think, “What happened here because of the atomic bombing?”
I experienced controversy [like that generated by the Enola Gay exhibition] on a small scale. The exhibit I planned was opposed by other people. But I can say that open discussion is the only way to solve problems.
Photo courtesy of the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Hiroshima near the epicenter of the explosion of August 6, 1945, with the “Atomic Bomb Dome,” now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Paper Crane Journey
Tomoko Watanabe is the founder of ANT (Asian Network of Trust)-Hiroshima, an organization dedicated to international cooperation, peacebuilding, and peace education around the world. Her parents survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. She discusses growing up among survivors and her work and dream of creating a more peaceful, nuclear-free world.
From AHF’s Voices of Japan
INTERVIEW WITH TOMOKO WATANABE
My parents were A-bomb survivors. My father was twenty-seven years old and was in a train at Hiroshima station. My mother was a student nurse at Hiroshima Red Cross hospital. My mother was fifteen years old at the time. Eight years later, I was born.
Recently, my mother told me that when she was pregnant, she worried whether her baby will be normal. After the bombing, there were so many babies who were weak or had trouble. My mother prayed to Buddha. Then, she gave birth to me, a normal baby. She felt that I, her baby, was her hope. Sixty years later, she told me about this deep thing in her heart, how she worried about my health. I understand now.
There were many A-bomb slums and survivors living together in Hiroshima. Very poor people, most had lost their families and their houses. The slums were alongside the river. My friends grew up there. Living together with the A-bomb survivors was normal.
For many years, survivors never talked, never told their story. My father never talked, my mother never talked until I was twenty years old. After I graduated university, I decided to start learning about what happened in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and the meaning of the bombing of Hiroshima. I’m still listening, learning, and researching about what happened under the mushroom cloud.…
When I was 33, I founded a small grassroots NGO, a friendship association with Asian people, ANT-Hiroshima. “ANT” stands for “Asian Network of Trust.” It also means “ant,” as we are like little ants working to change the world.
Trust building is very important, people to people. During the Second World War, the Japanese Imperial Army occupied China, Korea and so many people suffered. I really want to build a real friendship between Asian people and Japanese people.
But now, ANT has grown up, and I want to try and build friendship around the world. Asian people, American people, African people, especially those who have suffered from conflicts or disasters. We want to enrich people-to-people ties.…
I have a children’s book project, “Paper Crane Journey.” It is about Sadako Sasaki, a very sad story of a young girl in Hiroshima. Sadako and so many other children died from effects of the radiation. This children’s book mentions about how Sadako’s high school friends fundraised for three years and established the Children’s Peace Monument. “This is our cry, this is our prayer for building peace in the world.”
We have translated the book into thirty-one different languages. Sometimes I go to other countries and talk to children and students.… I’ve now been working thirty-one years but really want to keep working until the end of my life. This is my mission.
“Our name is Yamawaki. Where is our father?”
Yoshiro Yamawaki is a hibakusha, an atomic bomb survivor whose home in Nagasaki was 2.2 kilometers from the hypocenter. Yamawaki describes how the bomb affected his family and calls for humanity to make sure that Nagasaki is the last place on Earth to suffer an atomic bombing. In 2010, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs appoi
nted him as a Special Communicator for a World without Nuclear Weapons.
From AHF’s Voices of Japan
INTERVIEW WITH YOSHIRO YAMAWAKI
U.S. Air Force fighters had attacked Nagasaki three times during the two weeks before the atomic bombing. On the last day of these attacks, August 1, a bomb was dropped on the Inasa International Cemetery near my house. With the blast, the big gravestones broke through the roof of my house and fell inside. My mother was shocked by this incident. She took my four younger brothers and sisters and went to her mother’s home in the countryside the day before the atomic bombing.
On the morning of the atomic bombing, my father went off to work at the Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, as usual. My older brother, a junior high school student, went off to the weapons factory where he was helping out as part of the Mobilized Student Forces. The two of us twins stayed at home because it was summer vacation. Until just before 11 o’clock, we were out on the veranda. When we got hungry, we went in the sitting room in the back of my house.
While we were sitting around the table, a whitish-blue light shot across the room. Then came a roar that seemed to shake the whole house. The two of us got down on the tatami mats and covered our eyes, ears, and noses with our fingers, just like we had been taught to do. While we were in that position, plaster from the walls and other debris came falling down on top of us. I thought that a bomb had directly hit our property and that we would probably be buried alive there. The falling debris didn’t continue falling for all that long, however.
After a few minutes, the voices of people in the neighborhood screaming and crying reached my ears. While remaining down on the ground, I lifted my head up and looked around to find everything completely changed. Almost all the furniture had been mangled and tossed around. The walls had come crumbling down. In every room, tatami mat floors were covered with dirt and debris, with furniture scattered all about.
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