NHK commemorates the 68th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima with a report on "secondary leukemia" in the documentary special "Owarinaki Hibaku to no Tatakai" ("Battling Endless Radiation"; NHK-G, Tues., 7:30 p.m.).
In the aftermath of the bombings, many victims who showed no outward injuries soon died from acute disorders, and then, some years later, others died from chronic disorders such as cancer. In recent years, however, doctors who have worked with survivors of the bombings notice the manifestation of "secondary leukemia," which they believe is the result of genetic materials "scarred" by radiation, turning their cells into "time bombs" that are just now going off. The program follows several of these doctors as they both study and treat the condition.
A little-known hero of the Battle of Okinawa, which started in the spring of 1945, was Akira Shimada, who was appointed governor of the island only two months before the American invasion. Shimada was a career bureaucrat, born in Hyogo but working in Osaka. He was assigned to Okinawa after the previous governor fled.