The number of survivors of the Hiroshima atomic bombing who are now living abroad and filing for recognition as victims entitled to medical stipends surged more than sevenfold last year to 801, according to Hiroshima municipal officials.
The figure was 112 the previous year.
The sharp increase in applicants from abroad -- including South Korea and the United States -- comes after a 2002 landmark ruling ordering the government to pay medical allowances to a South Korean survivor of the Hiroshima bombing.
However, only about 30 percent of the applicants have been issued health cards enabling them to receive medical allowances.