Tag - hibakusha

 
 

HIBAKUSHA

Terumi Tanaka (left), co-chair of Nihon Hidankyo, and Jorgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, hold a news conference in Tokyo on July 27.
JAPAN
Aug 10, 2025
Nagasaki atomic bomb survivor calls on young people to inspire movement
"The era of hibakusha themselves working to share their experiences and talking about nuclear weapons is coming to an end," 93-year-old Terumi Tanaka said.
Doves are released during a ceremony commemorating the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, at the city's Peace Park on Saturday.
JAPAN
Aug 9, 2025
Nagasaki marks 80 years since atomic bombing as hibakusha numbers dwindle
The anniversary comes amid frustration among the dwindling number of survivors that their powerful calls for eradicating nuclear arms are falling on deaf ears.
From left to right: Green Legacy Hiroshima volunteer staff Mariko Kikuchi, Tomoko Watanabe, Nassrine Azimi and Sophie Qano stand before one of the trees that survived the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
COMMUNITY / Issues
Aug 9, 2025
A campaign to preserve Hiroshima’s historic trees for another 1,000 years
A total of 170 trees survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945. Since 2011, a nonprofit organization has been dedicated to sharing their seeds and saplings with the world.
A mushroom cloud from the atomic bombing on Hiroshima taken from a U.S. military aircraft on Aug. 6, 1945. Copying the photo without permission is prohibited.
JAPAN / History / Longform
Aug 6, 2025
80 years on, a Japanese American hibakusha recalls the day the bomb dropped
As a 7-year-old boy in Hiroshima, Howard Kakita was hoping to catch the vapor trail of a B-29 bomber. A sudden blast knocked him out.
Kunihiko Iida speaks about his experience as a hibakusha, in the city of Hiroshima on July 14.
JAPAN
Aug 6, 2025
Orphaned hibakusha continues to tell of the destructive reality of nuclear weapons
Kunihiko Iida has made it his mission to share his experience, believing that conveying the truth of the bomb will "lead to the abolition of nuclear weapons."
Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki will make a speech on Aug. 9 at a ceremony to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of the city, in which he will urge world leaders to work toward abolishing nuclear weapons.
JAPAN
Aug 1, 2025
Nagasaki mayor to urge world leaders to abolish nuclear weapons
Mayor Shiro Suzuki will make the call in his speech on Aug. 9 at a ceremony to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of his city.
Norwegian Nobel Committee chair Jorgen Frydnes holds a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN
Jul 29, 2025
Hibakusha's stories will change the world, Nobel committee chair says
Norwegian Nobel Committee chair Jorgen Frydnes also stressed the importance of maintaining nuclear taboo, saying a fear of nuclear weapons would not bring about any solutions.
Hiroe Kawashimo enjoys regular walks in the city of Hiroshima.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Jul 28, 2025
Woman with disabilities from atomic bombing recalls mother's dedication
The daughter of a woman exposed to radiation from the Hiroshima atomic bombing has been frail since childhood and constantly in and out of hospitals.
Nihon Hidankyo co-chair Terumi Tanaka (left) and Norwegian Nobel Committee chair Jorgen Frydnes during a news conference in Tokyo on Sunday
JAPAN
Jul 28, 2025
Nobel committee chair calls for listening to voices of hibakusha
Norwegian Nobel Committee chair Jorgen Frydnes emphasized the importance of passing on hibakusha's memories.
Members of three organizations working for the abolition of nuclear weapons pose for a picture at a news conference in Tokyo on Wednesday. The three organizations issued a joint statement calling for spreading awareness of the reality of atomic bombings across the country.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 24, 2025
Japanese groups make united call for abolition of nuclear weapons
This is the first time that Gensuikyo, Gensuikin and Nihon Hidankyo have come together to issue a joint statement.
Norwegian Nobel Committee chair Jorgen Frydnes (right) lays flowers at the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims in the city of Hiroshima on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jul 23, 2025
Nobel committee chair visits Hiroshima
Last year, the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, also known as Nihon Hidankyo, won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Atomic bomb survivor Masaki Hironaka reads as he sits among paintings by students made during an annual project to preserve the testimonies of survivors to keep the memories of the bombing in 1945 relevant for younger generations, at Motomachi High School in the city of Hiroshima, on May 29.
JAPAN
Jul 23, 2025
Hiroshima teens describe World War II atomic bombing horror through art
A high school in Hiroshima showed 15 new artworks that depicted the atomic bombing, such as a horror-stricken girl surrounded by an inferno.
Masako Wada, assistant secretary-general of Nihon Hidankyo, urged policymakers around the world to "take the leadership ... toward human society free of nuclear weapons."
JAPAN
Jul 17, 2025
Nuclear deterrence 'cannot save humanity,' Nihon Hidankyo member says
Masako Wada urged policymakers around the world to "take the leadership ... toward human society free of nuclear weapons."
According to the welfare ministry, the number of hibakusha survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki almost 80 years ago has fallen below 100,000 for the first time.
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2025
Number of hibakusha atomic bomb survivors falls below 100,000
According to the welfare ministry, the number of hibakusha with victim certificates stood at 99,130 as of the end of March, down by 7,695 from a year before.
Akemi Tao talks on behalf of late hibakusha Masahiro Kunishige during an event to pass down the memories of the atomic bombing experiences at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in February.
JAPAN / FOCUS
May 20, 2025
'Memory keepers' pass on Hiroshima A-bomb survivors' stories
Becoming a memory keeper requires about two years of training. Applicants study the realities of the U.S. nuclear attack and practice public speaking skills.
Newly elected Pope Leo XIV waves on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican on Thursday.
JAPAN / Society
May 9, 2025
Heads of hibakusha groups urge Pope Leo to promote abolition of nukes
They expressed hopes that the new pontiff will follow in the footsteps of his predecessor, Francis, who visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 2019.
A student from Hiroshima Jogakuin University (center) makes paper cranes with event attendees at the Peace Memorial Park on Monday in the city of Hiroshima.
JAPAN
May 6, 2025
Hiroshima Children's Peace Monument marks 67th anniversary
Students from Hiroshima Jogakuin University, which organized the ceremony, placed about 7,000 paper cranes at the monument.
Hiroshi Kanamoto, a representative of Nihon Hidankyo, speaks at a preparatory meeting for the 2026 Review Conference of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in New York on Wednesday.
JAPAN
May 1, 2025
Hidankyo member calls for nuclear weapons to be eliminated
The previous two Nonproliferation Treaty review conferences ended in failure.
Visitors look at the preserved Atomic Bomb Dome in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in the city of Hiroshima in October.
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2025
80 years on, Japan's government seeks testimonies from all hibakusha
It is the first time in 30 years that the government has sought cooperation from all hibakusha over testimonies.
Terumi Tanaka, co-chair of the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize-winning Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, urged the country to take the lead in preventing nuclear weapons from being used for a third time.
JAPAN
Feb 24, 2025
Hidankyo leader regrets Japan's dodging of upcoming nuclear ban meet
The meeting of signatories to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is set to be held in New York in March.

Longform

Koichi Tagawa’s diary entry from Aug. 9, 1945, describes the day of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
The horrors of Nagasaki, in first person