日本被団協

About Hidankyo

51 years after the Atomic Bombing, Hibakusha met again with persons who had saved his life.

Kenichi Endo, president of Hibakusha organization of Nigata Prefecture,met again with the then nurses who saved his life when the Atomic Bomb dropped. He met them on 7 November 1996 in Hiroshima and expressed his gratitude 51 years　after the Atomic-Bombing.

When the Atomic Bomb dropped, Endo, the then probationary military officer, was in hospital due to an infectious disease. He was blown away by a blast from the explosion and when he recoveredconsciousness he had fallen down on a dry riverbed. He suffered injuries all the body, especially, injuries on the left leg were serious. 　　

A nurse said "These injuries are so serious!" and she stopped bleeding with a torn piece of her cloth. When he almost lost his consciousness, a head nurse encouraged him.

Endo recovered his health after surviving a life-or-death crisis, then he came back to his hometown in Nigata Prefecture. Since then he has never forgotten their heartfelt care.

He tried to hear of them and contacted with 20 nurses by mail.

Then, he finally met again with the nurses 51 years later. On that day, 6 persons gathered and they talked about the experience at that time.

Endo said, "I think that I have survived with diverse support, so I have to play my role as a survivor who makes continuous effortsto eliminate nuclear weapons".

Atomic-Bomb Dome was registered as a World Heritage Site

The Atomic-Bomb Dome was registered on the World Heritage List at the twentieth UNESCO World Heritage Committee. That means that the Dome was acknowledged as a precious construction for the future. 　　　　

The Dome was originally built as the Hiroshima Prefectual Commercial Exhibitin Hall in 1915. The hypocenter of Bombing was 150m away from it. 　　　　　　

The US opposed the register because of their view of history and China abstained from voting for the reason of the aggression of Japan. 　　　　　　　

After the World War II there were several attempts to dismantle the Dome. However, it remained in the enhance of public opinion and movement against nuclear testing. The contribution for maintaining the Dome was collected four times as much money as planned.

Hibakusha in Aichi Prefecture visited India to talk about their experiences.

Hibakusha, Miyuki Kemezawa, received a letter from India.
It was from Thomas Mathew, Directir of Social Economic Education section of India. In the letter he offered to make a plan of Hibakusha speaking tour in India so as to raise public opinion against nuclear weapons in India.

There were other offers as well, then, the plan took shape to hold Atomic-Bombing exhibition in India.

The delegation consisted of 14 members, including three Hibakusha. They were divided into two groups; A-group visited from 23 December to 2 January then B-group visited till 13 January.

Hibakusha joined as B-group members. They mainly made tour around central and southern parts of India. Meetings were held at 18 places in all and 5,000 people attended them. The Atomic-Bombing exhibitions were held at 7 places.

The members visited high-schools and universities, where they communicated with students as well as other people. They were so impressed by participants who were so keen on looking at panels and listening to Hibakusha experiences.

The members were also impressed by heartfelt hospitality.

It was the first time for most participants to hear about Atomic-Bombing and Hibakusha at the meetings. It appeared that people were not informed about nuclear weapons. At the meetings, many participants asked about Atomic-Bombing, nuclear weapons and peace.

Through the tour, Hibakusha members strongly acknowledged their role to make the real feature known widely in order to eliminate nuclear weapons without delay.