(29)Cries of the Korean Hibakusha

When I'm dead, I want my corpse to be placed in front of the Japanese Embassy.I may be ashamed, but the Japanese government, who ignored us because we were "foreigners", would be made more of a laughingstock that way.

Lee Nam Su From "Guide to Hiroshima and Nagasaki for Mothers and Children"

Lee Nam Su was drafted in Korea for forced labor in Hiroshima and was exposed to the atomic bomb; she (he) died in March 1975 after suffering from paralysis of her whole body.

Suk Dok cries as she follows the corpse of her mother, Lee, in Seoul.
Photo: Sodo Bunka Publishing

(30)Suppression of Freedom of Press and Expression about the A-bombing

The censorship enforced by the GHQ was so strict, and I was told that any violation would almost certainly lead to the death penalty. But with a strong determination even if it meant facing the death penalty, I secretly published this book, compelled by a force inside myself, though my family tried to stop me.
　 Shoda Shinoe, author of "Sange" 　("Tanka" poetry collection)
　 (GHQ = General Headquarters of the Allied Forces)

The department of intelligence of the General Headquarters put together the record of atrocity in Manila committed by the Japanese military.
"The Bell of Nagasaki" was allowed to be published only with the publisher's agreement to include the record of that atrocity as an attachment to the book.
Kiyoko Horiba From "Censored A-bomb Experience"

Book title: (left) "Sange" (Buddhist term for "death"); (right) "The Bell of Nagasaki" (authored by Dr. Takashi Nagai, describing the tragic situation of the Hibakusha immediately after the A-bombing)

(31)Never Drop the Hydrogen Bomb Again

Teacher, Please help my daddy. If only they hadn't conducted the H-bomb test, he would not have suffered like this.
Please make a decision not to use such an awful hydrogen bomb ever again.
Miyako Kuboyama, third grader (daughter of Aikichi Kuboyama)

Please let me be the last victim of A- and H- bombs.
Aikichi Kuboyama

On March 1, 1954, many Japanese fishing boats were exposed to the fallout from the US hydrogen bomb test at Bikini Atoll in the South Pacific. Aikichi Kuboyama, the chief radio operator of the Fifth Lucky Dragon, died due to the radiation sickness. This incident triggered the rise of the anti A- and H-bomb movement in Japan.

Funeral of Aikichi Kuboyama
Photo: Mainichi Shimbun

(32)We Are Glad We Have Survived

We want to be the last victims of the A-bombing.
Dear friends of the world, please ban the atomic and hydrogen bombs by a united effort.
I appeal to you, please hasten to bring the day when we can say, "We are glad we have survived".

Appeal by Chieko Watanabe, a survivor of the Nagasaki A-bombing, at the 2nd World Conference against A- and H- Bombs held in 1956

Chieko Watanabe, Nagasaki, at the 14th World Conference against A- and Bombs
Photo: Sakae Murasato

(33)Establishment of Nihon Hidankyo

Eleven years after the A-bombing, we could finally assemble from all over the country for the first time.
To this day, each of us has survived, silently and separately with our heads down. But we could no longer remain silent and have decided to take actions hand in hand. May our words be received as the voices of the over 300 thousand voiceless fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, and husbands and wives, who were brutally killed in those moments or were driven to death one after another by the A-bomb diseases.

"Greetings to the World", Declaration of the founding conference of Nihon Hidankyo (Japan Confederation of A-and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations)

The Founding Conference of Nihon Hidankyo (August 10, 1956)
Photo: Rengo Tsushin

(34)Sit-in

Hibakusha sit-in quietly and with rage.
Why does the government refuse to recognize the state responsibility on the war and give relief to the Hibakusha?
More than two hundred thousand innocent lives were taken in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
And still now 370 thousand Hibakusha live in dismay with their life and livelihoods threatened, carrying the burden of the after-effects of radiation.
(At the Sit-in in the November 1980 Action before the Ministry of Health and Welfare)

Sit-in in Front of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, November, 1980
Photo: Ittetsu Morishita

(35)Hibakusha Appeal

Take a close look at my face and arms.
We must never allow a single person among the people of the world and the children to be born in the future to go through the death and agony that the Hibakusha have suffered.
We the Hibakusha continue to appeal to you, till the last day of our lives.
No more Hiroshimas.
No more Nagasakis.
No more war.
No more Hibakusha.
Speech by Senji Yamaguchi at the Second UN Special Session on Disarmament, June, 1982

The Million March in New York, 1982
Photo: Yasuo Otsuji

(36) Please Look at this Photograph

What crime did these children commit?
All the leaders of the nuclear states should see this photograph.
They should take a direct look at the reality of nuclear weapons and realize the nature of what happened in front of the eyes of these children that day.
Let the leaders hear the silent screams of these children.
Testimony of Iccho Ito, mayor of Nagasaki, at the International Court of Justice

Near Ground Zero, Nagasaki
Photo: Yosuke Yamahata

(37)Nuclear Threat: Okinawa

The B52 that crashed and exploded was carrying napalm and ball bombs.
Suppose it was a B52 on patrol carrying hydrogen bombs....
The site of the crash was only 250 meters away from the Chibana ammunition depot, where nuclear weapons are said to be stored.
What if the crash of the B52 occurred several seconds later....?
Maybe the threat of nuclear weapons can be felt only by us Okinawans and the Hibakusha.

Early in the morning of November 19, 1968, a B52 bomber crashed and created a huge explosion in Kadena US Base in Okinawa. Great damage was inflicted to the surrounding houses.
Photo: Rengo Tsushin

(38)It Indeed Was Real

"I thought I knew how horrible the A-bomb was. Hearing the stories of the Hibakusha, however, I realized it was worse than I had imagined."

"I have seen the A-bombing in some comic books and videos. But today I learned that it indeed was real. War is terrible."

The most impressive words -- "It is human beings who build nuclear weapons" "It is human beings who use nuclear weapons" "And it is human beings who can stop them."

"I will convey the appeal of the Hibakusha to the future."

Cited from the essays of the children who listened to the Hibakusha tell their experiences
Photo: Toyukai

(39)Hibakusha in Struggle

Friends,
Please look at my body. I would not have had to experience this kind of suffering, if only the A-bomb had not been dropped.
I want my government to recognize this fact.
Friends,
Please stand up and struggle together with me.
Hideko Matsuya, plaintiff in Nagasaki A-bomb Lawsuit

At age 3, Ms. Matsuya was exposed to the A-bomb, and she was injured on her head by a flying piece of roof tile triggered by the blast. Ms. Matsuya applied for official recognition as an A-bomb disease victim from the Ministry of Health and Welfare. But the state rejected her application, claiming that her injury was not caused by the radiation from the A-bomb. Ms. Matsuya filed a suit, and she won in the Nagasaki District Court. The state appealed, and the case is still pending.

Hideko Matsuya
Photo: Toyukai

(40)Call

It is not too late yet
Muster up your real strength
It is still not too late
To wipe the tears of those who wish for peace
Sankichi Toge

Calligraphy: Nichika Ohmi
(Nichika Ohmi (Kosho Ohmi): Buddhist priest; Member of the Organizing Committee of the Exhibition of Anti-Nuclear Calligraphers for International Peace; Honorary member of the International Association of Artists for Peace; Director of the Association of Amity in the Name of J.F. Millet; Leader of RIKUGEI Calligraphic Society)