Peace Boat’s Hibakusha Project—testimony from survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | EAG London: 2024

EAG Talks

This session features testimony from Ms. Tanaka Toshiko, Mr. Ogawa Tadayoshi, and other representatives from the Peace Boat's Hibakusha Project. Ms. Tanaka Mr. Ogawa are survivors of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki—this session will recount the devastating impacts of nuclear warfare through first-hand accounts, illustrating the importance of ensuring such horrors are never repeated. Ms Tanaka Toshiko was exposed to the atomic bomb while on her way to school, 2.3km from the hypocenter. She covered her face with her right arm at the time without thinking, and therefore suffered burns to her head, right arm and the back left side of her neck. She had a high fever from that night and lost consciousness, but was somehow able to survive. She has travelled to the United States ten times in the past seven years, including on invitation of the “Hibakusha Stories” project in New York, and has given testimony to many people in the US. To celebrate the United Nations International Day of Peace in 2020, five U.S. gardens have raked “patterns for peace” into their karesansui (Japanese style garden). The patterns were designed by Tanaka Toshiko. The day the bomb was dropped, Mr. Ogawa Tadayoshi had been evacuated outside of the city, however, he was exposed to radiation when his family returned to Nagasaki one week later to check on their home. He does not have any direct memory of being exposed to the bomb, however he participated in a Peace Boat voyage in 2012 to pass on the testimonies of the atomic bomb survivors to future generations. Mr Ogawa is an amateur photographer, and is active collecting pictures taken every year on August 9 at two minutes past eleven, the time the bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. Last year, Ogawa collected 200 pictures from Nagasaki and around the world and is aiming to collect 1,000 pictures at the 100th anniversary of the atomic bombing.

Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXP9OlCR1Ho