Japan Press Weekly

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2023 August 2 - 8 [PEACE]

JCP Dietmembers meet with Hiroshima Hibakusha

Japanese Communist Party Dietmembers came into Hiroshima City to meet with Hibakusha, mourn the victims at the Atomic Bomb Monument, and visit a Hibakusha nursing-care home and an A-bomb survivors hospital.

On August 5, JCP members of the House of Representatives Kasai Akira and Miyamoto Toru along with JCP members of the House of Councilors Nihi Sohei, Inoue Satoshi, and Iwabuchi Tomo held a meeting with representatives of the Hiroshima Federation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Hiroshima Hidankyo) in the city.

JCP Kasai and Hiroshima Hibakusha Sakuma Kunihiko, who chairs the Hiroshima Hidankyo, went to NYC together last year to participate in the NPT Review Conference. In the meeting, Hibakusha supporters explained that the average age of Hibakusha now exceeds 85 years of age. They complained about the difficulty in finding the two witnesses needed for a survivor to be eligible to apply for a Hibakusha card, and demanded that the requirements set under the Atomic Bomb Survivors' Assistance Act be eased.

The JCP Dietmembers' group on the same day visited Hibakusha residents in a Hibakusha nursing-care home. The chief caretaker explained that 44 Hibakusha are now cared for at the home and the oldest among them is a 99-year-old woman. The chief also explained that 446 Hibakusha, as of now, are waiting for admission to the facility and the longest waiting period is more than nine years. Kasai who is a second-generation Hiroshima Hibakusha said, "We must never allow a recurrence of the horror of war which would create more Hibakusha. The JCP lawmakers will keep working hard in the Diet to improve Hibakusha care."

In the early morning of the next day, JCP Chair Shii Kazuo joined the Dietmembers' group and paid tribute to the victims of the A-bomb in front of the Atomic Bomb Monument in Hiroshima Peace Memoria Park.

The group on August 7 visited Hiroshima Red Cross Hospital which has a Hibakusha medical care department and expressed their respect for all staff who tenaciously dedicate themselves to helping Hibakusha. The hospital director said that the hospital had an average of 60 Hibakusha inpatients and 120 Hibakusha outpatients per day last year, and that their average age wss 85.3 years old. The director added that the number of Hibakusha patients continues to decrease year after year, and that the hospital receives almost no government support for Hibakusha care, experiencing financial difficulties. The JCP Dietmembers said, "We will make further efforts in the Diet to enact policies that reward your hard work."