Japan Press Weekly

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2024 June 5 - 11 [PEACE]

2nd-generation Hibakusha groups in Nagasaki and S. Korea share their experiences

A meeting to exchange experiences and activities between Japan’s second-generation A-bomb survivors (Hibakusha), who are members of the Nagasaki Atomicbomb Survivors Council (Hisaikyo), and second and third descendants of South Korean A-bomb victims took place on June 5 in Nagasaki City.

The meeting was organized on the sidelines of a visit to Nagasaki by South Korea’s peace groups, including an A-bombed Korean victims’ group in Gyeonggi-do province. Those who attended the meeting were 19 Japanese people, including second-generation Hibakusha and activists of the Nagasaki Council against A and H Bombs (Nagasaki Gensuikyo) and nine South Korean people.

Hisaikyo Secretary General Kakita Fumie introduced the results of its survey of second-generation Hibakusha which showed that about 60% of respondents said that they have health concerns. She said that to realize the introduction of a system enabling second-generation A-bomb survivors to receive support in the field of health care is an urgent task.

Ishida Kumi said that both her parents were Hibakusha and stressed the need to pass down Hibakusha stories to younger generations.

A male participant from South Korea, who is a second-generation Hibakusha, said that his late father was forcibly mobilized to work at a weapons factory of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Nagasaki City and lived through and survived the U.S. atomic bomb attack in August 79 years ago.

The man noted that more than 10% of the A-bomb victims are Koreans and said that like his father, these people have been forced to endure enormous hardships.