Japan Press Weekly

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2024 July 24 - 30 [PEACE]

Nagasaki JCP urges gov’t to certify all ‘people who experienced A-bomb’ as Hibakusha

A group of Japanese Communist Party Nagasaki Prefectural Committee members, accompanied by JCP member of the House of Representatives Tamura Takaaki, visited the Health and Welfare Ministry in Tokyo on July 23. They demanded that the government recognize all “Hibaku Taikensha”, the people who experienced the atomic bombing of Nagasaki in 1945, as A-bomb survivors (Hibakusha).

The JCP Nagasaki prefectural organization also urged the government to issue Hibakusha health books to “Hibaku Taikensha”, who are not certified as Hibakusha because they were outside the limits of the government-designated zone, in line with the Hiroshima High Court ruling in the “black rain” lawsuit.

JCP member of the former Nagasaki City Assembly Uchida Hidetaka noted that the national government defines those who were exposed to radiation from the U.S. atomic bombing within a 12km-radius from the Nagasaki epicenter as Hibakusha. The former JCP assemblyperson brought up a case in which people who were exposed to radiation outside the 12km zone obtained Hibakusha certificates while Hibakusha certificate applications from people were rejected even they had been within the designated zone at the time of the bombing.

JCP Uchida asked ministry officials for a clear explanation on this case, but they failed to give clear responses.

Past related article:
> Hiroshima court again recognizes 84 radioactive ‘black rain’ victims as atomic bomb sufferers [July 15, 2021]