' ( or ; or ; or ) is a word of Japanese origin generally designating the people affected by the

atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki On 6 and 9 August 1945, the United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively, during World War II. The aerial bombings killed between 150,000 and 246,000 people, most of whom were civili ...

by the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

at the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Definition

The word is Japanese, originally written in

kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...

. While the term ( + + ) has been used before in Japanese to designate any victim of bombs, its worldwide democratization led to a definition concerning the survivors of the

atomic bombs A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear explos ...

dropped in Japan by the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

on 6 and 9 August 1945.

Anti-nuclear The Anti-nuclear war movement is a social movement that opposes various nuclear technologies. Some direct action groups, environmental movements, and professional organisations have identified themselves with the movement at the local, n ...

movements and associations, among others of ', spread the term to designate any direct victim of nuclear disaster, including the ones of the nuclear plant in Fukushima. They, therefore, prefer the writing (replacing with the

homophonous A homophone () is a word that is pronounced the same as another word but differs in meaning or in spelling. The two words may be spelled the same, for example ''rose'' (flower) and ''rose'' (past tense of "rise"), or spelled differently, a ...

) or . This definition tends to be adopted since 2011. The legal status of is allocated to certain people, mainly by the Japanese government.

Official recognition

The Atomic Bomb Survivors Relief Law defines as people who fall into one or more of the following categories: within a few kilometers of the

hypocenter A hypocenter or hypocentre (), also called ground zero or surface zero, is the point on the Earth's surface directly below a nuclear explosion, meteor air burst, or other mid-air explosion. In seismology, the hypocenter of an earthquake is its ...

s of the bombs; within of the hypocenters within two weeks of the bombings; exposed to radiation from

fallout Nuclear fallout is residual radioactive material that is created by the reactions producing a nuclear explosion. It is initially present in the radioactive cloud created by the explosion, and "falls out" of the cloud as it is moved by the ...

; or not yet born but carried by pregnant women in any of the three previously mentioned categories. The Japanese government has recognized about 650,000 people as '. , 106,825 were still alive, mostly in Japan, and in 2024 are expected to surpass the number of surviving US World War veterans. The government of Japan recognizes about 1% of these as having illnesses caused by radiation. ' are entitled to government support. They receive a certain amount of allowance per month, and the ones certified as suffering from bomb-related diseases receive a special medical allowance. The memorials in

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui has b ...

and

Nagasaki , officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for tr ...

contain lists of the names of the ' who are known to have died since the bombings. Updated annually on the anniversaries of the bombings, , the memorials record the names of more than 540,000 '; 344,306 in Hiroshima and 198,785 in Nagasaki. Sumiteru Taniguchi back

In 1957, the Japanese Parliament passed a law providing free medical care for '. During the 1970s, non-Japanese ' who suffered from those atomic attacks began to demand the right to free medical care and the right to stay in Japan for that purpose. In 1978, the Japanese Supreme Court ruled that such persons were entitled to free medical care while staying in Japan.

Korean survivors

During the war, Korea had been under Japanese imperial rule and many Koreans were living in Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the time of the atomic bombings. More than 2 million Koreans migrated to Japan during the colonial period as a result of financial hardship on the peninsula. Others were either mobilized as laborers or soldiers during World War II. Those who remained in postwar Japan after the atomic bombings were called

Zainichi () are ethnic Koreans who immigrated to Japan before 1945 and are citizens or permanent residents of Japan, or who are descendants of those immigrants. They are a group distinct from South Korean nationals who have immigrated to Japan since t ...

Korean hibakusha. According to recent estimates, about 20,000 Koreans were killed in Hiroshima and about 2,000 died in Nagasaki. It is estimated that one in seven of the Hiroshima victims was of Korean ancestry. The exact number of Korean victims remains unknown; however, the amount of those exposed to radiation increased as laborers were mobilized to provide response and relief to areas that were directly affected. For many years, Koreans had a difficult time fighting for recognition as atomic bomb victims and were denied health benefits. Some reported discriminatory treatment in applying for allowances and survivor certificates. Others were unable to access information on government relief and healthcare due to literacy barriers. Some of these issues have been addressed in recent years through lawsuits. Efforts to commemorate Korean victims have been contentious within the context of both North-South Korean divisions, as well as Korean-Japanese relations. The emergence of Cold War geopolitical tensions complicated Zainichi Korean hibakusha efforts to advocate for redress and recognition for Korean victims as the Zainichi community grappled with divisions on their home peninsula. Several Zainichi Korean hibakusha memorials exist in Japan today, including the Chosen-jin Hibakusha Memorial in

Nagasaki Peace Park Nagasaki Peace Park is a park located in Nagasaki, Japan, commemorating the atomic bombing of the city on August 9, 1945 during World War II. It is next to the Atomic Bomb Museum and near the Peace Memorial Hall. History Established in 1955, an ...

, as well as the Hiroshima Kankoku-jin Hibakusha Cenotaph. The cenotaph was heavily disputed in terms of its original placement outside of the Peace Memorial Park, as well as its engravings. At the end of the 1990s, joint talks between Hiroshima City mayor Yamada Setsuo, as well as members of both Mindan and Soren—the two, prominent Zainichi Korean organizations in Japan—helped facilitate the transfer of the cenotaph within the park, which was completed in 1999.

Japanese-American survivors

It was a common practice before the war for American

Issei are Japanese immigrants to countries in North America and South America. The term is used mostly by ethnic Japanese. are born in Japan; their children born in the new country are (, "two", plus , "generation"); and their grandchildren are ...

, or first-generation immigrants, to send their children on extended trips to Japan to study or visit relatives. More Japanese immigrated to the U.S. from Hiroshima than any other prefecture, and Nagasaki also sent many immigrants to Hawai'i and the mainland. There was, therefore, a sizable population of American-born

Nisei is a Japanese language, Japanese-language term used in countries in North America and South America to specify the nikkeijin, ethnically Japanese children born in the new country to Japanese-born immigrants, or . The , or Second generation imm ...

and

Kibei Kibei () was a term often used in the 1940s to describe Japanese Americans born in the United States whose parents had sent them to receive their education in Japan and who had then returned to the United States. Many of them had dual citizenship. ...

living in their parents' hometowns of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the time of the atomic bombings. The actual number of

Japanese American are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian Americans, Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 United States census, 2000 census, they have declined in ...

s affected by the bombings is unknown – although estimates put approximately 11,000 in Hiroshima city alone – but some 3,000 of them are known to have survived and returned to the U.S. after the war.Wake, Naoko
"Japanese American Hibakusha"
''Densho Encyclopedia''. Retrieved Aug 5, 2014. A second group of counted among Japanese American survivors are those who came to the U.S. in a later wave of Japanese immigration during the 1950s and 1960s. Most in this group were born in Japan and migrated to the U.S. in search of educational and work opportunities that were scarce in post-war Japan. Many were

war brides War brides are women who married military personnel from other countries in times of war or during military occupations, a practice that occurred in great frequency during World War I and World War II. Allied servicemen married many women in o ...

, or Japanese women who had married American men related to the U.S. military's occupation of Japan. As of 2014, there are about 1,000 recorded Japanese American living in the United States. They receive monetary support from the Japanese government and biannual medical checkups with Hiroshima and Nagasaki doctors familiar with the particular concerns of atomic bomb survivors. The U.S. government provides no support to Japanese American .

Other foreign survivors

While one British Commonwealth citizen and seven Dutch POWs (two names known) died in the Nagasaki bombing, at least two POWs reportedly died postwar from cancer thought to have been caused by the atomic bomb. One American POW, the Navajo Joe Kieyoomia, was in Nagasaki at the time of the bombing but survived, reportedly having been shielded from the effects of the bomb by the concrete walls of his cell.

Double survivors

People who suffered the effects of both bombings are known as in Japan. These people were in Hiroshima on 6 August 1945, and within two days managed to reach Nagasaki. A documentary called ''Twice Bombed, Twice Survived: The Doubly Atomic Bombed of Hiroshima and Nagasaki'' was produced in 2006. The producers found 165 people who were victims of both bombings, and the production was screened at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

. On 24 March 2009, the Japanese government officially recognized Tsutomu Yamaguchi (1916–2010) as a double . Yamaguchi was confirmed to be from

ground zero A hypocenter or hypocentre (), also called ground zero or surface zero, is the point on the Earth's surface directly below a nuclear explosion, meteor air burst, or other mid-air explosion. In seismology, the hypocenter of an earthquake is its p ...

in Hiroshima on a business trip when the bomb was detonated. He was seriously burnt on his left side and spent the night in Hiroshima. He got back to his home city of Nagasaki on 8 August, a day before the bomb in Nagasaki was dropped, and he was exposed to residual radiation while searching for his relatives. He was the first officially recognized survivor of both bombings. Yamaguchi died at the age of 93 on 4 January 2010 of stomach cancer.

Discrimination

and their children were (and still are) victims of severe

discrimination Discrimination is the process of making unfair or prejudicial distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong, such as race, gender, age, class, religion, or sex ...

when it comes to prospects of marriage or work due to public ignorance about the consequences of

radiation sickness Acute radiation syndrome (ARS), also known as radiation sickness or radiation poisoning, is a collection of health effects that are caused by being exposed to high amounts of ionizing radiation in a short period of time. Symptoms can start wit ...

, with much of the public believing it to be

hereditary Heredity, also called inheritance or biological inheritance, is the passing on of traits from parents to their offspring; either through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction, the offspring cells or organisms acquire the genetic inform ...

or even contagious. This is despite the fact that no statistically demonstrable increase of birth defects or congenital malformations was found among the later conceived children born to survivors of the nuclear weapons used at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, or found in the later conceived children of cancer survivors who had previously received

radiotherapy Radiation therapy or radiotherapy (RT, RTx, or XRT) is a treatment using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of cancer therapy to either kill or control the growth of malignant cells. It is normally delivered by a linear particle ...

. The surviving women of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, who could conceive, and were exposed to substantial amounts of radiation, went on and had children with no higher incidence of abnormalities or birth defects than the rate observed in the Japanese population.

Studs Terkel Louis "Studs" Terkel (May 16, 1912 – October 31, 2008) was an American writer, historian, actor, and broadcaster. He received the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 1985 for ''The Good War'' and is best remembered for his oral histor ...

's book ''

The Good War ''"The Good War": An Oral History of World War II'' (1984) is an oral history of World War II compiled by Studs Terkel. The work received the 1985 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction. ''"The Good War"'' consists of a series of interviews wit ...

'' includes a conversation with two . The postscript observes: The is a group formed by in 1956 with the goals of pressuring the Japanese government to improve support of the victims and

lobbying Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agency, regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying involves direct, face-to-face contact and is carried out by va ...

governments for the

abolition of nuclear weapons Nuclear disarmament is the act of reducing or eliminating nuclear weapons. Its end state can also be a nuclear-weapons-free world, in which nuclear weapons are completely eliminated. The term ''denuclearization'' is also used to describe the pro ...

. Some estimates are that 140,000 people in Hiroshima (38.9% of the population) and 70,000 people in Nagasaki (28.0% of the population) died in 1945, but how many died immediately as a result of exposure to the blast, heat, or due to radiation, is unknown. One

Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission The Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission (ABCC) ( Japanese:原爆傷害調査委員会, ''Genbakushōgaichōsaiinkai'') was a commission established in 1946 in accordance with a presidential directive from Harry S. Truman to the National Academy of S ...

(ABCC) report discusses 6,882 people examined in Hiroshima, and 6,621 people examined in Nagasaki, who were largely within 2000 meters from the

, who suffered injuries from the blast and heat but died from complications frequently compounded by

acute radiation syndrome Acute radiation syndrome (ARS), also known as radiation sickness or radiation poisoning, is a collection of health effects that are caused by being exposed to high amounts of ionizing radiation in a short period of time. Symptoms can start wit ...

(ARS), all within about 20–30 days. In the rare cases of survival for individuals who were

in utero The uterus (from Latin ''uterus'', : uteri or uteruses) or womb () is the organ in the reproductive system of most female mammals, including humans, that accommodates the embryonic and fetal development of one or more fertilized eggs until bir ...

at the time of the bombing and yet who still were close enough to be exposed to less than or equal to 0.57 Gy, no difference in their cognitive abilities was found, suggesting a threshold dose for pregnancies below which there is no danger. In 50 or so children who survived the gestational process and were exposed to more than this dose, putting them within about 1000 meters from the hypocenter,

microcephaly Microcephaly (from Neo-Latin ''microcephalia'', from Ancient Greek μικρός ''mikrós'' "small" and κεφαλή ''kephalé'' "head") is a medical condition involving a smaller-than-normal head. Microcephaly may be present at birth or it m ...

was observed; this is the only elevated birth defect issue observed in the , occurring in approximately 50 in-utero individuals who were situated less than 1000 meters from the bombings. In a manner dependent on their distance from the hypocenter, in the 1987 ''Life Span Study'', conducted by the

Radiation Effects Research Foundation The Radiation Effects Research Foundation (RERF) is a joint U.S.-Japan research organization responsible for studying the medical effects of radiation and associated diseases in humans for the welfare of the survivors and all humankind.Introduction ...

, a statistical excess of 507 cancers, of undefined lethality, were observed in 79,972 who had still been living between 1958–1987 and who took part in the study. An

epidemiology Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and Risk factor (epidemiology), determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population, and application of this knowledge to prevent dise ...

study by the RERF estimates that from 1950 to 2000, 46% of leukemia deaths and 11% of solid cancers, of unspecified lethality, could be due to radiation from the bombs, with the statistical excess being estimated at 200 leukemia deaths and 1,700 solid cancers of undeclared lethality.

Health

Effects of nuclear explosions on human health The medical effects of the atomic bomb upon humans can be put into the four categories below, with the effects of larger thermonuclear weapons producing blast and thermal effects so large that there would be a negligible number of survivors close ...

Radiation poisoning Acute radiation syndrome (ARS), also known as radiation sickness or radiation poisoning, is a collection of health effects that are caused by being exposed to high amounts of ionizing radiation in a short period of time. Symptoms can start wit ...

Notable '

Hiroshima

* Hiroshima Maidens – 25 young women who had surgery in the US after the war * Hubert Schiffer – Jesuit priest at Hiroshima *

Ikuo Hirayama was a Japanese Nihonga painter and educator. Born in Setoda, Hiroshima, Setoda-chō, Hiroshima Prefecture, he was famous in Japan for Silk Road paintings of dreamy desert landscapes in Iran, Iraq, and China. Biography In 1952, he graduated fro ...

– of Hiroshima at 15 years old, painter *

Isao Harimoto is a Korean-Japanese former Nippon Professional Baseball player and holder of the record for most hits in the Japanese professional leagues. An ethnic Korean, his birth name is Jang Hun (). Harimoto has spent his life as a resident of Japan and a ...

– of Hiroshima at 5 years old, ethnic Korean baseball professional player *

Issey Miyake was a Japanese fashion designer. He was known for his technology-driven clothing designs, exhibitions and fragrances, such as '' L'eau d'Issey'', which became his best-known product. Early life and education Miyake was born on 22 April 1938 i ...

– of Hiroshima at 7 years old, clothing designer * Julia Canny – Irish nun who survived Hiroshima and aided survivors * Keiji Nakazawa – of Hiroshima at 6 years old, author of ''

Barefoot Gen is a Japanese historical manga series by Keiji Nakazawa, loosely based on Nakazawa's experiences as a survivor of the Hiroshima atomic bombing. The series begins in 1945 in and around Hiroshima, Japan, where six-year-old Gen Nakaok ...

'' and other anti-war

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

. *

Kiyoshi Tanimoto was a Japanese Methodist minister famous for his humanitarian work for the Hiroshima Maidens. Tanimoto was a U.S educated Methodist minister and moved to Hiroshima with his wife during the midst of World War II. He survived the Atomic bombi ...

– at 36 years old, Methodist minister, anti-nuclear activist, helped Hiroshima Maidens and to gain social rights. Peace prize named after him *

Koko Kondo Koko Tanimoto (Née , born November 20, 1944) is a prominent Hibakusha, atomic bomb survivor, peace activist, and the eldest of at least four children of Kiyoshi Tanimoto, a Methodist minister famous for his work for the Hiroshima Maidens. Both a ...

– of Hiroshima at 1 year old, notable peace activist and daughter of Reverend

* Masaru Kawasaki – of Hiroshima at 19 years old, composer of the dirge performed at every

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony is an annual Japanese list of minor secular observances#August, vigil. Every August 6, "A-Bomb Day", the city of Hiroshima holds the Peace Memorial Ceremony to console the victims of the Atomic bombings of Hiros ...

since 1975 * Michihiko Hachiya – of Hiroshima at 42 years old, physician specialized in , writer of Hiroshima Diary *

Sadako Kurihara was a Japanese poet who lived in Hiroshima and survived the atomic bombing during World War II. She is best known for her poem ''Umashimenkana'' (''Bringing Forth New Life''). Biography Kurihara was born Doi Sadako in Hiroshima city as the second ...

– of Hiroshima at 32 years old, poet, anti-nuclear activist, founder of () *

Sadako Sasaki was a Japanese girl who became a victim of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima by the United States. She was two years of age when the bombs were dropped and was severely irradiated. She survived for another ten years, becoming one of the most wi ...

– at 2 years old, well known for her goal to fold a thousand origami cranes in order to cure herself of

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

and as a symbol of peace * Sankichi Tōge – at 28 years old, poet and militant *

Setsuko Thurlow , born , is a Japanese–Canadian nuclear disarmament campaigner and Hibakusha who survived the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, atomic bombing of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945. She is mostly known throughout the world for being a leading ...

– of Hiroshima at 13 years old, anti-nuclear activist, ambassador, and keynote speaker at the reception of the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

of the

International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (abbreviated to ICAN, pronounced ) is a global civil society coalition working to promote adherence to and full implementation of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The cam ...

* Shigeaki Mori – a historian of allied prisoners of war * Shigeko Sasamori – advocate for peace and nuclear disarmament *

Shinoe Shōda was a Japanese poet and author known for her atomic bomb literature. Biography Shōda was born in Etajima, Hiroshima, Etajima in Hiroshima Prefecture in 1910. Around 1920 her family moved to Ujina, Japan, Ujina, just outside Hiroshima, and in 19 ...

– at 34 years old, writer and poet * Shuntaro Hida – of Hiroshima at 28 years old, physician specialized in treating * Sunao Tsuboi – of Hiroshima at 20 years old, teacher and activist with Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations

Tamiki Hara was a Japanese writer and survivor of the bombing of Hiroshima, known for his works in the atomic bomb literature genre. Biography Hara was born in Hiroshima in 1905. In his early years, he was an introverted personality who suffered from anx ...

– of Hiroshima at 39 years old, poet, writer, and university professor *

Tomotaka Tasaka was a Japanese film director. Career Born in Hiroshima Prefecture, he began working at Nikkatsu's Kyoto studio in 1924 and eventually came to prominence for a series of realist, humanist films made at Nikkatsu's Tamagawa studio in the late 19 ...

– of Hiroshima at 43 years old, film director and scriptwriter * Yoko Ota – of Hiroshima at 38 years old, writer *

Yoshito Matsushige was a Japanese photojournalist who survived the dropping of the atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 and took five photographs on the day of the bombing in Hiroshima, the only photographs taken that day within Hiroshima that a ...

– of Hiroshima at 32 years old, has taken the only five pictures known the day of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima * Shigeru Nakamura – of Hiroshima at 34 years old, supercentenarian, former oldest living Japanese man (11 January 1911 – 15 November 2022).

Nagasaki

* Joe Kieyoomia – an American Navajo prisoner of war who survived both the

Bataan Death March The Bataan Death March was the Death march, forcible transfer by the Imperial Japanese Army of around 72,000 to 78,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war (POWs) from the municipalities of Bagac and Mariveles on the Bataan Peninsula to Camp ...

and the Nagasaki bombing *

Kyoko Hayashi was a Japanese writer associated with the Atomic Bomb Literature genre. Biography Hayashi was born in Nagasaki and spent the years from 1931 to 1945 with her family in Shanghai. She returned to Nagasaki in 1945 and enrolled in Nagasaki Girls' Hi ...

– of Nagasaki at 14 years old, writer *

Osamu Shimomura was a Japanese organic chemist and marine biologist, and professor emeritus at Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole, Massachusetts and Boston University School of Medicine. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2008 for ...

– organic chemist and marine biologist;

Nobel Prize in Chemistry The Nobel Prize in Chemistry () is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outst ...

in 2008 *

Sumiteru Taniguchi was a Japanese anti-nuclear activist and survivor of the 1945 atomic bombing of Nagasaki, who was chairman of the Nagasaki Council of A-Bomb Sufferers. Early life Taniguchi Sumiteru was born in Fukuoka, Japan in 1929. His mother died when he w ...

– at 16 years old, known for a picture of him with his back skinless taken by a Marine; anti-nuclear peace activist, president of the council of the A-Bomb of Nagasaki, co-president of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations in 2010 *

Takashi Nagai was a Japanese Catholic physician, author, and survivor of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. His subsequent life of prayer and service earned him the affectionate title "saint of Urakami". His cause for canonization was opened after his death a ...

– of Nagasaki at 38 years old, doctor and author of '' The Bells of Nagasaki'' * Terumi Tanaka – of Nagasaki at 13 years old, engineer and associated professor at the University of Tohoku, an activist with Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations *

Yōsuke Yamahata was a Japanese photographer best known for extensively photographing Nagasaki the day after it was bombed. Biography Yamahata was born in Singapore on 6 August 1917; his father, Shōgyoku Yamahata (, later to become known as a photographer) ...

– military photographer, not a direct victim of the Bomb but took pictures of Nagasaki the next day. Died of cancer. Can be considered a according to the ABCC classification.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki

* Tsutomu Yamaguchi – the first person officially recognized to have survived both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings.

Artistic representations and documentaries

Literature

literature

* ''Summer Flowers'' (),

, 1946 * ''From the Ruins'' (), Tamiki Hara, 1947 * ''Prelude to Annihilation'' (), Tamiki Hara, 1949 * ''City of Corpses'' (),

Yōko Ōta was a Japanese writer. Many of her works are associated with the Atomic bomb literature genre. Biography Ōta was born Hatsuko (初子, "first born") Fukuda in Hiroshima to a wealthy landowner and his second wife Tomi. In 1910, her mother divo ...

, 1948 * ''Human Rags'' (), Yōko Ōta, 1951 * ''Penitence'' (),

, 1947 – collection of

tanka is a genre of classical Japanese poetry and one of the major genres of Japanese literature. Etymology Originally, in the time of the influential poetry anthology (latter half of the eighth century AD), the term ''tanka'' was used to disti ...

poems * ''

Bringing Forth New Life is a poem by Sadako Kurihara written in August 1945 in Hiroshima after the city's atomic bombing Atomic may refer to: * Of or relating to the atom, the smallest particle of a chemical element that retains its chemical properties * Atomic physic ...

'' (),

, 1946 * ''I, A Hiroshima Witness'' (), Sadako Kurihara, 1967 * ''Documents about Hiroshima Twenty-Four Years Later'' (), Sadako Kurihara, 1970 * ''Ritual of Death'' (),

Kyōko Hayashi was a Japanese writer associated with the Atomic Bomb Literature genre. Biography Hayashi was born in Nagasaki, Nagasaki, Nagasaki and spent the years from 1931 to 1945 with her family in Shanghai. She returned to Nagasaki in 1945 and enrolled in ...

, 1975 * ''Poems of the Atomic Bomb'' (), Sankichi Tōge, 1951 * '' The bells of Nagasaki'' (),

, 1949 * ''Little boy: stories of days in Hiroshima'', Shuntaro Hida, 1984 * ''Letters from the end of the world: a firsthand account of the bombing of Hiroshima'', Toyofumi Ogura, 1997 * ''The day the sun fell – I was 14 years old in Hiroshima'',

Hashizume Bun Hashizume (written: ) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *, Japanese actor *, Japanese actor *, Japanese-American singer *, Japanese swimmer *, Japanese footballer {{surname Japanese-language surnames ...

, 2007 * ''Yoko's Diary: The Life of a Young Girl in Hiroshima During World War II'', Yoko Hosokawa * ''Hiroshima Diary'', Michihiko Hachiya, 1955 * ''One year ago Hiroshima'' (), Hisashi Tohara, 1946

Non-' literature

* (), Kenzaburô Ooe, 1965 * '' Black Rain'' (),

Masuji Ibuse was a Japanese author. His novel ''Black Rain (novel), Black Rain,'' about the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, bombing of Hiroshima, was awarded the Noma Prize and the Order of Culture, Order of Cultural Merit. Early life and educat ...

, 1965 * ''Hiroshima'', Makoto Oda, 1981 * (), , 2006 * ''

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes ''Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes'' is a children's historical novel written by Canadian-American author Eleanor Coerr and published in 1977. It is based on the true story of Sadako Sasaki, a victim of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Ja ...

'',

Eleanor Coerr Eleanor Coerr (née Page; May 29, 1922 – November 22, 2010) was a Canadian-born American writer of children's books, including '' Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes'' (historical fiction) and many picture books. Biography She was born in Ka ...

, 1977 * (''Ashes of Hiroshima''), Othman Puteh and Abdul Razak Abdul Hamid, 1987 * ''Burnt Shadows'', Kamila Shamsie, 2009 * ''Nagasaki: Life After Nuclear War'', Susan Southard, 2015 * ''

'',

John Hersey John Richard Hersey (June 17, 1914 – March 24, 1993) was an American writer and journalist. He is considered one of the earliest practitioners of the so-called New Journalism, in which storytelling techniques of fiction are adapted to no ...

, 1946 * ''

Hibakusha ' ( or ; or ; or ) is a word of Japanese origin generally designating the people affected by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States at the end of World War II. Definition The word is Japanese, originally written i ...

'' (2015 short story)

Manga and anime

* ''

'' (), Keiji Nakazawa, 1973–1974, 10 volumes (also adapted in film in

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

and a TV drama in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

) * '' Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms'' (),

Fumiyo Kōno , commonly romanized Fumiyo Kouno, is a Japanese manga artist from Nishi-ku, Hiroshima, known for her 2004 manga '' Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms'' and her 2007 manga '' In This Corner of the World'' which got an anime film a ...

, 2003–2004 (adapted into novel and film in 2007) * ''

'',

Steve Nguyen Steve Nguyen (born December 30, 1985) is an American director, writer, artist and music producer. Nguyen and fellow director Choz Belen formed Studio APA, a multimedia collective that specializes in the production of animated films, children's b ...

and Choz Belen, 2012 * '' Bōshi'' (), Hiroshi Kurosaki,

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

, 2008, 90 minutes *'' In This Corner of the World'' (), Masao Maruyama,

MAPPA is a Japanese animation studio headquartered in Nakano, Tokyo (formerly in Suginami, Tokyo). Founded in 2011 by Madhouse co-founder and producer Masao Maruyama, it has produced anime works including '' Terror in Resonance'', '' Yuri!!! on I ...

, 2016

Films

* '' Children of Hiroshima'' (),

Kaneto Shindo was a Japanese film director, screenwriter, film producer, and writer, who directed 48 films and wrote scripts for 238. His best known films as a director include '' Children of Hiroshima'', '' The Naked Island'', '' Onibaba'', '' Kuroneko'' a ...

, 1952 * '' Frankenstein vs. Baragon'' (),

Ishirō Honda was a Japanese filmmaker who directed 46 feature films in a career spanning five decades. He is acknowledged as the most internationally successful Japanese filmmaker prior to Hayao Miyazaki and one of the founders of modern disaster film, wit ...

and

Eiji Tsuburaya was a Japanese special effects director, filmmaker, and cinematographer. A co-creator of the ''Godzilla (franchise), Godzilla'' and ''Ultraman'' franchises, he is considered one of the most important and influential figures in the history o ...

, 1965 * '' Black Rain'' (), Shohei Imamura, 1989 * '' The bells of Nagasaki'' (),

Hideo Ōba Hideo Ōba (大庭秀雄, ''Ōba Hideo'', 28 February 1910 – 10 March 1997) was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. Life Ōba was born on 28 February 1910, in Aoyama, Akasaka-ku, Tokyo. After graduating from Keio University's Departm ...

, 1950 * '' Rhapsody in August'' (),

Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker who List of works by Akira Kurosawa, directed 30 feature films in a career spanning six decades. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the History of film, history of cinema ...

, 1991 * ''

Hiroshima mon amour (, lit. , ) is a 1959 romantic drama film directed by French director Alain Resnais and written by French author Marguerite Duras. Resnais' first feature-length work, it was a co-production between France and Japan, and documents a series o ...

'',

Alain Resnais Alain Resnais (; 3 June 19221 March 2014) was a French film director and screenwriter whose career extended over more than six decades. After training as a film editor in the mid-1940s, he went on to direct short films including '' Night and Fog ...

, 1959 * ''

'',

Koreyoshi Kurahara (31 May 1927 – 28 December 2002) was a Japanese screenwriter and director. He is perhaps best known for directing ''Nankyoku Monogatari, Antarctica'' (1983), which won several awards and was entered into the 34th Berlin International Film ...

and

Roger Spottiswoode John Roger Spottiswoode (born 5 January 1945) is a Canadian-British director, editor and writer of film and Television program, television. Early life He was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and was raised in Britain. His father Raymond Spotti ...

, 1995 * ''

Touch The somatosensory system, or somatic sensory system is a subset of the sensory nervous system. The main functions of the somatosensory system are the perception of external stimuli, the perception of internal stimuli, and the regulation of bo ...

'',

Baltasar Kormákur Baltasar Kormákur Baltasarsson is an Icelandic actor, theatre and film director, and film producer. He is best known for directing the films '' 101 Reykjavík'', '' The Sea'', '' A Little Trip to Heaven'', ''Contraband'', '' 2 Guns'', ''Eve ...

, 2024

Music

Silent Planet Silent Planet is an American metalcore band formed in Azusa, California, in 2009. Their name is derived from C. S. Lewis' science fiction novel '' Out of the Silent Planet''. The group consists of vocalist Garrett Russell, guitarist/clean vocal ...

, ''Darkstrand'' ('), 2013 * Masaru Kawazaki, ''March forward for peace'', 1966 *

Krzysztof Penderecki Krzysztof Eugeniusz Penderecki (; 23 November 1933 – 29 March 2020) was a Polish composer and conductor. His best-known works include '' Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima'', Symphony No. 3, his '' St Luke Passion'', '' Polish Requiem'', '' ...

, ''

Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima ''Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima'', also translated as ''Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima'' (), is a musical composition for 52 string instruments composed in 1961 by Krzysztof Penderecki. Dedicated to the residents and ''hibakusha'' ...

'', 1961 * Masao Ohki, ''Symphony n^o 5 "Hiroshima"'', 1953 *

Toshio Hosokawa is a Japanese composer of contemporary classical music. He studied in Germany but returned to Japan, finding a personal style inspired by classical Japanese music and culture. He has composed operas, the oratorio '' Voiceless Voice in Hiroshima' ...

, ''Voiceless Voice in Hiroshima'', 1989–2001

Fine art painting

* (),

Carl Randall Carl Randall (born 1975) is a British figurative painter, whose work is based on images of modern Japan and London. Education Randall is a graduate of The Slade School of Fine Art London (BA Fine Art), the Royal Drawing School London (The Dr ...

(UK artist who met and painted portraits of in Hiroshima, 2006–2009)

Performing arts

* characters are featured in several Japanese plays including ''The Elephant'' by

Minoru Betsuyaku was one of Japan's most prominent postwar playwrights, novelists, and essayists, associated with the Angura ("underground") theater movement in Japan. He won a name for himself as a writer in the "nonsense" genre and helped lay the foundations of ...

Documentaries

* '' No More Hiroshima,''

Martin Duckworth Martin Duckworth (born March 8, 1933) is a Canadian documentary director and cinematographer who was on staff at the National Film Board from 1963 to 1970 and has continued to work with them as a freelance filmmaker. He was cinematographer on mor ...

, 1984 * ''Hiroshima: The real History'', Lucy van Beek, Brook Lapping Productions 2015 * ''

Hiroshima Witness ''Hiroshima Witness'', also released as ''Voice of Hibakusha'', is a documentary film featuring 100 interviews of people who survived the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, also known as ''hibakusha''. ''Hiroshima Witness'' was produced in ...

'', Hiroshima Peace Cultural Center and

, 1986 * ''

'',

Paul Wilmshurst Paul Wilmshurst (born 15 December 1961) is a British television director, producer, and screenwriter. He is known for his work across drama, documentary, and docudrama formats, with credits including ''Doctor Who'', '' Strike Back'', ''The Last ...

, BBC, 2005, 89 minutes * '' White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki'',

Steven Okazaki Steven Okazaki (born March 12, 1952) is an American documentary filmmaker known for his raw, cinéma vérité-style documentaries that frequently show ordinary people dealing with extraordinary circumstances. He has received a Peabody Award, a Pr ...

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

, 2007, 86 minutes * '' Als die Sonne vom Himmel fiel'',

Aya Domenig Aya Domenig (born 1972) is a Filmmaking, filmmaker and anthropologist of Japanese–Switzerland, Swiss origin. Early life and education Born in Kameoka, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan, Aya Domenig has joint Swiss and Japanese citizenships. Her ...

, 2015, 78 minutes * ''Atomic Wounds'', Journeyman Pictures, 2008

References

External links

Nagasaki Archive

(film)

Voice of Hibakusha
"Eye-witness accounts of the bombing of Hiroshima"
Hibakusha, fifteen years after the bomb
(CBC TV news report)

" testimonies, coupled with photographs, memoirs and paintings, give a human face to the tragedy of the A-bombing. Starting in 1986, the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation initiated a project to record giving testimonies on video. In each year since, the testimonies of 50 people have been recorded and edited into 20-minute segments per person"
The Voice of Hibakusha

ABCC
Radiation Effects Research Foundation website

"Survival in Nagasaki."

"Living with a double A-bomb surviving parent."

"Fight against the A-bomb."

"Contribute actively to peace."

Hibakusha Testimonies
– Online reprints of published sources including excerpts from the Japan Times.
Hibakusha Stories
"Initiative of Youth Arts New York in partnership with Peace Boat, the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, the

United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs The UN Office for Disarmament Affairs ( UNODA, ) is an Office of the United Nations Secretariat established in January 1998 as the Department for Disarmament Affairs, part of United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan's plan to reform the UN as ...

, and

New York Theatre Workshop __NOTOC__ New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) is an Off-Broadway theater noted for its productions of new works. Located at 79 East 4th Street between Second Avenue and Bowery in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, it h ...

."
A-Bomb Survivors: Women Speak Out for Peace
– Online DVD Testimonies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Hibakusha with subtitles in 6 different languages.
Literary Fallout: The legacies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Three Quarters of A Century After Hiroshima and Nagasaki: The Hibakusha – Brave Survivors Working for a Nuclear-Free World
– Online exhibit launched in 2023 by the No More Hiroshima & Nagasaki Museum. {{Portal bar, Japan, Nuclear technology, United States Nuclear warfare People associated with the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Radiation health effects Survivors of disasters Anti–nuclear weapons movement Zainichi Korean history