Hibakusha testimonies in English

Four hibakusha relate their first hand experiences of the A-bombing in English. Following the talks, Dr Yokor who is an expert in diseases caused by the A-bomb will lead a Q&A session in English.

The speakers are

Keiko Ogura
When the bomb exploded, she was 8 years old and on the street near her house in the north of Hiroshima City. After the bombing, she immediately saw many victims dying. She continued to observe the center of the city from a hill every day. Some of her relatives are still missing. Her father helped remove a lot of victims day after day.

Shoso Hirai
At the time of the bomb, he was 16 years old and in the north of Hiroshima city. He wasn’t injured, but lost his father, brother and home in the blast. The day after the atomic bomb, he went downtown to look for his family.

Sumiko Hirozawa
She was 17 years old and coincidentally in the countryside on that day. Her mother was injured by the A-bomb and went home. A few days after the tragedy, she went downtown to search for her friends.

Isao Aratani
He was 13 years old and just north of Hiroshima Station doing agricultural work. When he was looking at the plane that dropped the bomb, he suddenly was blown back by the blast and got burned.

Mr Aratani sent us this message explaining what the group hopes to achieve:

A lot of Hibakusha (A-bomb victims) have tried to make efforts to forget their terrible experiences of the atomic bomb and haven’t told their experiences to even their family for a long time. But some Hibakusha found it’s very important to convey the atomic holocaust and the pricelessness of peace to other people, after joining the pacifist organization HIP. So we Hibakusha members of HIP would like to share our experiences with a lot of people. Because we are at age of 70’s and the rest of our lives is limited.

Schedule

• 10:00-12:00 Testimonies
• 12:00-13:00 Meeting in English with audience, survivors & HIP members

This event is organized by Hiroshima Interpreters for Peace (HIP) (Japanese link).

Free of charge

Address:
Meeting Room 1
B1, Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum

Dates/Times:
06 August 10:00 - 13:40 Hrs

For more information:
URL:	www.hipj.org/en