Survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki who currently live in Tokyo have paid tribute to the victims of the attacks that occurred toward the end of World War Two.
An annual remembrance ceremony took place in the Japanese capital on Sunday prior to the 79th anniversary of the attacks. An atomic bomb was detonated over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Another went off over Nagasaki three days later.
The event was held by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and Toyukai, or the Tokyo Federation of A-Bomb Sufferers Organizations. About 120 people attended, including atomic-bomb survivors known as hibakusha.
Federation representative director Ieshima Masashi delivered a speech, saying there is little time left for elderly atomic-bomb survivors like him.
Ieshima added that the survivors cannot help feeling regretful when they die, unless campaigns to realize the abolition of nuclear weapons and seek state compensation for victims bear fruit.
Another survivor, Kimura Kazushige, also took the stage, recounting stories he had heard from his parents. He was exposed to radiation from the Hiroshima bombing when he was 1 year old.
Kimura said his family evacuated to a mountain as their home had collapsed due to the attack. He also noted that his younger brother died after he had been exposed to rain that contained radioactive substances. The so-called “black rain” fell right after the attack.
Kimura said his parents must have wanted him to keep alive the memories of the misery caused by the atomic bomb. He expressed hope that the world will have been rid of nuclear arms during his grandchildren’s generation.
A 90-year-old woman who was exposed to atomic-bomb radiation in Hiroshima when she was 11 years old took part in the ceremony.
She said after the event that she feels the number of survivor attendees has been declining year by year. She said she wants younger people to pass on the memories of the atomic bombings to future generations.
Tokyo has seen 354 atomic-bomb survivors die over the past year. The number of survivors residing in the capital stood at 3,557 as of the end of March this year. That was roughly a third of the peak figure.