Hidankyo plans projects to mark 70th anniversary of A-bombing Course, symposium for young people to be held
Feb. 4, 2015
by Michiko Tanaka, Staff Writer
To mark this year’s 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing, the Hiroshima Prefectural Confederation of A-bomb Sufferers Organizations (Hidankyo) chaired by Sunao Tsuboi is undertaking special projects focused on efforts to pass on memories of the A-bombing and to ensure that the survivors’ movement is carried on. Hidankyo has formed an organizing committee with college students from Hiroshima Prefecture and plans to hold a course and a symposium for young people. The group reported on its plans at a meeting of representatives of survivors’ organizations in Hiroshima on January 28.
The slogan for the group’s 70th anniversary projects is: “Back to the basics, pass on our legacy.” The special course for young people, to be held on April 5, will focus on the struggles of A-bomb survivors for the more than 10 years after the war during which they received almost no support from the government. Survivors who lived through those times will talk about their experiences. The symposium will be held on June 21 and will feature discussions on how the children of survivors and students can pass on memories of the A-bombing. Both events are slated to be held in the city’s Naka Ward, and Hidankyo is inviting local high schools and college students to attend.
The January 28 meeting was attended by 71 representatives of local organizations from throughout the prefecture. The secretariat announced that the group will send Toshiyuki Mimaki, 72, vice president, and Sumiko Nakamura, 81, president of a survivors’ group based in Hongo-cho in the city of Mihara, to New York in April, when the review conference of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty will be held. Terumi Tanaka, secretary general of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo) and head of the representatives’ group, announced that the group was planning to hold a large-scale event for A-bomb survivors from throughout Japan in Naka Ward on August 5. “I’d like to make it an opportunity for survivors to look back over the past 70 years and to outline how we can prepare for the future,” he said.
(Originally published on January 29, 2015)
To mark this year’s 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing, the Hiroshima Prefectural Confederation of A-bomb Sufferers Organizations (Hidankyo) chaired by Sunao Tsuboi is undertaking special projects focused on efforts to pass on memories of the A-bombing and to ensure that the survivors’ movement is carried on. Hidankyo has formed an organizing committee with college students from Hiroshima Prefecture and plans to hold a course and a symposium for young people. The group reported on its plans at a meeting of representatives of survivors’ organizations in Hiroshima on January 28.
The slogan for the group’s 70th anniversary projects is: “Back to the basics, pass on our legacy.” The special course for young people, to be held on April 5, will focus on the struggles of A-bomb survivors for the more than 10 years after the war during which they received almost no support from the government. Survivors who lived through those times will talk about their experiences. The symposium will be held on June 21 and will feature discussions on how the children of survivors and students can pass on memories of the A-bombing. Both events are slated to be held in the city’s Naka Ward, and Hidankyo is inviting local high schools and college students to attend.
The January 28 meeting was attended by 71 representatives of local organizations from throughout the prefecture. The secretariat announced that the group will send Toshiyuki Mimaki, 72, vice president, and Sumiko Nakamura, 81, president of a survivors’ group based in Hongo-cho in the city of Mihara, to New York in April, when the review conference of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty will be held. Terumi Tanaka, secretary general of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo) and head of the representatives’ group, announced that the group was planning to hold a large-scale event for A-bomb survivors from throughout Japan in Naka Ward on August 5. “I’d like to make it an opportunity for survivors to look back over the past 70 years and to outline how we can prepare for the future,” he said.
(Originally published on January 29, 2015)
