A-bomb survivors’ organization to disband, volunteers will form new group to carry on activities
Jan. 5, 2016
by Kota Yamanari, Staff Writer
An organization of atomic bomb survivors in Takamiya-cho, Akitakata City has decided to disband in March 2016. With its membership declining due to advancing age, the remaining members have determined that it will be difficult to maintain the organization. However, some have volunteered to assemble a new group to continue the organization’s work in the future.
The Takamiya-cho organization was formed in 2001. It built a monument for peace and began holding a memorial ceremony. There were about 190 members when the organization was launched, but this number has fallen to about 100 and they have been unable to hold the memorial ceremony for the last few years.
The organization carried out a survey among its membership from late September to late October, asking about the group’s future, and because 65 percent of the members indicated their intention to withdraw, the board met in mid-November and decided to disband the organization. The meeting also confirmed that the members who would like to continue the organization’s activities will form a new group in which the children of the A-bomb survivors will be able to take part and help carry on this work.
Masami Tamai, 84, the president of the A-bomb survivors’ organization in Takamiya-cho, said, “Because we’re growing older, many of our members find it hard to even participate in the general assembly and they feel they’ve reached a limit to what they can do for the organization. We would like to pass the torch of our desire for a world without nuclear weapons to the new group.”
In Akitakata City, A-bomb survivors’ organizations in Koda-cho and Yachiyo-cho disbanded in 2015. Sunao Tsuboi, 90, chairman of the Hiroshima Prefectural Confederation of A-bomb Sufferers Organizations, said, “They did a splendid job, but no one can fight the advancing years. I hope the new group will continue to be a place where not only the A-bomb survivors but many others, too, can think about peace.”
(Originally published on December 27, 2015)
An organization of atomic bomb survivors in Takamiya-cho, Akitakata City has decided to disband in March 2016. With its membership declining due to advancing age, the remaining members have determined that it will be difficult to maintain the organization. However, some have volunteered to assemble a new group to continue the organization’s work in the future.
The Takamiya-cho organization was formed in 2001. It built a monument for peace and began holding a memorial ceremony. There were about 190 members when the organization was launched, but this number has fallen to about 100 and they have been unable to hold the memorial ceremony for the last few years.
The organization carried out a survey among its membership from late September to late October, asking about the group’s future, and because 65 percent of the members indicated their intention to withdraw, the board met in mid-November and decided to disband the organization. The meeting also confirmed that the members who would like to continue the organization’s activities will form a new group in which the children of the A-bomb survivors will be able to take part and help carry on this work.
Masami Tamai, 84, the president of the A-bomb survivors’ organization in Takamiya-cho, said, “Because we’re growing older, many of our members find it hard to even participate in the general assembly and they feel they’ve reached a limit to what they can do for the organization. We would like to pass the torch of our desire for a world without nuclear weapons to the new group.”
In Akitakata City, A-bomb survivors’ organizations in Koda-cho and Yachiyo-cho disbanded in 2015. Sunao Tsuboi, 90, chairman of the Hiroshima Prefectural Confederation of A-bomb Sufferers Organizations, said, “They did a splendid job, but no one can fight the advancing years. I hope the new group will continue to be a place where not only the A-bomb survivors but many others, too, can think about peace.”
(Originally published on December 27, 2015)
