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Opinion

Editorial: On commemoration of 77th year since Hiroshima A-bombing, message of “No nuclear weapons’ use” must be delivered more forcefully

“At the fateful time of 8:15 a.m., the world I had known completely changed with an intense flash…” In that way, earlier this year, Shizuko Miyamoto described her experience in the atomic bombing at the age of 10 while being hospitalized with injuries to her right leg in an extensive written account.

On August 6, with her father, mother, and younger brother at the hospital paying Shizuko a visit, everyone’s safety was immediately confirmed. Her older sister, however, was engaged in the dismantling of buildings for the creation of fire lanes together with her teachers and classmates near the location of the present Hiroshima City office. Ms. Miyamoto was worried about her sister, but she was able to return to the family in the evening seemingly without any injuries or wounds.

Day by day, her sister’s health was increasingly affected by the A-bomb’s radiation. Her hair fell out and purple spots appeared on different areas of her body. As she gradually grew weaker, her sister revealed her feelings of bitterness.

 “Shizuko, I hate the atomic bomb.”
 “My teacher died, my friends died. I feel so sorry for them.”
 “I hate America. They did this to me.”

Finally, on September 8, as if all of her energy had been spent, her sister died. She was only 13 years old.

Unhealed physical and psychological wounds

Today marks the commemoration of the 77th year since the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Many citizens were killed without ever knowing what had happened to them. Similar to Shizuko’s older sister, countless people were forced to die mercilessly against their will. Over the years, some lost their lives due to the aftereffects of radiation.

Hiroshima, which had been annihilated and turned to ruins, has recovered and developed to the point at which any traces of the atomic bombing are now difficult to discern. Nevertheless, the physical and psychological wounds suffered by A-bomb survivors will never heal.

Describing herself as an ordinary person, Ms. Miyamoto remarked that it is still difficult for her, even now, to watch movies or television dramas that depict the atomic bombing. Frightened simply to recall it, she wrote that she had never shared her story with anybody outside of her family, keeping the experience to herself, for more than 70 years.

This year, however, certain events repeated themselves in Japan and overseas, reversing the need for privacy felt by A-bomb survivors such as Ms. Miyamoto.

Russia invaded Ukraine, brutally employing arms against civilians including children. Many people likely have been distressed by the news footage coming from that area. Even more, A-bomb survivors surely find it difficult to be at peace because the recent scenes remind them of their own experiences in the past.

To everyone’s surprise, Russia President Vladimir Putin has even threatened the use of nuclear weapons. Possession of nuclear weapons is one thing, but to threaten their use is truly outrageous.

Risk of humankind’s self-destruction

In June, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) proclaimed that the risk of nuclear weapons’ use had risen to its highest point in the post-Cold War period, in what was a criticism of Russia’s violence. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres also issued an alert early in August, stating that “humanity is in danger of forgetting the lessons forged in the terrifying fires of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.”

If a nuclear war were to happen, the result would be the self-destruction of humanity. In the 1980s, the United States and the former Soviet Union worked toward nuclear disarmament on an unprecedented scale. The driving force behind the effort was that both nations were convinced ‘nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.’

In accordance with the start of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference on August 1, Mr. Putin issued a statement to the same effect. If he insists that is the case, why does he fail to demonstrate that belief with his actions?

Tyranny is not limited to Russia. Nuclear weapons states are not making any effort to pursue nuclear disarmament negotiations, which they are obligated to undertake in good faith by the NPT. On the contrary, a move to develop smaller, tactical nuclear weapons can be observed in some nations.

For its part, Japan has recently taken actions that also have worried A-bomb survivors. Taking advantage of the crisis in Ukraine, Japan bandied about the ideas of “nuclear sharing” and of building up its own defensive capabilities.

As the A-bombed nation, Japan’s role must be to communicate to the world the inhumanity of nuclear weapons and to argue for attainment of a world free from nuclear weapons.

So long as Japan relies on the idea of nuclear deterrence, the world could fall into an endless arms race without any hope for sustainable peace.

The path toward a safe world is not nuclear deterrence or the buildup of defense capabilities. It is represented by participation in the community involved in the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), which is the embodiment of the hopes of people in the A-bombed cities.

Support of “succession”

According to a national peace survey announced at the end of July, 32% of respondents, the largest percentage, answered they believe the most important option to avoid war is “Japan to be more committed to diplomacy for peace.” This was followed by 24% of the respondents selecting the idea of strict observance of Japan’s constitution. A smaller portion, only 15%, responded they felt a major arms buildup is the best way. The public’s feelings seem clear.

The fact that passing on A-bombing memories to younger generations is becoming more and more difficult should also be a focus of attention. The number of people holding an Atomic Bomb Survivor’s Certificate totals less than 120,000 for first time in history. Their average age reached 84.53 years, as of the end of this past March.

This fiscal year, the Hiroshima City government began a new training program for Family A-bomb Legacy Successors, in which so-called ‘successors’ of the A-bomb survivors will communicate stories of their families’ A-bombing experiences to varied audiences. Expectations are that the program will lead to the unveiling and communicating of heretofore unknown A-bombing experiences to others, including the experiences of survivors who have not shared their stories. However, the great challenge is how the successors can sustain the quality of their families’ A-bomb testimonies. The city’s requirement of limiting applicants for the program to family members of living A-bomb survivors perhaps needs to be revisited.

In anticipation of a future in which A-bomb survivors are no longer alive, the question arises of how to best pass on their memories to future generations. The effort must be supported by an “All-Hiroshima” team that includes not only governments but also universities and members of the public.

When Ms. Miyamoto at last revealed her experience of the atomic bombing in writing after an extended period of silence, she emphasized that nuclear weapons are an absolute evil that could be directly linked to the elimination of humanity. “This may sound arrogant, but I believe I am destined to fulfill a mission to eliminate nuclear weapons, despite the fact that I am an ordinary individual living an ordinary life,” she wrote.

Under any circumstances, use of nuclear arms should never be permitted. The weapons can annihilate entire cities, taking countless lives of non-combatant civilians. Use of such weapons is, quite obviously, a war crime. The act by survivors who witnessed the catastrophe firsthand of recalling their experiences in the atomic bombing is crucially important. However, they cannot be relied on forever.

There must be something each of us can do as residents of the A-bombed city and as people who have been moved when listening to the testimonies of A-bomb survivors. As the nuclear risk rises, sending out to the world the A-bombed city’s message of peace has taken on even greater importance. As a first step, we should ask ourselves what we can do to prevent any new victims of nuclear weapons and to avoid the self-destruction of humanity.

(Originally published on August 6, 2022)

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