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@29 days until Hiroshima Summit: A-bomb survivor testimony

by Fumiyasu Miyano, Staff Writer

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima’s Naka Ward offers a service that allows you to listen to A-bomb survivors’ accounts of their experience if at least one person places a request in advance. In fiscal 2023, 33 survivors are commissioned to share their accounts by the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation. One of them is Keiko Ogura, 85, who also tells her story in English. However, with an average age of 86.2, the number of commissioned survivors has decreased by 12 compared to five years ago. Fewer and fewer survivors are able to talk about their own experiences, and the same is true for other A-bomb survivors’ groups and individuals who do their own activities.

For this reason, Hiroshima City government initiated a training system for “A-bomb Legacy Successors,” who, as a third party, inherit the survivors’ A-bomb experiences and memories to give testimony on their behalf. In addition, a new program for cultivating "Family A-bomb Legacy Successors," who listen to the A-bomb experiences of their families and share the stories with the public, was launched. For fiscal 2023, seven people have been appointed as “Family A-bomb Legacy Successors” for the first time. Efforts have been made to pass down A-bomb survivors’ wish for peace.

(Originally published on April 20, 2023)

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