Hiroshima Summit 2023: Setsuko Thurlow urges G7 leaders to stamp the images of A-bomb victims’ suffering into their memories after her visit to the Peace Memorial Museum
May 14, 2023
by Kaori Ota, Staff Writer
On May 14, Setsuko Thurlow, 91, an A-bomb survivor living in Canada from Minami Ward, Hiroshima, visited the Peace Memorial Museum located in Naka Ward, which the leaders of the summit of the Group of Seven industrialized nations (G7) are expected to visit on May 19. She urged the leaders to stamp the images of how people suffered and died in agony into their memories before returning to their homes.
This was her first visit since the museum’s main building reopened in April 2019 after its renovation. With her second son Andy, 61, pushing her wheelchair, Ms. Thurlow spent about two hours touring the museum, occasionally speaking with him in English. Ms. Thurlow stared intently at each exhibit, including the clothing of children who were killed in the atomic bombing, as if she were trying to summon a response from the articles, and when wheeled in front of some articles, she wiped away her tears.
After the tour, ahead of the G7 Summit to be held in Hiroshima City between May 19 and 21, she said, “When making political decisions, not only theories but also sensitivities are very important. I believe that they should each feel something as a human being,” wishing for progress toward the abolition of nuclear weapons. Then, she offered a silent prayer in front of the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims.
Ms. Thurlow arrived in Japan on May 9 for the first time after three and a half years, and arrived in Hiroshima City on May 12. On May 15, she will visit her alma mater, Hiroshima Jogakuin University, located in the city’s Higashi Ward, to attend an honorary degree-awarding ceremony and to give a commemorative speech.
(Originally published on May 14, 2023)
On May 14, Setsuko Thurlow, 91, an A-bomb survivor living in Canada from Minami Ward, Hiroshima, visited the Peace Memorial Museum located in Naka Ward, which the leaders of the summit of the Group of Seven industrialized nations (G7) are expected to visit on May 19. She urged the leaders to stamp the images of how people suffered and died in agony into their memories before returning to their homes.
This was her first visit since the museum’s main building reopened in April 2019 after its renovation. With her second son Andy, 61, pushing her wheelchair, Ms. Thurlow spent about two hours touring the museum, occasionally speaking with him in English. Ms. Thurlow stared intently at each exhibit, including the clothing of children who were killed in the atomic bombing, as if she were trying to summon a response from the articles, and when wheeled in front of some articles, she wiped away her tears.
After the tour, ahead of the G7 Summit to be held in Hiroshima City between May 19 and 21, she said, “When making political decisions, not only theories but also sensitivities are very important. I believe that they should each feel something as a human being,” wishing for progress toward the abolition of nuclear weapons. Then, she offered a silent prayer in front of the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims.
Ms. Thurlow arrived in Japan on May 9 for the first time after three and a half years, and arrived in Hiroshima City on May 12. On May 15, she will visit her alma mater, Hiroshima Jogakuin University, located in the city’s Higashi Ward, to attend an honorary degree-awarding ceremony and to give a commemorative speech.
(Originally published on May 14, 2023)
