Hiroshima University applies for first time to have names of overseas students added to register of A-bomb victims
Jun. 27, 2023
by Michiko Tanaka, Senior Staff Writer
On June 26, it was learned that Hiroshima University had applied to the Hiroshima City government for the first time to add to the register of A-bomb victims the names of overseas students who experienced the atomic bombing in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and died later. The application was made for a total of 17 students—nine students from mainland China and eight “Southern Special Students” from Southeast Asia. The city government has already accepted the application. On August 6, the government will store the register, to which the names of the A-bombed students from overseas will be added, in the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims, located in Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima’s Naka Ward, to memorialize the students.
Hiroshima Higher Normal School and the Hiroshima University of Literature and Science, the predecessor to today’s Hiroshima University, accepted students from Manchuria (now part of northeastern China) and other locations over which the Japanese military ruled. Twelve students from mainland China experienced the atomic bombing while enrolled as students. Of those students, six young men and women, including Guiwen Zhao, 26 at the time, were killed in the bombing at a dormitory near the hypocenter or in a school building in the area of Higashisenda-machi, located in Hiroshima’s Naka Ward. Hiroshima University has requested that the names of the six students be added to the register as well as those of three students whose deaths were already confirmed.
The Southern Special Students program, a system for overseas students from Southeast Asia, was established and funded by the Japanese government in an attempt to foster pro-Japan leaders in that region. Eight of the nine students who were studying at the Hiroshima University of Literature and Science in 1945, the year the atomic bomb was dropped, experienced the atomic bombing. Among the eight students, Nik Yusof, 19, and Syed Omar, 19, both from Malaya (present-day Malaysia), died in the bombing. Since that time, the six other students have all died.
Hiroshima University President Mitsuo Ochi said, “As a university, we want to console the souls of A-bomb victims from all countries equally. We were slow to make the application because we don’t know the whereabouts of some of the students to this day,” said Mr. Ochi. He added, “I am hoping this is a first step.”
In response to the application, the city government is working to confirm whether the names of the overseas students are already listed in the register of A-bomb victims. According to the city’s Atomic Bomb Survivors Relief Department, “There are few applications for registration of non-Japanese people, so it is significant that these A-bomb victims have been newly discovered. We will add to the register all unlisted names of overseas students and, in that way, commemorate the students.”
(Originally published on June 27, 2023)
On June 26, it was learned that Hiroshima University had applied to the Hiroshima City government for the first time to add to the register of A-bomb victims the names of overseas students who experienced the atomic bombing in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and died later. The application was made for a total of 17 students—nine students from mainland China and eight “Southern Special Students” from Southeast Asia. The city government has already accepted the application. On August 6, the government will store the register, to which the names of the A-bombed students from overseas will be added, in the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims, located in Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima’s Naka Ward, to memorialize the students.
Hiroshima Higher Normal School and the Hiroshima University of Literature and Science, the predecessor to today’s Hiroshima University, accepted students from Manchuria (now part of northeastern China) and other locations over which the Japanese military ruled. Twelve students from mainland China experienced the atomic bombing while enrolled as students. Of those students, six young men and women, including Guiwen Zhao, 26 at the time, were killed in the bombing at a dormitory near the hypocenter or in a school building in the area of Higashisenda-machi, located in Hiroshima’s Naka Ward. Hiroshima University has requested that the names of the six students be added to the register as well as those of three students whose deaths were already confirmed.
The Southern Special Students program, a system for overseas students from Southeast Asia, was established and funded by the Japanese government in an attempt to foster pro-Japan leaders in that region. Eight of the nine students who were studying at the Hiroshima University of Literature and Science in 1945, the year the atomic bomb was dropped, experienced the atomic bombing. Among the eight students, Nik Yusof, 19, and Syed Omar, 19, both from Malaya (present-day Malaysia), died in the bombing. Since that time, the six other students have all died.
Hiroshima University President Mitsuo Ochi said, “As a university, we want to console the souls of A-bomb victims from all countries equally. We were slow to make the application because we don’t know the whereabouts of some of the students to this day,” said Mr. Ochi. He added, “I am hoping this is a first step.”
In response to the application, the city government is working to confirm whether the names of the overseas students are already listed in the register of A-bomb victims. According to the city’s Atomic Bomb Survivors Relief Department, “There are few applications for registration of non-Japanese people, so it is significant that these A-bomb victims have been newly discovered. We will add to the register all unlisted names of overseas students and, in that way, commemorate the students.”
(Originally published on June 27, 2023)
