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Akihiko Ito, collector of A-bomb testimonies, dies

Akihiko Ito, a former reporter for the Nagasaki Broadcasting Company (NBC) who devoted his life to recording audio testimonies of A-bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, died of pneumonia at 9:34 pm on March 3 at a hospital in Tokyo. He was 72. Mr. Ito, head of the Association for Conveying the Voices of the A-bomb Victims, was originally from Tokyo. There will be no memorial service because of his wish to donate his remains.

Mr. Ito was exposed to residual radiation from the atomic bombing of Nagasaki when he was eight years old. He began recording A-bomb testimonies in 1968 while working at NBC, and continued the effort even after retiring in 1970. The number of testimonies he collected exceeded 1,000 and some were used to produce CDs that he donated to schools and libraries throughout the nation. Mr. Ito received the Yoshikawa Eiji Cultural Prize in 2008.

(Originally published on March 5, 2009)

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