Peace Boat departs on voyage to convey suffering of A-bombings to the world
Apr. 19, 2010
by Noritaka Araki, Staff Writer
On April 16, Peace Boat, a large ship that will circle the globe with about 800 people on board, including nine A-bomb survivors (hibakusha) and one second-generation A-bomb survivor, departed from the Port of Yokohama. The survivors will visit 20 nations, including the three nuclear weapon states of China, France and Russia, and offer their A-bomb accounts along the way before returning to Japan in July.
At a news conference prior to the departure, Mitsuo Kodama, 77, a Hiroshima resident who suffered acute symptoms of radiation exposure after experiencing the atomic bombing and still has chromosome abnormalities, stressed, "I want to convey that radiation damages even the marrow of the human body." Kwak Kwi Hoon, 85, former president of the South Korean Atomic Bomb Sufferers Association, said with conviction, "As long as I live, I intend to engage in activities to appeal for the elimination of nuclear weapons from the earth."
Peace Boat, a nongovernmental organization (NGO), invited the A-bomb survivors to take part in this voyage by design. Two of the hibakusha on board will leave the vessel during the voyage and travel to New York to attend the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference set for May and engage in related activities.
(Originally published on April 17, 2010)
On April 16, Peace Boat, a large ship that will circle the globe with about 800 people on board, including nine A-bomb survivors (hibakusha) and one second-generation A-bomb survivor, departed from the Port of Yokohama. The survivors will visit 20 nations, including the three nuclear weapon states of China, France and Russia, and offer their A-bomb accounts along the way before returning to Japan in July.
At a news conference prior to the departure, Mitsuo Kodama, 77, a Hiroshima resident who suffered acute symptoms of radiation exposure after experiencing the atomic bombing and still has chromosome abnormalities, stressed, "I want to convey that radiation damages even the marrow of the human body." Kwak Kwi Hoon, 85, former president of the South Korean Atomic Bomb Sufferers Association, said with conviction, "As long as I live, I intend to engage in activities to appeal for the elimination of nuclear weapons from the earth."
Peace Boat, a nongovernmental organization (NGO), invited the A-bomb survivors to take part in this voyage by design. Two of the hibakusha on board will leave the vessel during the voyage and travel to New York to attend the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference set for May and engage in related activities.
(Originally published on April 17, 2010)
