Documenting Hiroshima 80 years after A-bombing: March 1, 1954, fishing boat exposed to radiation at Bikini Atoll, calls grow for ban on atomic and hydrogen bombs
Mar. 1, 2025
by Kyosuke Mizukawa, Senior Staff Writer, and Michio Shimotaka, Staff Writer
On March 1, 1954, large amounts of radioactive “ashes of death” (radioactive fallout) fell from the sky after a U.S. hydrogen bomb test was conducted on Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands, located in the central Pacific Ocean. Thirteen days later, the Daigo Fukuryu Maru (Lucky Dragon No. 5), a Japanese tuna fishing boat from Shizuoka Prefecture, returned to port in Yaizu City after its crew of 23 had been exposed to the radiation.
The Yomiuri Shimbun, a newspaper that had interviewed crew members hospitalized at Tokyo University Hospital, reported on the incident in its morning edition published on March 16 under the headlines “Encounter with Bikini atomic bomb test” and “A-bomb disease.” Other media outlets soon followed with their own accounts of the incident.
The news also reached Ichiro Moritaki, a professor at Hiroshima University who was in Hiroshima at the time. He wrote in his journal in an entry dated March 16, “News was reported that fishing boat crew members exposed to ashes from the Bikini atomic bomb test were sick from atomic bomb radiation. I was indignant upon hearing the news on the radio. The whole family became angry as we listened to the radio until late into the night.”
On August 6, 1945, Mr. Moritaki had been at a shipyard around four kilometers from the hypocenter, and later lost the vision in his right eye. After the war, at his lectern in the classroom, he would impart his message about the need for love rather than the pursuit of power symbolized by atomic bombs. In 1953, he became the leader of a support group for Hiroshima children and was involved in a ‘moral adoption’ campaign in Japan to help so-called A-bomb orphans.
Grassroots signature-collection campaign
From March 17 on, the discovery of “radioactive tuna” was reported in the media, with shock from the news spreading throughout the country. Regardless, on April 9, Japan Foreign Minister Katsuo Okazaki stated in a speech to the America-Japan Society held in Tokyo that, “I have no intention of demanding that the United States halt atomic bomb testing.” He added, “I recognize that the recent hydrogen bomb testing was necessary for the safety of not only the United States but also other free nations, including Japan.” He expressed a similar view at a meeting of Japan’s Lower House Foreign Affairs Committee held the following day.
The call for a ban on hydrogen bomb testing began to arise from the Japanese public. In Tokyo’s Suginami Ward, a woman from a fish market in the same ward made such an appeal to those in attendance at a gathering in a community center, which was the start of a grassroots signature-collection campaign. On May 15, in Hiroshima City, a rally of Hiroshima citizens calling for a ban on atomic and hydrogen bomb testing was also held. Along with other women, Yuko Yamaguchi, vice-chair of the support group for A-bomb orphans in Hiroshima City who died in 2000 at the age of 83, played a central role in the preparations for the rally.
Around 700 people gathered at the Hiroshima Children’s Culture Hall, where a declaration calling for a ban on the use and testing of atomic weapons was announced. “We cannot help but feel heartfelt sympathy for the unfortunate damage to humanity caused by the recent hydrogen bomb testing,” read the statement. The word “humanity” also implied the human suffering experienced by residents in the vicinity of the Bikini Atoll and by the personnel involved in such testing on the side of the United States.
Solidarity beyond boundaries
The goal was to create a movement that transcended factions. In her contributed article to the evening newspaper Yukan Hiroshima dated May 17, Ms. Yamaguchi wrote, “No matter how different people’s positions are in daily circumstances, we should be able to join hands on this issue and not use our precious human wisdom in a move toward atomic and hydrogen bombs, which are so cruel as to be indescribable.”
Following the rally in Hiroshima, more than 70 organizations, including women’s groups, PTA organizations, and labor unions in Hiroshima Prefecture organized a liaison center for a Hiroshima Prefectural citizens’ movement against atomic and hydrogen bombs, launching a signature-collection campaign for a ban on atomic and hydrogen bombs. Mr. Moritaki felt that the citizens’ rally was “a major development in Hiroshima’s peace movement, mainly led by women,” as written in his journal entry dated May 15, and he thus joined the movement by assuming the post of secretary-general.
In Hiroshima Prefecture, with its population of around two million people, the number of signatures collected by August 6, 1954, exceeded 890,000. With that day marking the ninth anniversary of the atomic bombing, the Hiroshima Prefectural citizen’s movement liaison center held a peace rally in front of the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims after the Peace Memorial Ceremony. “We lowered all organizational and union flags to demonstrate that the gathering represented all citizens of Hiroshima City and Prefecture,” wrote Mr. Moritaki in his journal on August 6. Around 20,000 people gathered there for the rally.
Slightly more than one month later, in his journal entry dated September 7, Mr. Moritaki wrote about his plan for holding, “Next year, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the atomic bombings, a national rally or a world conference against atomic and hydrogen bombs.” According to his later recollections, as the movement gained momentum, some people started calling for such gatherings. On September 23, with the death of Aikichi Kuboyama, one of the crew members of the fishing boat Daigo Fukuryu Maru, the voices calling for a ban on atomic and hydrogen bombs grew louder.
(Originally published on March 1, 2025)
On March 1, 1954, large amounts of radioactive “ashes of death” (radioactive fallout) fell from the sky after a U.S. hydrogen bomb test was conducted on Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands, located in the central Pacific Ocean. Thirteen days later, the Daigo Fukuryu Maru (Lucky Dragon No. 5), a Japanese tuna fishing boat from Shizuoka Prefecture, returned to port in Yaizu City after its crew of 23 had been exposed to the radiation.
The Yomiuri Shimbun, a newspaper that had interviewed crew members hospitalized at Tokyo University Hospital, reported on the incident in its morning edition published on March 16 under the headlines “Encounter with Bikini atomic bomb test” and “A-bomb disease.” Other media outlets soon followed with their own accounts of the incident.
The news also reached Ichiro Moritaki, a professor at Hiroshima University who was in Hiroshima at the time. He wrote in his journal in an entry dated March 16, “News was reported that fishing boat crew members exposed to ashes from the Bikini atomic bomb test were sick from atomic bomb radiation. I was indignant upon hearing the news on the radio. The whole family became angry as we listened to the radio until late into the night.”
On August 6, 1945, Mr. Moritaki had been at a shipyard around four kilometers from the hypocenter, and later lost the vision in his right eye. After the war, at his lectern in the classroom, he would impart his message about the need for love rather than the pursuit of power symbolized by atomic bombs. In 1953, he became the leader of a support group for Hiroshima children and was involved in a ‘moral adoption’ campaign in Japan to help so-called A-bomb orphans.
Grassroots signature-collection campaign
From March 17 on, the discovery of “radioactive tuna” was reported in the media, with shock from the news spreading throughout the country. Regardless, on April 9, Japan Foreign Minister Katsuo Okazaki stated in a speech to the America-Japan Society held in Tokyo that, “I have no intention of demanding that the United States halt atomic bomb testing.” He added, “I recognize that the recent hydrogen bomb testing was necessary for the safety of not only the United States but also other free nations, including Japan.” He expressed a similar view at a meeting of Japan’s Lower House Foreign Affairs Committee held the following day.
The call for a ban on hydrogen bomb testing began to arise from the Japanese public. In Tokyo’s Suginami Ward, a woman from a fish market in the same ward made such an appeal to those in attendance at a gathering in a community center, which was the start of a grassroots signature-collection campaign. On May 15, in Hiroshima City, a rally of Hiroshima citizens calling for a ban on atomic and hydrogen bomb testing was also held. Along with other women, Yuko Yamaguchi, vice-chair of the support group for A-bomb orphans in Hiroshima City who died in 2000 at the age of 83, played a central role in the preparations for the rally.
Around 700 people gathered at the Hiroshima Children’s Culture Hall, where a declaration calling for a ban on the use and testing of atomic weapons was announced. “We cannot help but feel heartfelt sympathy for the unfortunate damage to humanity caused by the recent hydrogen bomb testing,” read the statement. The word “humanity” also implied the human suffering experienced by residents in the vicinity of the Bikini Atoll and by the personnel involved in such testing on the side of the United States.
Solidarity beyond boundaries
The goal was to create a movement that transcended factions. In her contributed article to the evening newspaper Yukan Hiroshima dated May 17, Ms. Yamaguchi wrote, “No matter how different people’s positions are in daily circumstances, we should be able to join hands on this issue and not use our precious human wisdom in a move toward atomic and hydrogen bombs, which are so cruel as to be indescribable.”
Following the rally in Hiroshima, more than 70 organizations, including women’s groups, PTA organizations, and labor unions in Hiroshima Prefecture organized a liaison center for a Hiroshima Prefectural citizens’ movement against atomic and hydrogen bombs, launching a signature-collection campaign for a ban on atomic and hydrogen bombs. Mr. Moritaki felt that the citizens’ rally was “a major development in Hiroshima’s peace movement, mainly led by women,” as written in his journal entry dated May 15, and he thus joined the movement by assuming the post of secretary-general.
In Hiroshima Prefecture, with its population of around two million people, the number of signatures collected by August 6, 1954, exceeded 890,000. With that day marking the ninth anniversary of the atomic bombing, the Hiroshima Prefectural citizen’s movement liaison center held a peace rally in front of the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims after the Peace Memorial Ceremony. “We lowered all organizational and union flags to demonstrate that the gathering represented all citizens of Hiroshima City and Prefecture,” wrote Mr. Moritaki in his journal on August 6. Around 20,000 people gathered there for the rally.
Slightly more than one month later, in his journal entry dated September 7, Mr. Moritaki wrote about his plan for holding, “Next year, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the atomic bombings, a national rally or a world conference against atomic and hydrogen bombs.” According to his later recollections, as the movement gained momentum, some people started calling for such gatherings. On September 23, with the death of Aikichi Kuboyama, one of the crew members of the fishing boat Daigo Fukuryu Maru, the voices calling for a ban on atomic and hydrogen bombs grew louder.
(Originally published on March 1, 2025)
