Delegation of A-bomb survivors receives strong response in the U.S.
May 20, 2010
by Sakiko Masuda, Staff Writer
The members of the delegation of the Hiroshima Prefectural Confederation of A-bomb Sufferers Organization, chaired by Sunao Tsuboi, who visited New York in a trip designed to coincide with the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, held a briefing at their headquarters in Hiroshima Peace Hall on May 18 to report on their achievements. The delegation members each related their efforts in the United States and their impressions of these activities. They also shared the responses they received with regard to their appeal for nuclear abolition.
The delegation was comprised of seven A-bomb survivors and one second-generation A-bomb survivor. They arrived in New York on April 30 and returned to Japan on May 7. During their time abroad, they conveyed their experiences of the atomic bombing at a variety of places, including an A-bomb exhibition and local schools.
Toshie Uematsu, 75, said, "Some people shed tears as they listened to my story. I can't erase my terrible experience, but I should use that experience for something positive. I have strengthened my resolve to pass on my account, even at the expense of my own life."
Sunao Tsuboi, 85, who led the delegation, summed up the trip to the United States, saying, "I feel we were able to convey the horrific devastation of the atomic bombing to the American people. I believe it was a success." Commenting on the draft of proposals presented at the NPT Review Conference after the members of the delegation had returned to Japan, which includes the idea of holding an international conference to create a road map for nuclear abolition, Mr. Tsuboi welcomed this development. "Nuclear abolition is not easy to achieve, but a foundation for this has been set," he said. "The situation is completely different from five years ago."
(Originally published on May 19, 2010)
Related articles
A-bomb survivors share accounts at 40 venues in and around New York (May 7, 2010)
Nuclear Weapons Can Be Eliminated: Chapter 9, Part 6 (April 22, 2010)
The members of the delegation of the Hiroshima Prefectural Confederation of A-bomb Sufferers Organization, chaired by Sunao Tsuboi, who visited New York in a trip designed to coincide with the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, held a briefing at their headquarters in Hiroshima Peace Hall on May 18 to report on their achievements. The delegation members each related their efforts in the United States and their impressions of these activities. They also shared the responses they received with regard to their appeal for nuclear abolition.
The delegation was comprised of seven A-bomb survivors and one second-generation A-bomb survivor. They arrived in New York on April 30 and returned to Japan on May 7. During their time abroad, they conveyed their experiences of the atomic bombing at a variety of places, including an A-bomb exhibition and local schools.
Toshie Uematsu, 75, said, "Some people shed tears as they listened to my story. I can't erase my terrible experience, but I should use that experience for something positive. I have strengthened my resolve to pass on my account, even at the expense of my own life."
Sunao Tsuboi, 85, who led the delegation, summed up the trip to the United States, saying, "I feel we were able to convey the horrific devastation of the atomic bombing to the American people. I believe it was a success." Commenting on the draft of proposals presented at the NPT Review Conference after the members of the delegation had returned to Japan, which includes the idea of holding an international conference to create a road map for nuclear abolition, Mr. Tsuboi welcomed this development. "Nuclear abolition is not easy to achieve, but a foundation for this has been set," he said. "The situation is completely different from five years ago."
(Originally published on May 19, 2010)
Related articles
A-bomb survivors share accounts at 40 venues in and around New York (May 7, 2010)
Nuclear Weapons Can Be Eliminated: Chapter 9, Part 6 (April 22, 2010)
