Documenting Hiroshima, Witnesses to horrors of atomic bombing: Hiroe Kawashimo Part 2, mother and daughter move to A-bombed city seeking peaceful life
Apr. 29, 2025
by Michiko Tanaka, Senior Staff Writer
Hiroe Kawashimo, 79, Hiroshima’s Higashi Ward, obtained her Atomic Bomb Survivor’s Certificate in 1966, the year she graduated from junior high school at the age of 19. According to Kaneko, her mother who died in 2014 at the age of 92, “It didn't help us much in Kitakyushu,” where they lived at the time. She said that the staff at the hospital reception desk asked her “What is this?” when she presented the certificate.
In 1965, the two settled down in Kitakyushu. That same year, the “Kinoko-kai” (in English, Mushroom Club) was formed in Hiroshima by atomic bomb survivors with microcephaly, like Hiroe, who were exposed to intense radiation from the atomic bomb in their mother’s womb and born with microcephaly, and their families. In 1967, they successfully lobbied the national government to recognize that unborn babies exposed to the bomb’s radiation might be born with mental and physical disabilities, and to grant compensation for these individuals once they were certified as atomic bomb survivors.
However, Kaneko “did not know that.” Once they left the A-bombed city, information about supporting atomic bomb survivors was scarce.
“I did not even have time to think about it.” Kaneko worked as a housemother in a company dormitory to support herself and her daughter. She sent her daughter, who was in her 20s, to a Japanese dressmaking school, hoping she would learn a trade. However, it did not work because “drafting required arithmetic, and I couldn't do it,” Hiroe said. She gave up on dressmaking lessons and spent her days helping clean the dormitory.
In 1989, Hiroe, then 43 years old, was recognized as being an atomic bomb survivor. Then 67 years old, Kaneko had retired as a housemother and was considering moving to Hiroshima. She thought that the people of the A-bombed city would understand and support them, and that her daughter would be able to live in peace after her death.
She turned to Sugako Murakami, a medical social worker she met in 1995. At that time, Ms. Murakami, now 79 and a resident of the city of Hatsukaichi, was investigating the health and living conditions of atomic bomb survivors with microcephaly while working at a hospital. When she called Kaneko for her investigation, she instead consulted with Ms. Murakami about moving to Hiroshima.
Kaneko’s eldest son, whom she parted with when he was small, was living in the Kyushu district. When Ms. Murakami advised her to live close to her son, Kaneko revealed the situation. Her son was once entrusted to her late husband’s parents but was sent into foster care after some twists and turns. When he ran away and came back, her father put him into a home. She and her son temporarily lived together after he got a job, but the rift between them could not be fully healed.
“The atomic bombing even hurt family ties,” Ms. Murakami said furiously. She has supported the mother and daughter, who relocated to Hiroshima in 1995.
“I’m glad I came to Hiroshima,” Hiroe said. Members of the Kinoko-kai look out for her in various ways. They helped her hold a funeral for her mother and assisted her with her subsequent move. Her brother has already passed away, but there is a full-time counselor at City Hall she can turn to.
“There is no time to get bored.” Hiroe goes shopping and prepares three meals a day. She has her regular café. Her hobbies are writing poems and drawing pictures. She enjoys looking for flowers to make the subject matter of her painting while taking a walk. Still, she let out: “If it hadn't been for the atomic bombing, there might have been a different form of happiness.”
“Light finally reaches the Atomic Bomb Dome
Cudweeds are also in bloom
Please, do not erase the lives of these little flowers
by Hiroe”
(Originally published on April 29, 2025)
Hiroe Kawashimo, 79, Hiroshima’s Higashi Ward, obtained her Atomic Bomb Survivor’s Certificate in 1966, the year she graduated from junior high school at the age of 19. According to Kaneko, her mother who died in 2014 at the age of 92, “It didn't help us much in Kitakyushu,” where they lived at the time. She said that the staff at the hospital reception desk asked her “What is this?” when she presented the certificate.
In 1965, the two settled down in Kitakyushu. That same year, the “Kinoko-kai” (in English, Mushroom Club) was formed in Hiroshima by atomic bomb survivors with microcephaly, like Hiroe, who were exposed to intense radiation from the atomic bomb in their mother’s womb and born with microcephaly, and their families. In 1967, they successfully lobbied the national government to recognize that unborn babies exposed to the bomb’s radiation might be born with mental and physical disabilities, and to grant compensation for these individuals once they were certified as atomic bomb survivors.
However, Kaneko “did not know that.” Once they left the A-bombed city, information about supporting atomic bomb survivors was scarce.
“I did not even have time to think about it.” Kaneko worked as a housemother in a company dormitory to support herself and her daughter. She sent her daughter, who was in her 20s, to a Japanese dressmaking school, hoping she would learn a trade. However, it did not work because “drafting required arithmetic, and I couldn't do it,” Hiroe said. She gave up on dressmaking lessons and spent her days helping clean the dormitory.
In 1989, Hiroe, then 43 years old, was recognized as being an atomic bomb survivor. Then 67 years old, Kaneko had retired as a housemother and was considering moving to Hiroshima. She thought that the people of the A-bombed city would understand and support them, and that her daughter would be able to live in peace after her death.
She turned to Sugako Murakami, a medical social worker she met in 1995. At that time, Ms. Murakami, now 79 and a resident of the city of Hatsukaichi, was investigating the health and living conditions of atomic bomb survivors with microcephaly while working at a hospital. When she called Kaneko for her investigation, she instead consulted with Ms. Murakami about moving to Hiroshima.
Kaneko’s eldest son, whom she parted with when he was small, was living in the Kyushu district. When Ms. Murakami advised her to live close to her son, Kaneko revealed the situation. Her son was once entrusted to her late husband’s parents but was sent into foster care after some twists and turns. When he ran away and came back, her father put him into a home. She and her son temporarily lived together after he got a job, but the rift between them could not be fully healed.
“The atomic bombing even hurt family ties,” Ms. Murakami said furiously. She has supported the mother and daughter, who relocated to Hiroshima in 1995.
“I’m glad I came to Hiroshima,” Hiroe said. Members of the Kinoko-kai look out for her in various ways. They helped her hold a funeral for her mother and assisted her with her subsequent move. Her brother has already passed away, but there is a full-time counselor at City Hall she can turn to.
“There is no time to get bored.” Hiroe goes shopping and prepares three meals a day. She has her regular café. Her hobbies are writing poems and drawing pictures. She enjoys looking for flowers to make the subject matter of her painting while taking a walk. Still, she let out: “If it hadn't been for the atomic bombing, there might have been a different form of happiness.”
“Light finally reaches the Atomic Bomb Dome
Cudweeds are also in bloom
Please, do not erase the lives of these little flowers
by Hiroe”
(Originally published on April 29, 2025)
