Editorial: With number of A-bomb survivors below 100,000, Japan should also take responsibility for passing on legacy
Jul. 13, 2025
According to a Chugoku Shimbun survey, the number of atomic bomb survivors with an Atomic Bomb Survivor's Certificate is expected to be below 100,000, at 99,343 as of the end of March. The newspaper, which obtained the information by contacting municipalities throughout the country individually, uses the term “expected” because some local governments explained their figures are estimates.
The number has decreased to nearly one-fourth its peak of 372,264 in 1980. In Hiroshima Prefecture, the number has fallen below 50,000 for the first time. Eighty years since the atomic bombing, we cannot help but feel we are approaching a time when there will be no more atomic bomb survivors left. We are at a crucial moment in passing on the legacy of the atomic bomb experiences.
Atomic bomb survivors referred to here are those who obtained the certificate under the Atomic Bomb Survivors Medical Treatment Law (the predecessor to the Atomic Bomb Survivors Relief Law) after April 1957 and are still alive.
This law marked the first time the state acknowledged the existence of people suffering from the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and established relief measures, albeit inadequate.
By that time, 11 years and seven months had already passed since the United States dropped the atomic bombs. In addition to this gap, there was a time when information about the damage by the atomic bomb was desperately hidden under the Press Code imposed by the General Headquarters of the Allied Powers (GHQ).
Such a situation must have prevented not a few survivors, who had established their livelihoods elsewhere after the bombing, from obtaining the certificate because they were unaware of the system or afraid of being discriminated against. It is still not too late to try to uncover those who were left behind.
Last year, the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo), which has called for state compensation and the abolition of nuclear weapons, won the Nobel Peace Prize for its contribution to establishing the “nuclear taboo.” It is precisely because atomic bomb survivors have testified about what happens once nuclear weapons are used that the world has been able to avoid repeating the nuclear disaster.
The average age of atomic bomb survivors in Hiroshima City is 85.8, and that of those in Hiroshima Prefecture, excluding Hiroshima City, is 87. As survivors age, it becomes more difficult for them to testify or write their accounts, and the percentage of survivors exposed to the bombing at a very young age has increased.
There is not much time left to hear about the consequences of the atomic bombing from those who experienced it firsthand. We must work harder than ever to pass on their legacy to the next generation. Training the “A-Bomb Legacy Successors,” who carry on the experiences and memories of atomic bomb survivors and testify on their behalf, is another challenge.
In that regard, atomic bomb memoirs collected by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare every 10 years should be utilized more. A total of 150,000 of these memoirs are made available to the public at the Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims.
For the first time in 30 years, the health ministry is soliciting atomic bomb memoirs from all survivors this fiscal year. I hope the central government will work with local governments, atomic bomb survivors’ organizations, and private groups to uncover testimonies.
Why do atomic bomb survivors seek a “world free from nuclear weapons?” In order to understand their thoughts, we need to understand each person’s life. If we could acknowledge that the damage caused by the atomic bombing, including emotional distress, is connected to the present, then younger generations can think of it as their own.
The Atomic Bomb Survivors Relief Law stipulates the government’s responsibility to “deepen the public’s understanding of the horror of the atomic bombing and ensure that the survivors’ experiences are inherited by future generations.” How can the experiences be disseminated into the future as a common national asset? That is what we must consider with a sense of crisis.
(Originally published on June 13, 2025)
The number has decreased to nearly one-fourth its peak of 372,264 in 1980. In Hiroshima Prefecture, the number has fallen below 50,000 for the first time. Eighty years since the atomic bombing, we cannot help but feel we are approaching a time when there will be no more atomic bomb survivors left. We are at a crucial moment in passing on the legacy of the atomic bomb experiences.
Atomic bomb survivors referred to here are those who obtained the certificate under the Atomic Bomb Survivors Medical Treatment Law (the predecessor to the Atomic Bomb Survivors Relief Law) after April 1957 and are still alive.
This law marked the first time the state acknowledged the existence of people suffering from the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and established relief measures, albeit inadequate.
By that time, 11 years and seven months had already passed since the United States dropped the atomic bombs. In addition to this gap, there was a time when information about the damage by the atomic bomb was desperately hidden under the Press Code imposed by the General Headquarters of the Allied Powers (GHQ).
Such a situation must have prevented not a few survivors, who had established their livelihoods elsewhere after the bombing, from obtaining the certificate because they were unaware of the system or afraid of being discriminated against. It is still not too late to try to uncover those who were left behind.
Last year, the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo), which has called for state compensation and the abolition of nuclear weapons, won the Nobel Peace Prize for its contribution to establishing the “nuclear taboo.” It is precisely because atomic bomb survivors have testified about what happens once nuclear weapons are used that the world has been able to avoid repeating the nuclear disaster.
The average age of atomic bomb survivors in Hiroshima City is 85.8, and that of those in Hiroshima Prefecture, excluding Hiroshima City, is 87. As survivors age, it becomes more difficult for them to testify or write their accounts, and the percentage of survivors exposed to the bombing at a very young age has increased.
There is not much time left to hear about the consequences of the atomic bombing from those who experienced it firsthand. We must work harder than ever to pass on their legacy to the next generation. Training the “A-Bomb Legacy Successors,” who carry on the experiences and memories of atomic bomb survivors and testify on their behalf, is another challenge.
In that regard, atomic bomb memoirs collected by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare every 10 years should be utilized more. A total of 150,000 of these memoirs are made available to the public at the Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims.
For the first time in 30 years, the health ministry is soliciting atomic bomb memoirs from all survivors this fiscal year. I hope the central government will work with local governments, atomic bomb survivors’ organizations, and private groups to uncover testimonies.
Why do atomic bomb survivors seek a “world free from nuclear weapons?” In order to understand their thoughts, we need to understand each person’s life. If we could acknowledge that the damage caused by the atomic bombing, including emotional distress, is connected to the present, then younger generations can think of it as their own.
The Atomic Bomb Survivors Relief Law stipulates the government’s responsibility to “deepen the public’s understanding of the horror of the atomic bombing and ensure that the survivors’ experiences are inherited by future generations.” How can the experiences be disseminated into the future as a common national asset? That is what we must consider with a sense of crisis.
(Originally published on June 13, 2025)
