A-bomb survivors’ organization holds gathering of first- and second-generation survivors in Tokyo
Oct. 15, 2013
by Jumpei Fujimura, Staff Writer
A gathering of A-bomb survivors and second-generation survivors, organized by the committee of second-generation survivors within the Japan Confederation of A- and H-bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo), was held in Tokyo on October 9 . This is the first such gathering held with the intention of strengthening cooperation between the two generations to advance the aim of nuclear abolition. Participants from different parts of Japan spoke candidly about the difficulties involved in handing down accounts of the atomic bombing from parents to children, and about the challenges they face in pursuing their activities.
About 80 people, from 12 prefectures, took part in the event. Naoko Sato, 49, and Toyoko Tasaki, 45, chairpersons of the Nagasaki and Tokyo Second-Generation A-bomb Survivors Associations, respectively, reported on their work. “We are not completely clear what exactly we should be taking over from the survivors,” Ms. Sato said.
Other second-generation survivors said that their parents are reluctant to talk about their A-bomb experiences or that there are limits to what second-generation survivors can convey about an event which they themselves did not experience. Survivors said they should speak frankly about the impact of the atomic bombings on their families.
Nihon Hidankyo’s committee of second-generation survivors was established in September 2012 in a bid to carry on the A-bomb survivors’ movement and press for significant improvements to the relief measures provided to second-generation survivors. A gathering of solely second-generation survivors was held last year.
Meanwhile, Nihon Hidankyo held a meeting in Tokyo with representatives from each prefecture. The two-day meeting closed after adopting two appeals. One of the appeals declared the organization’s opposition to the right of collective self-defense, and the other expressed the wish that the 2020 Olympic Games, to take place in Tokyo, will be held in a world which no longer is threatened by nuclear weapons.
(Originally published on October 10, 2013)
A gathering of A-bomb survivors and second-generation survivors, organized by the committee of second-generation survivors within the Japan Confederation of A- and H-bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo), was held in Tokyo on October 9 . This is the first such gathering held with the intention of strengthening cooperation between the two generations to advance the aim of nuclear abolition. Participants from different parts of Japan spoke candidly about the difficulties involved in handing down accounts of the atomic bombing from parents to children, and about the challenges they face in pursuing their activities.
About 80 people, from 12 prefectures, took part in the event. Naoko Sato, 49, and Toyoko Tasaki, 45, chairpersons of the Nagasaki and Tokyo Second-Generation A-bomb Survivors Associations, respectively, reported on their work. “We are not completely clear what exactly we should be taking over from the survivors,” Ms. Sato said.
Other second-generation survivors said that their parents are reluctant to talk about their A-bomb experiences or that there are limits to what second-generation survivors can convey about an event which they themselves did not experience. Survivors said they should speak frankly about the impact of the atomic bombings on their families.
Nihon Hidankyo’s committee of second-generation survivors was established in September 2012 in a bid to carry on the A-bomb survivors’ movement and press for significant improvements to the relief measures provided to second-generation survivors. A gathering of solely second-generation survivors was held last year.
Meanwhile, Nihon Hidankyo held a meeting in Tokyo with representatives from each prefecture. The two-day meeting closed after adopting two appeals. One of the appeals declared the organization’s opposition to the right of collective self-defense, and the other expressed the wish that the 2020 Olympic Games, to take place in Tokyo, will be held in a world which no longer is threatened by nuclear weapons.
(Originally published on October 10, 2013)
