Features

by Masaki Kadowaki, Staff Writer

When a woman is exposed to a high dose of radiation in the early stage of pregnancy, the baby's head can be abnormally small in size, resulting in mental and physical disabilities. The condition is known as A-bomb-caused microcephaly. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has granted official certification to 22 patients of this disease (as of the end of fiscal 2003). Many of the patients and their family members hoped to increase understanding of the condition, but at the same time, have felt fear of encountering prejudice and so wound up withdrawing to the margins of society. Sixty years have passed since the atomic bombing. [This series was originally published in July 2005.] Before the memories borne of that day fade, let us pass on the experiences of the bombing by tracing the personal history of one family affected by microcephaly.

On an afternoon in early June, the stone pavement was blinding, reflecting the strong sunlight as if it were already midsummer. The temperature was rising sharply. The mother and daughter arrived in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park to join a gathering to discuss the future of microcephalic patients.

The 59-year-old daughter gave a friendly smile and bowed again and again. The mother, 84, barely walking with the aid of a cane, looked embarrassed as reporters photographed them, and she murmured, "I shouldn't have come." She perceived the attention paid to her daughter as curious stares and she fell silent.

Ten years ago they left a familiar life in the city of Kitakyushu, on the southern island of Kyushu, and moved to live permanently in Hiroshima. Even though Hiroshima is the site of their worst memories, the mother thought that people would look more warmly on the survivors here. She felt she should put down roots in Hiroshima while her health was still good.

Microcephaly is caused by direct exposure to radiation while a baby is in the mother's uterus, and has nothing to do with heredity. But the misunderstanding spread that women exposed to radiation would bear disabled babies, which resulted in discrimination toward the survivors with regard to getting married. The mother said in a low voice, "After I told people I was exposed to the A-bomb, people began bullying us." The eyes of the daughter, standing close to her mother, turned red, perhaps recalling the experiences of her early days.

The mother has a son, who still lives in Kitakyushu, where the mother and daughter lived for 20 years. He went into foster care, taken in by another family, when the mother became mired in poverty after the war. This may be the reason he still avoids talking about the atomic bombing. Since he has his own happy life now, the mother didn't want to burden him. So she decided to move to Hiroshima, despite having no relatives or acquaintances to depend on in the city. "After I die," she thought, "I want my daughter to live out her life with the understanding of the people around her."

Since the daughter was still under 60, they were not eligible to live in a facility for the elderly. They moved into a prefectural apartment complex and the daughter started working at a facility for the disabled in the city of Hiroshima, earning some money by making boxes.

On her first payday, she came home with the pay envelope in her hand. Out of breath, she said, "Mom, look at my face! My eyes are shining, aren't they!" The mother still vividly remembers her daughter's smile.

Next spring, the daughter will be 60 years old. The mother and daughter have lived together throughout this time, with never a separation. Looking at the deepening wrinkles in her daughter's face, the mother in her 80s thought, "I want to live longer than my daughter, even one minute or one second. I want to be by my daughter's bedside when she dies, and then I want to die."

The mother worries about her daughter. It wouldn't be easy for her to live independently. The mother clenched her cane tight and recalled with bitterness how the flash that day changed the lives of her and her family forever.

(Originally published on July 10, 2005)