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Features

My Life: Interview with TV Director Yasuko Isono, Part 10

Yuriko

by Takahiro Yamase, Staff Writer

Conveying A-bomb microcephaly to the world

“Kikoeruyo Kaasan no Koega – Genbaku no Ko, Yuriko” (“Mama, I Can Hear You: Yuriko, a Child of the Atomic Bomb”), broadcast nationwide in March 1979, won the Grand Prix in the TV Documentary Category at the National Arts Festival organized by the Agency for Cultural Affairs. Ms. Isono devoted great time and energy to her program, from the summer of 1977, following victims of A-bomb microcephaly and their parents.

Every August, programs on the end of the war are featured on Japanese TV. In the summer of 1977, I was looking for a new theme and I found an article in the Chugoku Shimbun. The article was about a publication of essays that was produced by the “Kinokokai” (“The Mushroom Club”), comprised of children with A-bomb microcephaly and their parents. I hurried to the home of Kuniso Hatanaka, who was the head of the club and a resident of Iwakuni.

Mr. Hatanaka told me that his daughter Yuriko suffered from microcephaly, caused by prenatal exposure to the bomb’s radiation, and though she was over 30 now, she was unable to use the bathroom by herself. Yuriko was very shy, hiding behind her mother Yoshie’s back. First, I introduced Yuriko’s story in short news segments that ran for five or six minutes around August 15, the day the war ended. I then continued to visit their home every three months.

A-bomb survivors were living in an area where they could see the American flag flying at the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni. Yuriko, though, was unable to recognize that she herself was one of those survivors. Her father and mother quietly looked after her. Because the film was chosen to be broadcast nationwide, I continued to cover their lives.

In December 1978, Yoshie passed away of cancer. In Ms. Isono’s documentary, Yuriko is seen fixing her ear to the gravestone dedicated to her mother, a scene that left a powerful impression on viewers.

At one point, Mr. Hatanaka asked me not to film Yoshie, saying that he felt bad for her because she was getting so thin and drawn. But I encouraged them to continue allowing me to shoot, because the sudden deterioration of her condition--she had been in good health until the summer--would clearly demonstrate the horror of the atomic bombing. Even before he agreed, I was at their house with my camera.

When I saw Yoshie in bed, I was shocked at her appearance--she looked so small. For a moment I hesitated to film her, but then I became determined to convey the sorrow and chagrin of the mother who had no choice but to leave Yuriko’s side. We did our best to be respectful by not shooting close-ups of Yoshie as she lay in her bed, and showing her beauty as a woman.

After I had paid many visits to the house, I began to see smiles from Yuriko. After Yoshie died, Yuriko pressed her ear to the gravestone, hoping to hear her mother’s voice. No one directed her to do that. Such a scene could only be captured in a documentary which covers the subject for an extended period of one or two years.

In 1981, her documentary won the “Prix Futura Berlin” (“Berlin Future Award”), gaining international acclaim.

This documentary shows how the atomic bombing has destroyed families and how long the effects have lasted. I felt I had fulfilled one mission of my work by conveying these problems to the world.

(Originally published on December 15, 2010)

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