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Junko Morimoto, A-bomb survivor and picture book author, dies at 85

On September 21, Junko Morimoto, an A-bomb survivor and picture book author living in Australia, died of a brain tumor at a hospital near Sydney. She was 85. The date of her funeral service has not yet been determined.

Ms. Morimoto, who was born in Hiroshima, experienced the atomic bombing while at home in Misasa-machi, Nishi Ward when she was 13 years old and a student at Hiroshima Jogakuin Junior and Senior High School. Though she was trapped under her house at the time of the bombing, she managed to survive. Meanwhile, many students from her school were killed in the atomic attack because they were mobilized to work for the war effort, dismantling houses to create fire lanes. Later, Ms. Morimoto became an art teacher at a junior high school in Osaka and then moved to Sydney in 1982. There, she began to create picture books.

In 1987, Ms. Morimoto published the picture book My Hiroshima, in which she describes her experience of the atomic bombing and conditions in the city, from a state of devastation to its period of reconstruction. Through creating this book, she sought to console the spirits of friends who had died in the atomic bombing. In 2010, a new version of the book, in both English and Japanese, was published, and has been used as a resource for peace education classes at schools in Hiroshima and in Australia. She also continued to give talks in Australia about her A-bomb experience.

(Originally published on September 22, 2017)

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