City of Hiroshima sends names of 814 A-bomb victims to organizations nationwide in search of bereaved families
Jul. 6, 2019
by Kyosuke Mizukawa, Staff Writer
On July 5, prior to the August 6 anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945, the City of Hiroshima sent posters listing the names of 814 unclaimed A-bomb victims to a total of 1,976 organizations throughout Japan, including local governments. The remains of some 70,000 unidentified A-bomb victims are stored within the Atomic Bomb Memorial Mound in the Peace Memorial Park, located in Naka Ward. Of these remains, 814 have been identified but remain unclaimed. The city has asked the organizations to display the name list posters from July 17 to the end of October in the hope that people will see them and be able to provide some information about the victims.
The name list posters are printed on B1 and B2 size paper. The names are listed in the order of the Japanese syllabary and some names also have the age and address of the victim at the time of death which serve as clues to their identity. On July 5, two Hiroshima City staff members put the name list posters into envelopes, which were sent to local governments and A-bomb survivor organizations in various parts of Japan. The posters were also sent to 192 organizations in the city of Hiroshima, including JR Hiroshima Station in Naka Ward.
The City of Hiroshima began releasing the names of the identified victims to the public in 1968, and it has sent posters with these names to local governments and other organizations across the nation since 1985. Since the start of this effort, up to November 2017, the remains of 846 victims have been returned to bereaved family members. In fiscal year 2018, the city received inquiries about eight victims. However, none of those inquiries led to the return of remains.
Eiji Madokoro, the head of the City of Hiroshima’s Atomic Bomb Survivors Relief Department, said, “As 74 years have passed since the atomic bombing, it is becoming more and more difficult to get information about the victims. However, releasing the name lists will help people understand the catastrophic destruction of the city by the atomic bomb.”
(Originally published on July 6, 2019)
On July 5, prior to the August 6 anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945, the City of Hiroshima sent posters listing the names of 814 unclaimed A-bomb victims to a total of 1,976 organizations throughout Japan, including local governments. The remains of some 70,000 unidentified A-bomb victims are stored within the Atomic Bomb Memorial Mound in the Peace Memorial Park, located in Naka Ward. Of these remains, 814 have been identified but remain unclaimed. The city has asked the organizations to display the name list posters from July 17 to the end of October in the hope that people will see them and be able to provide some information about the victims.
The name list posters are printed on B1 and B2 size paper. The names are listed in the order of the Japanese syllabary and some names also have the age and address of the victim at the time of death which serve as clues to their identity. On July 5, two Hiroshima City staff members put the name list posters into envelopes, which were sent to local governments and A-bomb survivor organizations in various parts of Japan. The posters were also sent to 192 organizations in the city of Hiroshima, including JR Hiroshima Station in Naka Ward.
The City of Hiroshima began releasing the names of the identified victims to the public in 1968, and it has sent posters with these names to local governments and other organizations across the nation since 1985. Since the start of this effort, up to November 2017, the remains of 846 victims have been returned to bereaved family members. In fiscal year 2018, the city received inquiries about eight victims. However, none of those inquiries led to the return of remains.
Eiji Madokoro, the head of the City of Hiroshima’s Atomic Bomb Survivors Relief Department, said, “As 74 years have passed since the atomic bombing, it is becoming more and more difficult to get information about the victims. However, releasing the name lists will help people understand the catastrophic destruction of the city by the atomic bomb.”
(Originally published on July 6, 2019)
