By Akio Matsumura
That indelible black and white image of an ever-expanding mushroom cloud still sits in many homes and offices and still haunts many minds. It conveys a sense of awe in the face of tremendous power. There are fewer iconic images that depict the sometimes barely tangible fallout of this power: the vanquished bodies of loved ones, the slow onset of cancer, the terror of the unknown. The true effects of nuclear weapons. For that, we have to rely on memory and story, the recollections of a generation now old and fading away. The survivors of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki–not just Japanese but of many nationalities– are the sole witnesses and survivors of nuclear weapons used as an act of war. Their stories of initial pain and eventual strength must be a constant reminder for the nuclear-armed. If used properly, these memories remain a powerful deterrent against nuclear war.
Hiroshima commemorated the 67th anniversary of the city’s atomic bombing earlier this week on Monday, August 6. Yesterday, August 9, Nagasaki marked theirs at Nagasaki Peace Park with a ceremony attended by representatives from over 40 countries, including the U.S. Ambassador.
Reading a Peace Declaration, Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue urged the international community to conclude the Nuclear Weapons Convention. Prime Minister Noda said that Japan has a responsibility to encourage countries to eliminate their nuclear arsenals.
Each year as both cities mark these anniversaries, I am more concerned with the average age of the survivors. In its coverage of the ceremony the Japan Times noted that the number of officially recognized hibakusha (survivors) in Nagasaki stood at 39,324 as of March, with an average age of 77½ years.
Who are the survivors? What are their stories? There are many. I am happy to know that they have made their way into classrooms around the world, and many continue to share their stories in books and lectures. I find the story of one man especially moving. Mr. Yoshida, whose mother was born in Hawaii, survived the Hiroshima bombing, and continued to live in Japan for many years, until moving to the Philippines where he now makes his home. It gives me great pleasure to share an interview published last week in the Japan Times about Mr. Yoshida’s life. “Atomic bomb survivor credits to learn for living ‘Four Lives.’” His vigorous energy and positive outlook embodies the spirit of the hibakusha. They are ambassadors of peace, focusing on how they can best share their experiences instead of dwelling on their victimhood. (Readers may recall that I introduced the story of Mr. Yuuki Yoshida early last year.)
Since the accidents at Fukushima last year, Japan now knows the twin dangers of nuclear energy. Today, Friday, tens of thousands will again flood into the streets of Tokyo to protest the use of nuclear energy in Japan. In this environment of frustration and disappointment with the government and TEPCO, we should not forget the lessons of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as the only ones who can still share these lessons firsthand are fading. I repeat, the survivors of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki are the sole witnesses and survivors of nuclear weapons used as an act of war. We cannot let their stories slip away.
Please take a moment to consider what the two bombings that took place 67 years ago mean to you.
Dear Mr. Matsumura,
Students of Hiroshima and Nagasaki including myself has educated about the atomic bomb, but not for all over the Japan.
I myself feels some strange sense of present public movement for the anti atomic power generation.
Needless to say, human being is still a apprentice of wizard not wizard. Not enough knowledge of controlled the fire of Prometheus.
But main cause of the Fukushima accident is not the limit of technology and human being. I think it was the result of too much seeks of economic profit. It was overused what the plant what was architected longevity. And they reduce the level of heights of the basement of atomic generation plants, because of economical reason(for reducing the cooling cost).
Sometime, economic profit was produce only the very short time span not in the long time span. We the Nagasaki student was recognized the cost of atomic power generation will not cheaper than another option, because of its waste. I thought that it is a common sense of general public, not it was not.
Actually speaking, we cannot stop atomic power generation. Simultaneously, if we stop now, we need to pay the cost of atomic waste in very long time. I think this issues in not a Black and white issues, we need to find the optimum solution in the perspective of long time span.
Most important issue will be a how to increase the ability of wisdom of human being!?
Sincerely yours,
Osamu
Dear Akio,
May our efforts prove successful so that nothing like Hiroshima or Nagasaki ever happens again.
May the deaths of so many be partially redeemed by society finally coming to recognize that their fate will be our own if we do not change.
Martin
Dear Mr. Matsumura,
Thank you very much for your notice no 67th anniversary. We made our presentation at Chicago area on 6th and in Pennsylvania on 9th. Both days we received quite strong reactions.
Yours,
Yastel Yamada
Founder, Skilled Veterans Corps for Fukushima
Dear Akio,
Mr. Yamada made a presentation on both August 6 (Rockford, IL)
and August 9 (Doylestown, Pa. at an interfaith PEACE church).
Rest assured people on both occasions were rightfully reminded of
those tragic events and reflected upon them. The connection is
unavoidable.
However, to fully honor all my other brothers and sisters around
the world, I feel the requirement to speak on behalf of the millions
of Iraqis and Afghanis who will die from exposure to depleted
uranium, and the hundreds of thousands of American servicemen and
women who will also die because of the criminal exposure to nuclear
weapons of a different form to which they were subjected. Their
deaths will not be as quick, but they’ll likely be more painful.
They need to be remembered, too. It hasn’t stopped.
The same cleansing of humanity’s spirit that needs to be done as a
result of the earlier errors needs must also be done for the recent.
I hope you read the peace plan I sent you. In a short while, we’ll
be faced with the possibility of a repeat of what occurred 67 years
ago on a far “grander” scale. Widespread knowledge of a path back
from such a precipice will make all the difference. There is no
greater way to honor the victims of the past than by preventing a
repeat of what happened to them from recurring to others today.
Sincerely,
Bob
Dear Mr.Matsumura,
Thank you very much for the compassionate message.
I fully share your feelings generated by the ceremonies of the 67th anniversary in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The more I imagine the horrible agonies of the victims,the more I feel obliged to condemn nuclear power as such.
I am dissapointed by the speeches of the Prime Minister Noda,and of the Mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, still shamefully hesitant to demand true denuclearization.
The accident of Fukushima has proven that nuclear reactors are potentially” super nuclear bombs”.
Suffice it to say no atomic weapon can compete with the Unit 4 or Rokkasho reprocessing plant.
I will continue to do my best to awaken the world to the potential fatal dangers of nuclear power.
Yours truly ,
Murata
In light of the election result especially, Japan is now at a crossroads that could determine its future to an equal or greater extent than December 7 1941. On that date Japan, despite its undoubted technical brilliance and social cohesion, after a long period of descent into political extremism and strategic folly, crossed the point of no return into disaster that almost destroyed it, and cost it its Empire, and much of its wealth and position in the world, as well as millions of lives. It did so lulled into a false sense of overconfidence and security, partly by the world situation, and actions of others, but decisively by its own at the time excessive arrogance and shortsightedness, combined with a social-political conformity that whilst a great strength in normal times and constructively applied, can become a possibly fatal liability in circumstances of exceptional risk and crisis. Now is one such time. Japan faces an extreme risk of national disaster by the fragile situation at Fukushima, which one more large quake could turn into a major nuclear catastrophe beyond anything yet seen, and which could be destructive on a global scale. The amount of toxic radioactive isotopes that could be released if the fuel assemblies are exposed in the event of cooling failure due to another possible even likely large seismic disturbance are by all credible accounts enough to render much of Japan uninhabitable for centuries at least, as well as poison tens of millions of people within and beyond Japan. It must be the no. 1 priority of the new government to take all possible prudent action to reduce and eliminate this threat as urgently as practicable, every day lost could be the last. It has been quoted in the media that there are plans to remove the fuel assemblies by 2014, this is at least one year too late, it should already have been done. And furthermore, Japan’s nuclear industry must be upgraded and rendered safe such that another such disaster is not merely unlikely, but impossible. It was thought such a disaster would not occur, but it did. That means it can certainly happen again. The reactor design was and remains a poor one with enormous safety liabilities, an urgent priority should be to a) shut down any plants that are at serious (ie similar) risk of natural disaster, b) render fuel assemblies safe and adequately dispersed to prevent the possibility of another such disaster, and c) introduce new and safer plant designs. An overall threat assessment in light of the unforeseen events and revised contingency planning would also be in order. The new government must not go back to ‘business as usual’, for that would clearly and forseeably be to risk a repeat on an even more devastating scale.
JAPAN WAKE UP NOW TO THE MASSIVE RISK OF RENEWED AND EVEN NATIONALLY FATAL DISASTER!
JAPANESE LEADERS AND PEOPLE TAKE ESSENTIAL PREVENTIVE ACTION NOW WHILE THERE IS TIME!
DO NOT LET PETTY CONSIDERATIONS OF ANY SORT OBSTRUCT VITAL ACTION!
JAPAN IS AT THE CROSSROADS AGAIN, THIS TIME CHOOSE THE RIGHT AND SOUND COURSE!
DO NOT LET THIS GOVERNMENT GO DOWN IN HISTORY AS JAPAN’S LAST AND MOST RECKLESS!
Laura wrote: “Just read that Colorado hospitals waiving fees. But the problem remains without ACA.”