The Voice of Hibakusha

On August 6, 1945, during World War II (1939-45), an American B-29 bomber dropped the world’s first deployed atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The explosion wiped out 90 percent of the city and immediately killed 80,000 people; tens of thousands more would later die of radiation exposure. 

Three days later, a second B-29 dropped another A-bomb on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 40,000 people. Japan’s Emperor Hirohito announced his country’s unconditional surrender in World War II in a radio address on August 15, citing the devastating power of “a new and most cruel bomb.” 

This atomic bomb gave so many pains for Japanese citizen back then. Don’t just look to the amount of the killed people. There are 650.000 victims who had to experience the incident. We can call them hibakusha (people who affected by the 1945 Hiroshima and Nagasaki bomb). Based on the Atomic Bomb Survivors Relief Law, there are certain recognized categories of Hibakusha:

1. People exposed directly to the bomb and its immediate aftermath.

2. People exposed within 2 kilometers radius who entered the land of destruction within two weeks of the explosion.

3. People exposed to radioactive fallout generally.

4. Those exposed in Utero, whose mothers were pregnant and belonging to any of these defined categories.

Doctor Michihiko Hachiya (A survived doctor from atomic bomb) said, 

“Hiroshima was no longer a city, but a burnt-over prairie”. 

That’s how a victim illustrate Hiroshima after the atomic hit the ground. Ash from the burned buildings, blood, and smell from cadaver mixed together made the condition getting worst. All of the survived people had quite serious wounds on their body. Even most of them had a very serious illness that will permanently sculpted on them. Not only that, the worst thing of the atomic bomb was the radiation. It provided long term illness such as cancer, leukemia, etc. The symptoms of radiation included hair loss, bleeding gums, loss of energy, purple spots, pain, and high fevers, often resulting in fatalities. In one village, Hesaka, about 30.000 victims gathered together, but most of them died because of the radiation. On that time, the doctor didn’t even know yet about radiation.

As the Hibakusha felt the pain, the rumors spreaded through other Japanese citizen.  The rumors said that the disease caused by radiation was contagious. So many Japanese people were afraid and didn’t want to have a contact with Hibakusha. That was the beginning of discrimination through Hibakusha. Not only on that moment, the discrimination happened in a long period. They had already traumatized by their experience of the “Unforgettable fire”. They had to face discrimination and were often found ineligible for work and marriage. 

All of the pain, rather physic or emotional, felt by Hibakusha. They were just a normal people who turned to a victim of the war. Because of that, some of the Hibakusha push ed the government to take their responsibility. 

In 1956, Nihon Hidankyo (The Confederation of A and H Bomb Sufferers) was formed.  Hidankyo members, all of them are Hibakusha, fought for two laws: the “A-bomb Victims Medical Care Law” (1956) and the “Law on Special Measures for Sufferers” (1967). After several insistence and activism, the government was forced to give Hibakusha a certain amount of allowance per-month and special Medical Allowance for them. 

Today, there are some of Hibakusha who are still struggling to get rid of the discrimination. They even can’t get married and can’t get a proper work. Some of them choose to bury all the pain, never turn back, and walk straight to continue their life. But some of them choose to share their story, explain about what happened to their  lower generation in order to give them a moral lesson. 

We can conclude from the survivors, that we must not start and commit any war, because war destroys human life, completely. There is a monument in Hiroshima carved a declaration stating that,

“Please rest in peace. 

We will never make the same mistake again”.

References

editors, H. (2009, November 18). Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Retrieved from HISTORY: https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bombing-of-hiroshima-and-nagasaki

Foundation, T. A. (2017, July 27). Survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Retrieved March 10, 2020, from Atomic Heritage Foundation: https://www.atomicheritage.org/history/survivors-hiroshima-and-nagasaki

Listwa, D. (2012, August 9). Hiroshima and Nagasaki: The Long Term Health Effects. Retrieved March 11, 2020, from Columbia University: https://k1project.columbia.edu/news/hiroshima-and-nagasaki