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Hibakusha �� Victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

�� HIBAKUSHA ��

�� HIBAKUSHA �� I looked next door, I saw the father of a neighbouring family, standing almost naked. His skin was peeling off all over his body, and was hanging from his finger tips�� Akira Onogi

�� I saw a man whose skin was completely peeled off the upper half of his body, and a woman whose eye balls were sticking out�� Akihiro Takahashi HIBAKUSHA ��

�� HIBAKUSHA �� I could still feel the extreme heat. To say the least, it was like being roasted alive many times over�� Takehiko Sakai

�� Explosion affected people 80 000 140,000 80,000 200 000/250 000 Within the first few seconds of the explosion, 80 000 people were killed in Hiroshima alone. Today, the current death toll for Hiroshima and Nagasaki is estimated to be between 200 000/250 000 causalities Hibakusha literally translates to 140,000 people in Hiroshima and 80,000 in Nagasaki died by the end of the year.

Most victims, were vaporised instantly by the heat of the blast. A kilometer from the hypocenter, the heat was intense enough, to boil people��s organs. Others burnt to death, trapped beneath collapsed buildings. 1000s were shredded by shards of glass, sent flying through the air by the 1500 mph shockwave. Suffered severe burns and skin damage. Victims, who survived this, often went on to develop Lukemia, cancer, recurring sickness due to radiation posioning, and severe mental trauma, throughout the rest of their lives. Radiation sickness, caused rapid hair shedding, bleeding from eyes, ears, nose and mouth, chronic vomitting, and flesh rot. �� Many Japanese women, suffered miscarriages, gave birth to Children, who suffered mental retardation and physical disabilities, due to radiation. �� "What I saw was hell, and from that day I have tried to forget about Hiroshima to maintain my sanity,�� Nori Tohei �� My hair started to fall out, I vomited blood. My teeth were coming out. And I had a fever of about 40 degrees.�� Toshiko Saeki

Hibakusha to this day are victims of discimination. "There is considerable discrimination in Japan against the Hibakusha. It is frequently extended toward their children as well: socially as well as economically. "Not only hibakusha, but their children, are refused employment," says Mr. Kito an interveiewee for the book. "There are many among them who do not want it known that they are hibakusha." Studs Terkel writes in his 1984 book ��The Good War��

In the years, during and following the war. It was believed that radiation sickness was contagious and hereditary Because of this, Hibakusha were alienated from Japanese society. Hibakusha women found it impossible to marry and have children in later life. As many feared, they would suffer miscarriages or bear deformed and mentally retarded children.

Men also suffered from discrimination, as Japanese women would not marry a man, who may die in a few years. Families frequently use private investigators to look into the history of prospective marriage partners to reveal Hibakusha.

Many Hibakusha were fired from their jobs. Hibakusha found it difficult, to acquire health insurance, gain employment, go on to higher education and participate in social activities.

The concepts of Uchi and Sato, may of played a part in the discrimination. Many saw the Hibakusha as contaminated from outsider pollution. (US bombs causing radiation) .

The Japanese Koseki practice of family registration, fuelled discrimination, as Employers could see if a person or their family, lived in Hiroshima or Nagasaki, at the time of the bombings.

The destruction and contamination of a Hibakusha��s Furusato, lead to a feeling of detachment and disillusionment for the victims, and further alienation from Japanese society.

Tsuboi Sunao After retiring 20 years ago, he chaired the Japan Confederation of A and H-bomb Sufferers Organisation. Tsuboi was 20 years old, at the time of the attack He spent 10 days lying untreated, with maggots feeding off his flesh. He has suffered constantly since the war. Hospitalised 10 times. 3 of those times, Mr Tsuboi was told, this is the day he would die, by doctors. Later Sunao Tsuboi fell in love with a girl whose parents refused to give them permission to marry. Fearing their daugher would bear deformed children, or would become widowed early into marriage. �� We decided to commit suicide together and took pills but we didn't take enough�� In 2003 Mr Tsuboi submitted a petition signed by 25,000 people to the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. The Museum was displaying ��Enola Gay�� the b-29 bomber that dropped the Hiroshima bomb. The petition urged the Museum to mention the human causalities caused by the attack in the display. The Museum refused the request.

Hibakusha are entitled to a government allowance each month. 1% of victims, classified as suffering from bomb-related diseases, receive a special medical allowance. Every Year, on the Anniversary of the bombings, names of the Hibakusha who have recently died, are added to the cenotaphs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in commemoration

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Hibakusha

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