HIROSHIMA — Many atomic bomb survivors, including campaigner Setsuko Thurlow, voiced anger and disappointment at the Group of Seven nations’ summit on May 21 after the leaders released a statement that supported the possession of nuclear weapons for deterrence and failed to mention the treaty banning nuclear arms. The 91-year-old Thurlow called the G-7 summit […]
‘Remembrance for Peace’ commemorates atomic bombings
August 18, 2022 by Leave a Comment
According to an excerpt from her essay, “In Hiroshima, Japan, a Teenager Finds an Unexpected Home,” Daisy Okazaki went “to the Peace Park for the memorial of the 74th anniversary of the bombing” Aug. 6, 2019. The Aug. 9 virtual “Remembrance for Peace” event — presented by the Nichi Bei Foundation and Friends of Hibakusha […]
‘Brilliant’ work relies on oral histories of JA hibakusha
July 21, 2022 by Leave a Comment
AMERICAN SURVIVORS: TRANS-PACIFIC MEMORIES OF HIROSHIMA & NAGASAKI By Naoko Wake (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2021, 408 pp., $29.95, hard cover) In 1974, Betty Mitson and I co-edited a modest and virtually self-published and crudely fabricated book titled “Voices Long Silent: An Oral Inquiry into the Japanese American Evacuation.” It was conceived and developed […]
Virtual event to remember atomic bombing victims
August 5, 2021 by Leave a Comment
Aug. 6 and 9 mark the 76th anniversary of the United States’ atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively. The San Francisco Bay Area-based Friends of Hibakusha and the Nichi Bei Foundation will commemorate those dates with a virtual remembrance in collaboration with the Japanese American Religious Federation of San Francisco. The second annual online […]
My tsuru
January 21, 2021 by Leave a Comment
I am a member of Tsuru for Solidarity. I am not an activist, nor am I a trained artist, but I have painted 12 large tsuru (paper cranes) of various sizes. I paint because it gives me pleasure and a way to express myself. Last year, like many Japanese Americans, I began by folding hundreds […]
THE HEART OF KANJI: Peace of the world
December 3, 2020 by Leave a Comment
世 (Se) means “generations.” This character represents a trio of the character 十 or (10). 界 (Kai) means “world.” The top lines represent a rice field. The symbol in the center is a person and the bottom lines are divider lines. 平 (Hei) means “flat, calm.” The top line represents the sky and the bottom […]
VOICES OF THE NIKKEI COMMUNITY: The aftermath of the Hiroshima atomic bomb
August 13, 2020 by Leave a Comment
This first-person account of the aftermath of the Hiroshima bombing was written several years ago by Ame Kobayashi, as part of her family memoirs. Ame was born in Idaho and raised there on a farm by her parents Junji and Kuniko Hamada, one of six children. She was sent to Japan after high school to […]
Protest calls for end to nuclear weapons on 75th anniversary of Hiroshima bombing
August 13, 2020 by Leave a Comment
Bay Area nuclear war protesters held their annual rally at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory virtually on Aug. 6, the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima to call for an end to nuclear weapons. The rally started at 8 a.m. Pacific time at https://www.hiroshimanagasaki75.org/events and was part of a national event called “From Hiroshima to […]
Nagasaki A-bomb survivor determined to share memories in English
August 13, 2020 by Leave a Comment
NAGASAKI, (Kyodo) — Michio Hakariya had been trying to share his experiences of the U.S. atomic bombing of Nagasaki with foreign audiences for some years when he began to feel that his inability to speak directly to them in their own language was blunting his message. Despite his advanced years, the response of the retired […]
A declaration for peace
The atomic bombs detonated over Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945, were small and rudimentary nuclear weapons, only 10 and 12 kilotons respectively. Yet they reduced these once beautiful cities to complete ashes and caused unspeakable human suffering, killing nearly a quarter of a million people instantly and leaving those who survived […]