The Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome) was the only structure left standing in the area where the atomic bomb exploded on August 6, 1945 – Image: Kim Kyung-Hoon/REUTERS
As Japan marks the 80th anniversary of the atomic bomb attacks, a new generation of storytellers is stepping up to preserve the memories of survivors and ensure the world never forgets the human cost of nuclear war.
Japan on Wednesday marked 80 years since the US dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima during the last days of World War II, killing close to 80,000 people in the initial blast.
The memorial ceremonies took place in Hiroshima on August 6 and Nagasaki three days later will attract thousands of people from across the world. There are, however, fewer survivors — known as the “hibakusha” — than last year.
A government report released in March confirmed that there were now just 99,130 hibakusha alive — 7,695 fewer than last year as age inevitably takes its toll on their numbers. The average age of the survivors today is 86.13.
As first-person accounts of the only wartime use of nuclear weapons are being lost, museums, organizations and individuals are stepping forward to keep their stories alive.
Spreading awareness
One of the Hiroshima “successors” is Shun Sasaki, who helps convey the horror of the attack on his hometown and its aftermath. Since August 2021, the 12-year-old has been talking with foreign tourists about many of the sites that make up the Hiroshima Memorial Peace Park.
“When I was in the first grade at school, I was walking past the Atomic Bomb Dome and I wondered why it was still there because it was in bad shape,” Sasaki told DW, referring to one of the only structures left standing after the bomb exploded in 1945.
“I did some searching on the internet and I went to the Peace Memorial Museum and learned about the bomb that was dropped here.”
Shun Sasaki (r.) tells tourists how the atomic bomb, nicknamed ‘Little Boy,’ exploded almost directly above the Genbaku Dome – Image: Shun Sasaki/DW
A hometown tragedy
Sasaki’s interest in the tragic history of his hometown was further piqued when he learned that his own great-grandmother had survived the August 6, 1945, attack — but later died of cancer.
“She was 12 years old when the bomb was dropped and inside her home about 1.5 kilometers [0.93 miles] from the hypocenter,” he said. “She was not burned because she was indoors, but she was exposed to radiation and when she was being evacuated, the ‘black rain’ fell on her.”
“Black rain” was a mixture of dust, soot from the fires started by the bomb, and radioactive fallout that came down from rain over the city for several hours after the blast.
Sasaki’s great-grandmother, Yuriko, contracted breast cancer at the age of 38 and colon cancer when she was 60 before dying at the age of 69.
Sasaki was given English-language learning toys before his first birthday, was able to communicate in the language by the age of four and today says he prefers speaking English to Japanese. It also enables him to speak with foreign tourists who arrive in Hiroshima with some preconceived ideas of what happened in the city in 1945.
Sasaki tells them how the uranium bomb, nicknamed “Little Boy,” exploded almost directly above the Genbaku Dome, the stone building now known as the Atomic Bomb Dome, with an energy equivalent to around 15 kilotons of TNT.
Virtually every building was destroyed and every person was killed within a radius of 1.3 kilometers. The total death toll rose to around 140,000 by the end of 1945 as a result of severe burns or radiation-related illnesses.
“A lot of people tell me that they came to Hiroshima thinking they knew the story and that the city was only badly damaged,” Sasaki said. “But then they say they didn’t know what actually happened.”
The violence of the explosion is illustrated at the Peace Museum through objects such as this burned tricycle belonging to 3-year-old Shinichi Tetsuya. It was first buried with the boy’s remains, then dug up by his father who wanted to convey the horror of nuclear weapons – Image: Kimimasa Mayama/dpa/picture alliance
Tears and the truth
“Some of them cry,” he said. “Most of them are pretty surprised and they all tell me we must never do this ever again. I think wars happen because people do not really know what happens.”
“I was guiding one American man and he said he now thinks we should ban all nuclear weapons,” Sasaki recalled. “That made me happy because if he goes away and tells someone the truth about Hiroshima and then they tell someone else, the message of peace will spread.”
“We cannot change the facts about what happened here, but we can use the truth about the bomb to change the future,” Sasaki added.
Similar efforts to pass on the experiences of hibakusha in Nagasaki, which was the target of the “Fat Man” plutonium bomb on August 9, 1945, eventually killing as many as 80,000 people — from the original detonation itself as well as from long-term effects such as leukemia and other radiation-related illnesses.
“We are approaching an era when the hibakusha are no longer with us,” said Takuji Inoue, director of the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum. “However, as an atomic-bombed city, we are deeply concerned about the increasing risk of the use of nuclear weapons, fueled by the turmoil from the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and other troubling events.”
International campaign
The museum launched a new international campaign to “convey the reality” of the atomic bomb attacks and spread understanding of the impact of the bombs “across generations.”
“Hiroshima will forever be engraved in history as the first atomic bomb site,” he said. “However, whether Nagasaki will remain as the last depends on the future that we create.”
The Peace Memorial Museum and atomic bomb survivors are a reminder of the horror that took place on August 6, 1945. As a number of living survivors dwindles, documenting their stories is becoming ever more vital – Image: Reinhard Schultz/Imago images
On August 6, 2025, at 8:15 a.m. — the time the first bomb detonated above Hiroshima — the city came to a standstill for people to pay their respects. Among the speeches delivered in the Peace Park were the Children’s Commitment to Peace. This year, that address was delivered by Shun Sasaki.
“I have always wanted to speak in front of a large group of people so I am very happy that I was chosen,” he said. “My hope is that everyone who has an interest can come to Hiroshima and think about peace.” (DW.com/NAN 07-08-25)
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