Japan Launches Initiative to Document Hiroshima, Nagasaki Incident

(MENAFN) As Japan approaches the 80th year since the devastating atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, survivors—known as hibakusha—have started to recount their traumatic memories, according to a report by the media on Monday.

These recollections come amid a broader national initiative aimed at ensuring that the harrowing legacy of the 1945 attacks is not forgotten.

This month, Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare initiated a comprehensive campaign to gather personal accounts from the estimated 106,000 survivors who remain alive.

This undertaking marks the first time in three decades that the government has reached out to all known survivors to contribute their stories.

Local governments across Japan are distributing pamphlets, encouraging individuals to share written narratives of their experiences.

In addition to these testimonies, the ministry is also collecting belongings of historical significance—including clothing that came into contact with the atomic blasts, portraits of those who have passed away, and photographs taken during or after the attacks.

All collected items and stories will be preserved at the National Peace Memorial Halls located in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

With permission from survivors or their families, some of these pieces will also be made available for public exhibition.

The last extensive collection of survivor testimonies took place in 1995, a time when approximately 320,000 hibakusha were still living.

Further efforts to document the experiences of randomly selected individuals occurred in 2005 and again in 2015.

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