Passing down their experiences, 4 victims hold a lecture about the day of the atomic bombings/Yokosuka

Translated from the original article at http://news.kanaloco.jp/localnews/article/1309060028/

September 7, 2013

Mr. Kusumoto, second from the right, discusses the tragedies of the war=Yokosuka City's Lifelong Learning Center

"'Not forgetting that day,' listen to experiences from the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings" was held on the 5th, at Nishihemicho, Yokosuka's Life Long Learning Center. Organized by Misawa Sachiko, a representative of the Auschwitz Group of Kanagawa, the event featured talks from victims of the bombing .

4 men and women injured by the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki discussed their experiences, including Kusamoto Mitsuo, office president of Nagisa-Kai , the Yokosuka branch of the prefecture's atomic bombing victims group. Murayama Keiko (age 77) lived 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) from the bombing site and was 6 years old at the time. Suffering from chronic diarrhea as an effect of the radiation exposure, she was able to treat it with medication. A number of years after the bombing, her younger brother died with a high fever from unknown causes. Her mother passed away as well from cervical cancer. "Think of the effects of atomic bombs," said Murayama. On coming into contact with radiation leakage from the Fukushima Dai-Ichi reactor: "It's possible that even the land is emitting effects of the incident," she worried.

After their experiences were shared, the victims exchanged opinions and thoughts with 15 of the lecture's participants. Nuclear reactors, constitutional revision and peace education were discussed. "If Article 9 of the Constitution is revised, we could turn into a country at war. Now is the crucial time that we must raise our voices in objection," pleaded Kusumoto.

9 lectures are planned for this year. "As the victims advance in age, there is no limit to how many times we would like to have them come speak again in the years ahead. It's serious that their stories are passed down for the future, emphasized representative Misawa. As of March, 2,001,700 bombing victims are still alive. Last year, more than 9000 people passed away.


Original text:
原爆体験語り継ぐ、被爆者４人が「あの日」講演／横須賀
2013年9月7日

戦争の悲惨さを語る楠本さん（右から２人目）ら＝横須賀市生涯学習センター

原爆の被爆者が体験を語る「“あの日を忘れない”ヒロシマ・ナガサキ被爆体験を聴く」が５日、横須賀市西逸見町の市生涯学習センターで開かれた。市民グループ「アウシュヴィッツの会かながわ」（三澤幸子代表）が企画した。

体験を話したのは、県原爆被災者の会横須賀支部「なぎさ会」事務局長の楠本光雄さん（７７）を含め、広島、長崎で被害を受けた男女４人。長崎市の爆心地から約２・５キロに自宅があった当時６歳の村山恵子さん（７４）は放射能の影響からか下痢が止まらず、投薬治療した。数年後には弟が原因不明の高熱で亡くなり、母も子宮がんで他界。「原爆の影響だと思う」と言う村山さん。福島第１原発の放射能漏れに触れ、「被災地でも影響が出てくるかもしれない」と案じた。

体験談の後は約１５人の参加者と意見を交換。原発や憲法改正論、平和教育などの問題を話し合った。楠本さんは「憲法９条が改正されれば、戦争をできる国になってしまうかもしれない。肝心な時に反対の声を上げなければいけない」と訴えた。

企画は今年で９回目。三澤代表は「被爆者の高齢化で、また来年も話を聞かせてもらえるとは限らない。どう伝えていくかが大事だ」と強調した。生存する被爆者は約２０万１７００人（３月現在）。昨年比で９千人以上減っている。