Talk:Hibakusha

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is within the scope of WikiProject Japan, a project to improve all Japan-related articles. If you would like to help improve this and other Japan-related articles, please join the project. All interested editors are welcome.
Start This article has been rated as Start-Class on the assessment scale.
??? This article has not yet received a rating on the importance scale.
Japan To-do:
MILHIST This article is within the scope of the Military history WikiProject. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the project and see lists of open tasks and regional and topical task forces. To use this banner, please see the full instructions.
Start This article has been rated as Start-Class on the quality scale.

Contents

[edit] Can this be its own page?

There is a lot about this that I would like to understand.

In The Good War by Studs Turkel there is mention on pg. 538-542.

[edit] Discrimination

Why are hibakusha discriminated against? I just cannot understand why this would be the case. If anyone with an insight into this could expand the entry to explain the justification for this kind of discrimination, I would be greatful. —Preceding unsigned comment added by PhennPhawcks (talk • contribs)

A quote from John Hersey's Hiroshima -- "Non-hibakusha employers developed a prejudice against the survivors as word got around that they were prone to all sorts of ailments, and that even those[...] who were not cruelly maimed and had not developed any serious overt symptoms were unreliable workers, since most of them seemed to suffer[...] from the mysterious but real malaise that came to be known as one kind of A-bomb sickness: a nagging weakness and weariness, dizziness now and then, digestive troubles, all aggravated by a feeling of oppression, a sense of doom, for it was said that unspeakable diseases might at any time plant nasty flowers in the bodies of their victims, and even those of their descendents." (pp. 93). Towards the end of the book it talks about the discrimination against hibakusha; you may want to take a look. - S. Komae (talk) 16:25, 23 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] As of 2006?

By the way, has the number alive on 31 March 2006 been published, or do they wait till August? —wwoods 06:33, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Project Assessment

The picture and quotes are very moving, but surely there must be more that can be put here. Describe the discrimination in fuller detail, the symptoms and effects experienced today by those still alive... are there any sort of associations, organizations, political lobbies? Are there special clinics or self-help centers or anything like that? LordAmeth 18:23, 31 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] World War Z

A (obviously fictional) hibakusha is VERY prominently feautured in the World War Z book by Max Brooks. In addition to surviving the zombies and all, he tells about his experience with the bomb (which blinded him) and the prejudices people had against him afterward. Should it be mentioned on this page?


[edit] The Monk/survivors who survived the blast/impact?

Can anyone elaborate who was the Buddhist monk who was very close to the blast area when the Hiroshima bomb went off and lived to tell the tale? Secondly who was the survivor nearest to the blast and continued to live for years afterwards? Any info on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.--Redblossom 17:30, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Testimony of Akira Onogi

I've removed the section "Testimony of Akira Onogi" - the source site specifies a Creative Commons license that restricts commerical use. -- Whpq 00:16, 7 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Numbers of Hibakusha

I'm not sure what to do with this beyond keeping the numbers current, but for what it's worth...

Except for 1950, "Hiroshima" and "Nagasaki" are the numbers of names of deceased hibakusha recorded in the cenotaphs in each city, and published each August. "Total Dead" is the sum. "Living" is the number of living hibakusha as of each March. "Total" is the sum of the dead and the living; it increases as people identify themselves or are identified as hibakusha. Some numbers I found somewhere a few years ago, but couldn't find a source for today. Numbers in italic I worked out by arithmetic from the numbers I had.

Hiroshima:   Nagasaki:   Total Dead:   Living:   Total:  
1950:   119,000 * [1]   74,000 * [1]   193,000 * 283,498   [2]   447,000 *
 
1981:   372,264   [3]  
 
1985:   295,956   [4]  
1986:   365,925   [5]  
 
1989:   157,071   [6]  
+ 10,172  
–––––––  
1990:   167,243   [6]  
+ 4,781  
–––––––  
1991:   172,024   [6]  
+ 4,940  
–––––––  
1992:   176,964   [6]  
+ 4,872  
–––––––  
1993:   181,836   [6]  
+ 5,104  
–––––––  
1994:   186,940   [2]   102,275   [2]   289,215  
+ 5,080  
–––––––   –––––––   –––––––  
1995:   192,020   [6]   328,629   [2]  
+ 5,025   – 5,209  
–––––––   –––––––   –––––––  
1996:   197,045   [6]   323,420   [3]  
+ 5,073   – 5,787  
–––––––   –––––––   –––––––  
1997:   202,118   [6]   317,633   [3]  
+ 4,927   [7]   - 5,929   [8]  
–––––––   –––––––   –––––––  
1998:   207,045   [7]   311,704   [3]  
+ 5,071   [9]   – 7,249  
–––––––   –––––––   –––––––  
1999:   212,116   [9]   304,455   [3]  
+ 5,021   [10]   – 6,842  
–––––––   –––––––   –––––––  
2000:   217,137   [10]   297,613   [11]  
+ 4,757   [12]   – 5,789  
–––––––   –––––––   –––––––  
2001:   221,893   [12]   126,629   [8]   348,522   291,824   [13]   640,346  
+ 4,977   [14]   + 2,564   [14]   + 7,541   – 6,204   + 1,337  
–––––––   –––––––   –––––––   –––––––   –––––––  
2002:   226,870   [14]   129,193   [14]   356,063   285,620   [15]   641,683  
+ 5,050   [16]   + 2,692   [17]   + 7,742   – 6,446   + 1,296  
–––––––   –––––––   –––––––   –––––––   –––––––  
2003:   231,920   [16]   131,885   [17]   363,805   279,174   [3]   642,979  
+ 5,142   [18]   + 2,706   + 7,848   – 5,256   + 2,592  
–––––––   –––––––   –––––––   –––––––   –––––––  
2004:   237,062   [18]   134,591   371,653   273,918   [3]   645,571  
+ 5,375   [19]   + 2,748   [20]   + 8,123   – 7,320   + 803  
–––––––   –––––––   –––––––   –––––––   –––––––  
2005:   242,437   [21]   137,339   [20]   379,776   [21]       266,598   [22]       646,374  
+ 5,350   [23]   + 2,716   [8]   + 8,066   – 7,042   + 1,024  
–––––––   –––––––   –––––––   –––––––   –––––––  
2006:   247,787   [23]   140,055   [8]   387,842       259,556   [24]       647,398  
+ 5,221   [25]   + 3,069   [26]   + 8,290   – 7,722   + 568  
–––––––   –––––––   –––––––   –––––––   –––––––  
2007:   253,008   [25]   143,124   [26]   396,132       251,834   [27]       647,966  
Hiroshima:   Nagasaki:   Total Dead:   Living:   Total:  
  1. ^ a b http://www.usjp.org/towardpeace_en/tpCompensation_en.html
    "Atomic bombs fell upon Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 and upon Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. By 1950, 119,000 deaths in Hiroshima and 74,000 deaths in Nagasaki were attributed to the atomic bombs (Hamashima 1999:165–166). The number of atomic bomb victims who hold a health care booklet proving their status was 291,824 at the end of 2000, having peaked at 372,264 at the end of 1980. In recent years, the number of health care booklet holders whose average age is 71 years old as of 2001 has been decreasing by 6,000 to 7,000 every year (AS [Asahi Shimbun?] August 6, 2001). Atomic bomb victims have suffered not only from the health problems but also from social and psychological discrimination and ostracism, especially at marriages."
  2. ^ a b c d Frank, Richard, Downfall, p. 286–7.
    'For example, the 1950 total of identified survivors was 283,498, at a time when they often were shunned. Subsequently, the complex and highly politicized definition of a hibakushka[sic] (atomic bomb victim) became anyone who was within two kilometers of the epicenter of the bombs at the time or within a few days thereafter. In March 1995, no fewer than 328,629 living Japanese qualified by this definition. Furthermore, whenever such an individual dies, from any cause whatsoever, they become officially classified as a deceased hibakushka. As of August 1994, the deceased hibakushka for Hiroshima numbered 186,940 and for Nagasaki 102,275. John Dower, "Three Narratives of Our Humanity," in Edward T. Linenthal and Tom Engelhardt, eds., History Wars: The Enola Gay and Other Battles for the American Past (New York Metropolitan Books/Henry Holt and Company, 1996), p. 79 and especially Note 28.'
  3. ^ a b c d e f g http://www.city.hiroshima.jp/kikaku/kikaku/kuniyoubou/17/07.html (Google translation)
  4. ^ http://www.themilitant.com/1995/5930/5930_4.html
    'The conference, which drew 300 participants from 24 countries, heard Takeshi Ito, cochairperson of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers' Organization, report that the Health and Welfare Ministry of Japan "confirmed the death toll totaled 295,956 hibakusha by 1985." [In 1995], he said, 328,629 survivors "are still struggling against physical, living, and mental difficulties, which are becoming harder as they get older."'
  5. ^ http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hidankyo/nihon/rn_page/english/1988.htm
    "According to Japanese government statistics as of March 31, 1986, the total number of surviving Hibakusha is 365,925."
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h http://www.hiroshima-spirit.jp/ja/tayori/letter1/question.html (Google translation)
    "Well, the frequency of offering the Hiroshima as of 1998 August 6th atomic bomb decease person roster, with 207,045 names, 4,927 people increased in these 1 years. The number of persons who die really, in this one year among 4,927 is 3,856. The remaining 1,071 people are the people where the death report is not put out so far in the various reasons. Furthermore, past the number of 10 years is as mentioned below." [table follows for 1989–98. That's a heck of a jump from '89 to '90. Two years combined?]
  7. ^ a b http://www.chugoku-np.co.jp/weekly/1998/980814.html
    The names of 4,927 atomic bomb victims who had died in the past year, were added to the existing list of victims, bringing the total to 207,045. The average age of the survivors is over 68 years.
  8. ^ a b c d I had found sources for these numbers, some years ago.
  9. ^ a b http://www.chugoku-np.co.jp/abom/99e/News/News11.html
    "At 8:00 a.m., two representatives of the bereaved families and Mayor Akiba dedicated booklists of names of A-bomb victims to the Memorial Cenotaph. The number of victims who have died or have been confirmed dead since Aug. 6 last year are 5,071. The total number of names listed in the booklists is 212,116. There are 73 booklists altogether and two booklists were added this year. The average age of the hibakusha who live in Hiroshima City is 67.8 years old."
  10. ^ a b http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/868052.stm
    "On Saturday, the city said 5,021 people who were in Hiroshima on the day of the bombing had died since last year's anniversary. Their names have been added to a memorial to the victims, bringing the total number of names inscribed to 217,137."
  11. ^ http://www.nci.org/0new/hibakusha-jt5701.htm
    ' There were 9,269 A-bomb survivors with government-issued hibakusha certificates living in Tokyo as of the end of March, according to the metropolitan government. It is the fourth-largest concentration in Japan of such people, who numbered 297,613 nationwide as of the end of 1999, next to Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Fukuoka prefectures.
    ...
    Around 60 people apply for the certificate in Tokyo annually, after their children or grandchildren are born healthy or marry.
    ...
    According to a 1992 report released by the Hiroshima International Council for Health Care of the Radiation-exposed on the physical damage of atomic bombs, about 114,000 people died from the blast and radiation exposure while about 70,000 people died in Nagasaki within a couple of months after the atomic bomb blasts.'
  12. ^ a b http://www.chugoku-np.co.jp/abom/01e/news/Tn010807.html
    "At 8:00 a.m., Mayor Akiba and representatives of bereaved families dedicated the Register of the Dead to the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims. The number of victims who either died over the last year or whose previous death had been confirmed came to 4,757. This brought the total number of victims to 221,893 and increased the number of register volumes by two to 77. The average age of survivors in Hiroshima (as of the end of March) is now 70.1."
    Arithmetic discontinuity: 217,137 + 4,757 = 221,894.
  13. ^ http://search.japantimes.co.jp/member/member.html?appURL=nn20011220b9.html
    "As of March, there were 291,824 certified A-bomb survivors in Japan. Of these, only 2,238 were judged by the government to be suffering from A-bomb-related illnesses.
    Each year, the government receives 300 to 400 applications from people claiming illnesses from the bombings. The government acknowledged 120 as survivors in 2000.
    The government provides individuals with about 140,000 yen a month in medical allowances if it recognizes them as suffering from bomb-related illness."
  14. ^ a b c d http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/archive/200208/09/20020809p2a00m0dm009001c.html [archive link?]
    At the ceremony, which began at 8 a.m., Hiroshima city officials placed in the cenotaph 79 volumes of lists containing the names of the 226,870 people who died as a result of the bombing, including 4,977 people who died in the past year.
    [different source?] Today, the number of dead has risen to 226,870, a reminder that the Grim Reaper of nuclear destruction is still at work. During the past year alone, 4,977 names were added to the list of victims who have perished in Hiroshima. There are, besides, some 285,000 who are recognised as having been exposed to atomic bomb radiation in 1945.
    [different source?] During the ceremony, the names of 2,564 atomic bomb victims who died in the 12 months ending in July was added to a list, bringing the total recorded number of victims to 129,193.
  15. ^ http://www.chugoku-np.co.jp/abom/02e/Ae02080601.html
    'The present system for determining a cause-effect relationship between the illness and the atomic bomb revolves around the DS86 method of estimating radiation exposure. With recognition comes a special medical allowance. As of the end of March 2002, only 2,169 survivors, or 0.76% of the 285,620 survivors carrying A-bomb Survivors Health Books have certified A-bomb-related diseases. About 2,000 certifications in ten years does not show much movement. The annual certification rate is falling, and the reasons for rejection are rarely given in detail. No wonder many survivors express the cynical view that "The certifications are set to match the budget."'
  16. ^ a b http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0XPQ/is_2003_August_11/ai_106468175
    'This year, the names of 5,050 more people recognized as atomic-bomb victims by the city government since Aug. 6 last year were added to a memorial arch, bringing the total to 231,920.
    The atomic blast and its aftereffects had killed an estimated 140,000 people by the end of 1945.'
  17. ^ a b http://homepage2.nifty.com/~yuasaf/critique/critique_2.html
    "It was reported in the ceremony that in the past year, 2,692 Hibakusha died due to aftereffects of the atomic bombing, which marks the number of deaths from the atomic bombing in Nagasaki 131,885 in total. A list of the dead was encased in the A-bomb cenotaph. (#146: September 2003)"
  18. ^ a b "As of the end of March, the number of hibakusha [atomic bomb survivors] in Japan stood at 273,918. Their average age is 72.46. Over the past year, 5,142 people who suffered from the bombing in Hiroshima have died, bringing the toll to 237,062.
  19. ^ http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2005/08/09/worldviews.DTL
    'Today, "[s]lightly more than 266,000 atomic bomb survivors live in Japan. Their average age is 73." (Asahi Shimbun) During the past year, 5,375 more hibakusha have died or have had their deaths confirmed. (Yomiuri Shimbun)'
  20. ^ a b http://www.chugoku-np.co.jp/abom/05e/kyodo/Ak05080902.html
    This year, the names of 2,748 more people recognized as atomic-bomb victims by the city since Aug. 9 last year were added to the list of casualties, bringing the number of Nagasaki victims to 137,339.
    The atomic bombing of Nagasaki and its aftereffects killed an estimated 70,000 people by the end of 1945. The Hiroshima bomb claimed the lives of 140,000 people.
  21. ^ a b http://online.economista.com.mx/online4.nsf/(all)/... (Google translation)
    "To 11,02 in the morning of this Tuesday, after a minute of silence, the bells of Nakasaki repicaron in unison, in memory of the 74.000 received hurt people who almost instantaneously perished when exploding the pump and of more than 63.000 than they died later because of the radiations and in the bombing.
    In Hiroshima, the last list of people who perished at the moment of the explosion and in the later years she has compiled 242.437 names, reason why the total of mortal victims of both pumps arrives at the 379.776 people."
  22. ^ http://search.japantimes.co.jp/member/member.html?appURL=nn20060315a7.html
    "The system recognizes someone as having been exposed to radiation if the person is confirmed as having been in or in the vicinity of the cities of Hiroshima or Nagasaki at the time of the atomic bombings, or confirmed as having visited areas near ground zero within two weeks of the bombings.
    People meeting either of these conditions is confirmed as needing treatment due to radiation-induced illness will be eligible to receive an individual medical allowance of 140,000 yen per month.
    About 0.8 percent of the Japanese confirmed with wartime radiation exposure are recognized as suffering from radiation illness. [2100+]
    As of the end of last March, 266,598 people possessed A-bomb survivor booklets -- a certificate that formally recognizes their exposure to radiation."
  23. ^ a b http://www.abc.net.au/cgi-bin/common/printfriendly.pl?http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200608/s1707435.htm
    The atomic bomb had killed some 140,000 people by the end of 1945, out of Hiroshima's estimated population of 350,000.
    Thousands more succumbed to illness and injuries later.
    The names of 5,350 people who died recently were added to the list of victims, bringing the total number recognised by the city to 247,787.
  24. ^ http://english.people.com.cn/200608/06/eng20060806_290331.html
    The Hiroshima city puts the names of 5,350 people who died recently to the victim list, bringing the total number of atomic- bomb victims recognized by the city to 247,787. A total of 259,556 atomic bomb survivors were alive as of March 31, with their average age of 73.9.
  25. ^ a b http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20141167/
    The atomic bomb had killed some 140,000 people by the end of 1945, out of Hiroshima’s estimated population of 350,000. Thousands more succumbed to illness and injuries later.
    The names of 5,221 people who died recently were added to the list of victims, bringing the total number recognized by the city to 253,008. A few thousand names are added each year.
  26. ^ a b http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/414660
    "The event hosted by the Nagasaki city government started with Taue and representatives of the bereaved families and hibakusha placing books with 3,069 additional names to the list of dead, bringing the official death toll from the city's bombing to 143,124."
  27. ^ http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=1832635&Language=en
    As of March 31, a total of 251,834 atomic bomb survivors were alive both in and outside of Japan, with their average age at 74.6, according to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry.

—wwoods 01:34, 26 August 2007 (UTC)
[yet another source added 21:50, 13 September 2007 (UTC)]
[yet another source added 00:37, 19 September 2007 (UTC)]
[yet another source added 01:07, 19 September 2007 (UTC)]

[edit] Atomic Veterans

How about Atomic Veterans? Shouldn't it be mentioned? Oda Mari 05:50, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Certainly not in the article but perhaps in See Also. The link you cite is relevant but not particularly informative. Also, relative amount of suffering is a value judgement but does your ref belong here? Perhaps in Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki instead? Franamax 02:09, 1 September 2007 (UTC)