The "hibakusha" are the surviving victims of the atomic bombs which fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. While these individuals survived the immediate effects of the blasts, the hibakusha have suffered from the effects of radiation sickness, loss of family and friends, and discrimination.
In spite of their difficulties, many hibakusha have been shining examples of turning their personal tragedies into a struggle to promote peace and to create a world free of nuclear weapons.
Sadako Sasaki was a young girl who died two months before her 13th birthday. Living near the epicentre of the Hiroshima blast, Sadako developed leukemia from radiation poisoning. While hospitalized, her closest friend reminded her of the Japanese legend that if she folded a thousand paper cranes, the gods might grant her wish to be well again.
With hope and determination, Sadako began folding. Since then, the beautifully folded paper crane has become a worldwide symbol of peace.
On 6 August 2010, 65 years after an atomic bomb devastated the city, Ban Ki-moon became the first United Nations Secretary-General to take part in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony.
Standing shoulder to shoulder with survivors of the bombing of Hiroshima, a deeply moved Secretary-General paid respect to all those who perished there and stressed that the time has come to realize the dream of a world free of nuclear weapons.
The memorials in Hiroshima and Nagasaki keep records of the hibakusha who are known to have died since the bombings.
Updated annually on the anniversaries of the bombings, the memorials record the names of hibakusha who died in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. While most of the hibakusha are Japanese, several thousand victims were from other parts of the globe.
The Government of Japan, in cooperation with the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the United Nations, is working to ensure that the testimonies of the atomic bomb survivors become a legacy for this generation and generations to come.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan has made available the testimonies of 21 hibakusha in the original Japanese along with translations into English, Chinese, French, Spanish, Russian, and Korean.
Upon his visit to Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 2010, the United Nations Secretary General has launched an initiative to forge partnerships with governments and organizations to preserve and disseminate the testimonies of the Hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors) to ensure that their stories are available for generations to come. The testimonies by the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki form an historical legacy that is a clarion call for promoting peace and for securing a world free of nuclear weapons. This webpage is dedicated to increase awareness and accessibility of the Hibakusha's testimonies for the purpose of disarmament and non-proliferation education by serving as a resource point for hibakusha related materials.
