Oral Histories

Yoshiro Yamawaki is a hibakusha, an atomic bomb survivor. He was 11 years old when the U.S. dropped the “Fat Man” atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan on August 9, 1945. Yamawaki’s father was killed; Yamawaki and his twin brother, who were 2.2 kilometers away from the hypocenter, survived. Today, Yamawaki shares his testimony and advocates for the elimination of nuclear weapons. In 2010 the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs appointed him as a Special Communicator for a World without Nuclear Weapons. In this interview, Yamawaki recalls the day of the atomic bombing and its aftermath. He discusses how the bomb affected his family, including the health complications he and his brothers have faced, and calls for humanity to “make sure that Nagasaki is the last place on Earth to suffer an atomic bombing.”

Keiko Ogura is a hibakusha, an atomic bomb survivor. She was eight years old on August 6, 1945, when the US dropped the “Little Boy” atomic bomb on Hiroshima. She eventually married Kaoru Ogura, who served as director of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and passed away in 1979. After his death, she took up the mission to spread knowledge about the bombings and keep the survivors’ stories alive.

During the 2003 exhibition of the Enola Gay, she was the official interpreter for other hibakusha. Additionally, she established the Hiroshima Interpreters for Peace and published several books, including the Hiroshima Handbook, Hiroshima Peace Park Guide, Hip’s Hiroshima Guide and One Day in Hiroshima.

In this interview, Ogura recalls the events of August 6 and how her family survived the bombing. She also discusses the long-term physical and physiological impacts she and other hibakusha suffered, as well as the social stigma of being atomic bomb survivors.

Mitsugi Moriguchi, born in Nagasaki, Japan, is a hibakusha (atomic bomb survivor). He was nine years old when the US dropped the “Fat Man” bomb on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. As a member of the Nagasaki Testimonial Society, Moriguchi collects the stories of other hibakusha. His work with other members of the Nagasaki Testimonial Society culminated in the publication of the book, Voices of the A-Bomb Survivors: Nagasaki, in 2009. In 2018, he visited Hanford Site, where the plutonium for the Fat Man bomb was produced.

In this interview, Moriguchi discusses how he survived, how his sister suffered from cancer and eventually died years after the bombing, and how some of his brother’s children were born with birth defects. He also reflects on his visits to Dayton, Ohio, where the B-29 that carried the bomb, Bockscar, is exhibited, and Hanford’s B Reactor.

Yasuyoshi Komizo has been the Chairperson of the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation since 2013. The former Special Assistant to the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, he worked as a diplomat for four decades.

In this interview, Komizo discusses the mission of the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation. He outlines the goal of Mayors for Peace to create a world without nuclear weapons, and explains the importance of dialogue in resolving international security challenges. He also describes a recent tour he gave to the U.S. ambassador to Japan and the message of the hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors) he wanted to share with the ambassador.

Tomoko Watanabe is the founder of ANT (Asian Network of Trust)-Hiroshima, an organization dedicated to international cooperation, peacebuilding, and peace education around the world. Her parents, who lived in Hiroshima, were atomic bomb survivors. Watanabe herself was born eight years after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In this interview, she discusses her organization’s work and her dream of creating a nuclear-free and conflict-free world.

Dr. Kenji Shiga is the current director of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. In this interview, Dr. Shiga explains the museum’s mission to convey the history of the Hiroshima atomic bombing, and the importance of remembering that event after all the survivors have passed. He recalls the 1995 Smithsonian controversy over the Enola Gay and describes the role of museums in fostering open discussions about the past.

Tatsujiro Suzuki is a professor and vice director at the Nagasaki University Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition (RECNA). His academic work focuses on civilian nuclear energy and nonproliferation. Suzuki was previously Vice Chairman of the Japan Atomic Energy Commission. In 2014 he joined RECNA, and served as its director from 2015-2019. In this interview, Suzuki discusses his opinions on international nuclear issues and policies. He shares his views on how countries can work together to promote nuclear nonproliferation. He also describes his reflections on the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster and RECNA’s current projects.

Janet Lynn McCardell grew up in Idaho Falls, and began working as a secretary at the Special Nuclear Reactor Test area. She discusses typing up reports, first on typewriters and decades later on computers. She also explains what women were required to wear, and how for many years women who became pregnant were immediately terminated.

Dr. Ruth Patrick was an American botanist and limnologist who studied the effects of pollution in water ways. She collaborated with Dr. Crawford Greenwalt and the Academy of Natural Sciences to determine the condition of the river where the DuPont Plant was due to be built so that they would be able to tell the effects of their operations upon the river.

John Smith arrived in Hanford after graduating from Ohio State in 1947 with a degree in mechanical engineering. Smith worked for General Electric at the 300 area where he manufactured uranium fuel elements for the production reactors. Smith describes the canning method that was used during the Manhattan Project; though the process was boring, Smith recounts several instances of horseplay that he and his coworkers took part in to lighten the mood.