A-Bomb Survivor to Testify at British Parliament via Skype

Hiroshima, July 14 (Jiji Press)--A survivor of the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima will speak about her experience at Britain's Parliament through the Skype Internet-based video calling service on Thursday, officials of an affiliate of the western Japan city said Tuesday. It will be the first time for testimony of an atomic bomb survivor, or hibakusha, will be delivered via the Internet to a parliament outside Japan, according to the officials of the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, the affiliate. Yoshiko Kajimoto, an 84-year-old woman of Hiroshima, will speak through interpreters from a room in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in the Japanese city to a British parliament committee room. Lawmakers of both chambers of the parliament, nongovernmental organization members and others are expected to listen to her testimony slated to start at 6:30 p.m. (9:30 a.m. GMT). The event was devised after a House of Lords member showed an interest in the delivery of hibakusha testimony via Skype while visiting the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation in April, according to the officials. The foundation serves as the secretariat of the Mayors for Peace, an NGO chaired by Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui with 6,733 member cities in a total of 160 countries and regions. END