Hiroshima Hibakusha Pray for Nuke Free World on 80th Anniv.
Hiroshima, Aug. 6 (Jiji Press)--Many hibakusha atomic bomb survivors and bereaved family members visited Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park on Wednesday, the 80th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of the western Japan city, renewing their vows to abolish nuclear weapons.
Even before the crack of dawn, many people visited the park's Cenotaph for the Atomic Bomb Victims to quietly put their hands together in prayer.
A 94-year-old from Hiroshima lost six family members to the atomic bomb dropped on the city on Aug. 6, 1945, when he was 14 years old. He was the only survivor in his family, as he had been sent to the city's suburbs for a student mobilization assignment at the time.
"It was hard for me being all alone," he said. "I wanted to join my parents."
When he returned home after his assignment, he saw many people lying in the river. "I want a world without nuclear weapons because I don't want young people to experience what I went through," he said.
Yoshie Yokoyama, 96, who was exposed to radiation after arriving in Hiroshima a few days after the bomb, said that she still remembers the horrible scenes she saw in the city. "I saw scenes like hell right before my eyes, with so many people burned to a crisp," she said.
Her 42-year-old grandson, Hiroki, who also offered prayers, said, "I don't know how many more years I will have with her."
"I need to listen to more of her stories," he added.
"Wars should never be started," said Kenji Osugi, 66, a hospital employee who visited the monument to mourn the loss of his father, who died last year at the age of 89. "Nuclear weapons should never be used," he added.
Sho Okuda, 39, said he remembers his late grandmother telling him that many people injured in the atomic bomb were carried to a local elementary school.
Okuda, who has been visiting the cenotaph every year for the past decade or so with the goal of passing on the stories of the atomic bomb to future generations, said he hopes his children "realize that atomic bombs should never be used again."
On Wednesday night, many people floated lanterns on the Motoyasu River in front of the city's Atomic Bomb Dome, which survived the atomic bombing, to remember the victims and to pray for peace.
On his lantern, 81-year-old Ryoji Okamura, who was exposed to radiation from the bomb as a one-year-old at his home about 2 kilometers from the epicenter, wrote his wish for world peace.
"From now on, it's vital that people who didn't experience the atomic bombing pass on the stories," Okamura, who lost his father and an older brother to the weapon, said.
Heather Payrastre, a 44-year-old nurse visiting the city from Canada, drew a picture of a family holding hands on her lantern, voicing hopes that her sons would learn about what happened 80 years ago.
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