Hiroshima A-Bomb survivor calls for nuclear abolition in Australia
A woman who survived the US atomic bombing of the western Japanese city of Hiroshima 80 years ago called for the abolition of nuclear weapons in a lecture in Sydney on Saturday.
"Shortly, no (atomic bomb) survivors are living," Keiko Ogura, 88, said, adding that she wants to share her story beyond national borders and generations.
She said, "We have to work right now. You can do that. I can pass my baton to you, young people."
Ogura, who was exposed to radiation from the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, when she was 8 years old, has been talking about the devastation from the nuclear attack in English in about 50 countries. During the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima in May 2023, she met with leaders from the participating countries.
In Saturday's lecture, Ogura used photos and pictures to describe Hiroshima's sudden destruction due to the bombing and her experience of being exposed to "black rain" containing radioactive substances.
She said many people died in front of her, shouting "help me!" and "Give me water!"
There still are 12,000 nuclear weapons in the world, she said. "Nuclear weapons should not be used any more. I wish the total nuclear ban would be accomplished before I die."
Ogura told the press that she is worried about some Japanese politicians seeking to arm Japan with nuclear weapons.
"Her testimony is powerful," Cole Vale, a local student, said after listening to her lecture. "I don't think we need nuclear weapons," Vale said.
"History is not just something we study, something we put forward to the next generation," Martin Graham, an official of New South Wales' education bureau, said.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
