Monday 12 May 2025
12:00pm – 1:00pm

Voices of Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivors

13/14 Cornwall Terrace, Outer Circle (entrance facing Regent's Park), London NW1 4QP

the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation Organised by

Fully booked

In this talk, Chiyoko Motomura, who was six when the atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, described what happened on the 9th of August 1945, along with her personal memories. Dr Masao Tomonaga, who was only two and devoted his career to studying the medical effects of the atomic bombs, gave his view of the lessons we need to learn and asked what we can do to help. Finally, Tomoko Ōtaki, a second-generation A-bomb survivor, shared her activities, including her views about the role of the second generation.

This event was organised in collaboration with the Nagasaki Hibakusha Notebook Friendship Association (長崎県被爆者手帳友の会).
This event was made possible through the generous support of the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation.

The video recording of this talk can be watched here:

About the contributors

Chiyoko Motomura

Born 1939. Member of the Nagasaki Hibakusha Notebook Friendship Association. A direct victim of the bombing at the age of six at Koegō, Fukuda Village, Nishisonogi District, Nagasaki Prefecture (now Koemachi, Nagasaki City).

Masao Tomonaga

Dr. Masao Tomonaga is Director Emeritus of the Japanese Red Cross Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Hospital. He was born in Nagasaki City in 1943, where he experienced the second atomic bomb on August 9th, 1945. He was just two years old at the time, and survived in a half-destroyed wooden Japanese house located around 2.5 km from the hypocentre. He grew up healthy and became a distinguished physician specializing in atomic bomb-related medical care for hibakusha (atomic bomb victims). For over five decades, he has led pioneering research into the links between radiation exposure and the development of leukaemia and other cancers. Following the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, he gave a lecture both drawing on his personal history and lifelong commitment to nuclear disarmament, and also explaining the inhumanity of nuclear weapons from a scientific perspective.

Tomoko Ōtaki

Born 1961. Member of the Nagasaki Hibakusha Notebook Friendship Association and the Second-Generation Hibakusha Association. Her main activities have been support for hibakusha peace activities during the Visit to Ukraine and Belarus (23 April – 4 May 2018) and Peace Lectures in Akita City Peace Week as part of the Akita Peace Convention (Oct-Dec 2018), participation in the Hope & Healing Tour in USA (6-20 November 2023) and participation in the tour to Oslo to receive the Nobel Peace Prize (8-12 December 2024).