Knowing is the first step for World Peace

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“Put Life First”: Her Experience To The World

Speaking Directly To World Leaders At The Hiroshima Summit, Hibakusha Keiko Ogura (86)

Keiko Ogura (86) is unique even among other Hibakusha (“He-bahk-shuh”, Atomic Bomb Survivor) for being able to tell her story to foreign Heads of State in English at the Group of 7, or G7 Summit. When speaking, the most important thing to consider is the perspective of the audience. In the crowds of many she has spoken to there were people from Nuclear powers as well as countries who occupied Japan during the war. With that in mind, the message “Put life first” was used for its easily understood sentiment.

Nuclear Weapons & Fears of Lasting Radiation

“I’ll be speaking through my own eyes at 8 years old, so let us ‘experience’ this together.” These are the words spoken by Ogura on May 19th to the 7 leaders in the exhibit room in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Being bombed on the road to her house. Getting knocked out by the Nuclear blast following the flash. She spoke hoping “they would understand the fear and sadness I felt.” She could tell by the faces of those in attendance that they were listening carefully.

Of the Group of 7, America, France, and the United Kingdom maintain Nuclear weapons. What Ogura truly wanted to convey is that Nuclear weapons are different from any other. After the Atomic bomb was dropped, many lost their lives to the lingering effects of radiation. A stark symbol of this is Sadako Sasaki, a 2-year-old when the bomb fell and passed 10 years later from Leukemia. She is best known globally for making many origami cranes as a symbol of hope to stay alive.

Ogura showed the politicians that the terror of radiation isn’t something that disappears by showing them Sadako’s origami cranes. The tiny leftover paper scraps are folded by needle to make far smaller cranes. “There were even officials clearly holding back tears.” After the presentation, they sought out handshakes with her one-by-one. Ms. Ogura said “In particular, there must have been some opposition within the United States (which dropped the Atomic bombs) to President Biden coming to Hiroshima. I could tell he had this feeling of finally being able to come to where the bomb was dropped and meet with a Hibakusha.” President Biden brought his own paper crane.

On May 21st, President Zelenskyy of the war-embroiled Ukraine visited to hear Ogura’s story as well. “The President looked at photos of burnt fields without a word, pursing his lips and reflecting. Maybe he thought to himself ‘this is just like my home’. I thought, "He's probably thinking of Ukraine.”

There was something Ogura especially wanted to tell President Zelenskyy. “Think of the children caught in the middle of war first.” She continued “I was 8 years old when the bomb dropped. Children carry that fear with them for the rest of their lives.”

 From The Hope to Not Lose Those You Love

Seventy-eight years ago, August 6th. 2.4km from the epicenter, Keiko Ogura was in the road in front of her home. An intense light flashed, then “everything around me went white, and I couldn’t see anything.”  Shortly after, the Nuclear blast swept her body into the air then sent her pounding back down onto the pavement. Upon looking around at her surroundings in a daze of darkness “All the houses that were there just a second ago were destroyed.” The “Black Rain” containing radioactive material pelted down. The neighborhood Shrine was overflowing with those who fled, naked and scorched. “Their breath is faint. I see people die nearly every day.”

It was at the English Literature Dept. in college at 19 years old that Ogura became “the young English speaking Hibakusha” through interviews with late German journalist Robert Junke. After that, she married Kaoru Ogura, Junke’s interpreter. The American-born Kaoru told important people all over the world about the situation in Hiroshima with the help of his wife. However, when Keiko was 41, Kaoru suddenly passed away.

While grieving, she received a request from Junke to interpret in Hiroshima. She planned to refuse due to a lack of confidence, but received words of encouragement which changed her mind: “Having your life ripped from you is war. The Keiko who lost who she loved and saw those who suffered because of the Atomic bomb is someone who can become the person to tell the world what happened at Hiroshima.”

Foreign media and photographers would be coming, and they needed interpreters. “In my 40’s I started studying English like never before. It was like I was eating my dictionary.” In 1984, Ogura formed the Hiroshima Interpreters for Peace.

She began telling her own story as a survivor after entering her 60’s. The impetus was a request to speak directly to American high school students in English.

Live A Life Free of Hate

Something that must be considered when speaking is the various cultures and histories of the audience. There are Southeast Asians who say “My grandpa was killed by the Japanese army,” and Americans who have heard “Don’t they hate us?” When speaking to the peoples of the areas Japan once assailed, Ogura always began by saying “I’m sorry.” To Americans, she told the tale of the American who helped with the reconstruction of Hiroshima: the late forestry scholar Floyd Schmoe.

Last month there was an English lecture for 25 students from Oxford University. A Colombian student named Daniel Arrázola (32) said what stuck with him most was the essence of forgiveness. “Mrs. Ogura had an Atomic bomb dropped on her and was forced to carry so much trauma, but instead of hating anybody she lives like any day could be her last.” Daniel felt that world peace could be achieved if everyone was a little more like Ogura.

How do you communicate Hiroshima to people of differing nationalities, cultures, and ideologies? Ogura’s answer, “What gets through to anybody is that the single most important thing in the world is life. To love someone deeply, the feeling of not wanting to lose them, to treasure their life. I believe that feeling can be connected to pacifism and Nuclear disarmament.”

This Report Was Written By Kei Nakatsuka, Pubulished in 6th of August 2023. Translated by Nick Young

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