Atomic bomb survivor and Nobel Peace Prize laureate organisation co-chairperson Terumi Tanaka warns of the growing nuclear threat and calls for peace.
By Della Qing in Tokyo
Atomic bomb survivor Terumi Tanaka, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2024 on behalf of Nihon Hidankyo, shares his story of struggles with university students, as wars in the Middle East and Europe continue in 2025 – a year that marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
“I was at home in Nagasaki when the explosion happened. My home was 3.23 kilometers away from the hypocenter. I was 13,” the co-chairperson of the anti-nuclear weapons group says in a sharing session with students of the Chinese University of Hong Kong in Tokyo.
The date was August 9, 1945. Tanaka heard the roar of a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber carrying out its mission flying over Nagasaki.
“I never expected it to drop such a terrifying weapon…Suddenly the whole world turned completely white. I could not see or hear anything. I ran to the first floor. Then an intense shock wave passed through our entire house,” the 93 – year – old survivor recalls.
“I lost consciousness when I got to the first floor. When I woke up, I found that my home was flattened. The wind was very hot. Two large pieces of glass pressed against me. It was a miracle that I was somehow spared from injuries,” he continues.
Tanaka, a former associate professor at Tohoku University’s School of Engineering, explains that the energy from the explosion can cause damage through intense heat from the flash of light, radiation, and scorching winds.
“Three days later, I went to find families of my two aunts who lived near the hypocenter. I hiked up a small hill with my mother…There I saw the destruction of Nagasaki. All houses were burnt and corpses scattered around. Many people were badly injured. They were still alive, but nobody could help them. I had no emotions…not even sympathy. I just kept walking to find my aunts,” Tanaka recalls.
“I found the burnt-out body of one aunt at the ruins of her house which was 400 meters away from the hypocenter, and the body of her grandson, who was a student from Tokyo University. Her grandson travelled back home to Nagasaki in hope of having food to eat. Food was scarce during war time. He was killed by the atomic bomb before heading back to Tokyo. My grandfather also died because of severe burns all over his body,” he shares.
“Another aunt’s house collapsed and the whole place became a pile of wood. It took us a long time to figure out where the house was. My aunt was severely burned, and died just before we arrived. We then cremated her remains with our own hands. When we picked up some unburned bones, I felt sad and was in fear. Then I began to wail. My mother didn’t say a word. She was desperately suppressing her emotions,” Tanaka sighs.
Tanaka says everyone lived in terror and anxiety, as they did not know if they had internal injuries which could take their lives any time.
“My uncle, after staying a few days at a relative’s home, suddenly had a fever and died ten days later because of the visceral injury caused by radiation,” he adds.
“The deaths I witnessed after the explosion were horrible. I think even during war time, nuclear weapons should not be used and must be banned forever,” the survivor says.
About 140,000 people died in Hiroshima and 70,000 people died in Nagasaki from August to December 1945, according to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.
Despite all the hardship, Tanaka was determined to resume his study. “I had to work for five years to save up money for my university studies. I managed to be admitted to a university and my major was physics,” he says.
He began reading more about social science when he was back in school. “The terrible condition that we suffered made me think, me and my family did not do anything wrong, why we were so unfortunate. I then realised that I must do something to push for changes,” he says.
The devastating experience paved the way for Tanaka to embark on his lifetime career of pushing for peace, while he worked as an academic at the university.
“I was quite healthy at that time. I also had a job with a stable income. So I have the capacity to help other atomic bomb survivors,” Tanaka says.
The Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, also known as Nihon Hidankyo, was founded in 1956. Tanaka offered help to the organization in Miyagi Prefecture. Later, he was invited to become a member of the organization.
“My duty was to understand the situation of the survivors in different places and help them. I also led atomic bomb survivors to testify at the United Nations, and held an atomic bomb exhibition at the UN every five years,” he shares.
“I believe all these efforts led to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in 2017, and we were at last awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2024,” he adds.
Tanaka stresses maintaining peace requires dialogue and cooperation between different countries: “I hope everyone will talk more about peace rather than war – how to maintain peace and create peace, rather than discussing possible wars or what to do when war happens.”
Edited by Suan Yeon & Daniel Paek
Sub-edited by Erica Hwang
