A-bomb survivor from Nagasaki shares his account at NPT conference
May 10, 2010
by Yumi Kanazaki and Kohei Okata, dispatched from New York
"Please don't look away," said Sumiteru Taniguchi, 81, of Nagasaki, his voice forceful. At that moment the room was completely silent. On May 7, at the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, other figures followed Mr. Taniguchi, including Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba, and made earnest pleas. "Nuclear abolition must be realized while the A-bomb survivors are still living," said the mayor.
About 300 people, including state delegates and U.N. officials, gathered to hear a series of speeches made by NGO representatives. Mr. Taniguchi lifted a photo of himself, taken in the aftermath of the atomic bombing. The photo shows Mr. Taniguchi's back, burned severely, exposing his red flesh. "I'm not a guinea pig," he said. "This is not a freak show. But please study the photo closely without looking away."
Mr. Taniguchi was exposed to the atomic bombing of Nagasaki roughly 1.8 kilometers from the bomb's hypocenter. He was hospitalized for three years and seven months, and was confined to lying on his stomach the entire time. Maggots chewed in his wounds, causing unbearable pain. "Kill me!" he would cry out.
The audience listened keenly to his account and some seemed tearful. Mr. Taniguchi concluded his speech by saying, "I wish to convey our voices for abolishing nuclear weapons from the world so that we will be the last hibakusha." After his 13-minute address, the people in the audience stood, one after another, and offered an ovation that lasted nearly a minute.
After Mr. Taniguchi's account, Mayor Akiba made a passionate appeal and stated, "By joining hands, we can eliminate nuclear weapons." Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue concluded the series of speeches with a stern question: "Do the nuclear weapon states truly understand the horror of nuclear weapons?"
Christoph Wieland, Councellor of the Permanent Mission of Austria to the United Nations, commented after hearing the appeals from the A-bombed cities: "I found the speeches very moving. They reaffirmed for me that these terrible weapons must be abolished."
Libran Cabactulan, the president of the review conference, said, "The appeals made by A-bomb survivors provide a powerful message. I hope the government representatives will reflect on Mr. Taniguchi's words as they make their decisions."
(Originally published on May 9, 2010)
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"Please don't look away," said Sumiteru Taniguchi, 81, of Nagasaki, his voice forceful. At that moment the room was completely silent. On May 7, at the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, other figures followed Mr. Taniguchi, including Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba, and made earnest pleas. "Nuclear abolition must be realized while the A-bomb survivors are still living," said the mayor.
About 300 people, including state delegates and U.N. officials, gathered to hear a series of speeches made by NGO representatives. Mr. Taniguchi lifted a photo of himself, taken in the aftermath of the atomic bombing. The photo shows Mr. Taniguchi's back, burned severely, exposing his red flesh. "I'm not a guinea pig," he said. "This is not a freak show. But please study the photo closely without looking away."
Mr. Taniguchi was exposed to the atomic bombing of Nagasaki roughly 1.8 kilometers from the bomb's hypocenter. He was hospitalized for three years and seven months, and was confined to lying on his stomach the entire time. Maggots chewed in his wounds, causing unbearable pain. "Kill me!" he would cry out.
The audience listened keenly to his account and some seemed tearful. Mr. Taniguchi concluded his speech by saying, "I wish to convey our voices for abolishing nuclear weapons from the world so that we will be the last hibakusha." After his 13-minute address, the people in the audience stood, one after another, and offered an ovation that lasted nearly a minute.
After Mr. Taniguchi's account, Mayor Akiba made a passionate appeal and stated, "By joining hands, we can eliminate nuclear weapons." Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue concluded the series of speeches with a stern question: "Do the nuclear weapon states truly understand the horror of nuclear weapons?"
Christoph Wieland, Councellor of the Permanent Mission of Austria to the United Nations, commented after hearing the appeals from the A-bombed cities: "I found the speeches very moving. They reaffirmed for me that these terrible weapons must be abolished."
Libran Cabactulan, the president of the review conference, said, "The appeals made by A-bomb survivors provide a powerful message. I hope the government representatives will reflect on Mr. Taniguchi's words as they make their decisions."
(Originally published on May 9, 2010)
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Visitors to A-bomb exhibition in New York are struck speechless (May 7, 2010))
