"We are also A-bomb victims. I hope the Japanese government will provide us with medical treatment even in Brazil," Shunji Mukai, 72, said at an international conference held by the Japan Council Against A and H Bombs (Gensuikyo) in Hiroshima.

Mukai was 15 and working at a military factory in Hiroshima when the United States dropped the bomb on the city on Aug. 6, 1945. His wounds, caused mainly by broken glass, made him bedridden for three years. He lost his parents in the attack.

He moved to Brazil in 1955 with his five brothers under the government's policy of countering rapid population growth by encouraging Japanese to move overseas with promises of land and jobs. But he and his brothers faced unexpectedly harsh labor conditions working in Brazilian agriculture, Mukai said.

He qualified to receive a health care allowance only for one month in June 1999 when he returned to Japan temporarily, but the payment has been suspended since he left the country. He sued the government over nonpayment of the allowances in July this year.

2We followed the national immigration policy, but the government is now ignoring us. I decided to file the lawsuit because I couldn't remain silent," Mukai said.