“The atomic bomb is incomparable to other weapons. It not only involves heat and a deadly explosion, but also a lasting radiation that kills indiscriminately, en masse. It is an inhumane weapon that contaminates our soil and destroys our environment. Humanity must fight for the abolition of all nuclear weapons.

Nuclear weapons are the sheer manifestation of evil.

We must never create atomic bomb victims like myself, ever again.

No nukes. Nuclear abolition is the origin of peace.”

“As my name suggests, I am of Korean heritage. Up until five years ago, my name was Egawa, a Japanese name. It took me 84 years to use my Korean name publicly. I felt that this was necessary because I am one of few remaining non-Japanese hibakusha survivors, and our stories need to be told.

My father immigrated to Japan because he could no longer sustain a life in Korea amidst the Japanese occupation. Japanese officers came to his village regularly and seized his crops and livestock. Luckily, my father did not need a passport to enter Japan, as he was from a dominion country. He established a sumiyaki (charcoal making) business there and moved my mother and older sister out to Japan five years later. In 1928, I was born in Shimane Pref., Japan.

My father never spoke to us about our homeland, or why we moved to Hiroshima afterwards. We were raised as Japanese, spoke Japanese, and worked as Japanese laborers. In fact, I never told my parents where my workplace was for fear that they would visit and my cover would be up.

In 1945, I was exposed to the atomic bomb on my way to work and suffered debilitating burns. I was reunited with my parents a day later, as they had been out looking for me even though they had no idea where I worked. My older sister, who had also been on her way to work, remains missing to this day.

After the bombing, my family headed to Shimonoseki to return to Korea. At the very last minute, my mother refused to go. ‘No home, no temple,’ she said. After nearly three decades, we had no one or place to return to in Korea. We decided to stay in Japan.

In hindsight, this momentous decision was how we avoided becoming victims of the Korean War. Still, I sometimes think about what life would have been like if we had returned to Korea back then.”