Iranian ambassador visits east Japan atomic bomb museum, hears hibakusha testimonies

The Mainichi

27-07-2025

TOKYO -- Against a backdrop of heightened tensions between Iran and the United States with Israel over the former's nuclear facilities, Iran's Ambassador to Japan Peyman Saadat visited the Hachioji Peace and Atomic Bomb Museum in the Tokyo suburban city of Hachioji July 2, where he spoke with survivors of the August 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, viewed museum exhibits and shared his reflections.
The museum, a rare facility outside of Japan's atomic-bombed cities, preserves and displays material related to nuclear bombings and is operated through the efforts of volunteers and public donations.
Kozo Nagata, professor emeritus at Musashi University, a second-generation atomic bomb survivor and author of "Genbaku to haiku" (Atomic bombs and haiku), facilitated Saadat's request to visit through connections with museum staff. The diplomat's visit came amid ongoing international efforts for a diplomatic solution following the June attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities by Israeli and U.S. forces.
Among those he met were Koji Ueda, 83, a "hibakusha" atomic bomb survivor now living in Hachioji, and Ken Nagamachi, 63, a second-generation survivor and son of the late Toshiteru Nagamachi, a former newspaper reporter and major donor to the museum.
Ueda explained that after being evacuated, he returned with his mother and others to their home close to Hiroshima's ground zero, where he was exposed to the bomb's radiation. He recounted, "I heard from my mother and other survivors that there were people whose eyeballs popped out from the intense blast and had to cover them with their hands as they walked," adding, "There are survivors who continue to struggle emotionally as many had to shake off the hands of others clinging to their feet while fleeing toward the river and managed to survive."
The group also discussed the preserved uniform and bloodstained shirt of Takeo Toshima, a first-year student at the former Hiroshima Second Middle School, who suffered the blast where students had been mobilized near the hypocenter on Aug. 6, 1945, and died the following day.
Ken Nagamachi, Toshima's nephew, shared stories based on memories from his mother, Toshima's younger sister, saying, "My grandmother left her house about 7 kilometers away from the hypocenter and miraculously took Takeo, with his whole body severely burned, his face swollen and blinded, home. She cut off his shirt, which had fused to his skin, with scissors. After finishing singing the national anthem in his grandmother's arms, Takeo soon died. She treasured his school uniform, determined to convey the tragedy of the atomic bomb."
Saadat commented, "I have long felt the need to meet hibakusha to learn more about the scourge of nuclear weapons. Seeing this uniform was a completely new experience. Every ambassador stationed in Tokyo, no matter from what country, should come to this museum to meet the hibakusha and see the uniform firsthand."
(Japanese original by Megumi Nokura, Hachioji Bureau)