05/04/2026
Join us on Monday May 4.
Hear their stories at Cedar Street Community Center, 15 Cedar Street, Bridgewater on Monday, May 4, 4:15-5:45 pm. All are welcome.
At a moment when nuclear weapons andthe threat of nuclear war have returned to the world’s center stage, Massachusetts peace organizations and disarmament advocates will be hosting Japanese atomic bomb survivors (Hibakusha) at BSU on May 4.
Hiroshi Kanamoto and Yoshinori, Ohmura, leading members of Nihon Hidankyo, which received the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize will be joined by Yayoi Tsuchida, the Assistant General Secretary of the Japan Council against A- & H- Bombs, for events in Cambridge, Bridgewater State University, and Worcester. Their visit will follow their participation in the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference at the United Nations in New York.
Hiroshi Kanamoto, 80, is a Hiroshima A-bomb survivor and representative director of the Japan Federation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organization (Nihon Hidankyo). He was 9 months old when the U.S. dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. He was being carried on the back of his 15-year-old sister, Taeko. The blast buried him under debris, leaving him barely breathing. He was later revived by a man who, decades later, Mr. Kanamoto learned was his father, who soon thereafter as a result of the A-bombing. Mr. Kanamoto has given testimonies in Japan and internationally, including at the UN in New York, where he warned that the “nuclear taboo” is “beginning to shake” and that the world is in a “very dangerous” state.
Yoshinori Ohmura is a leading second-generation A-bomb survivor. These are children of people directly affected by the U.S. atomic bombings, some of whom have suffered genetic damages and live with fears of increased vulnerability to cancers and other radiation diseases. Many fear identifying themselves as second-generation hibakusha for fear of discrimination and prejudice. It is estimated that there are between 300,000 and 500,000 second generation Hibakusha.
Yayoi Tsuchida is the Assistant Secretary General of the Japan Council against A- & H-Bombs. She has coordinated arrangements for a 180-member delegation of Japanese and South Korean Hibakusha to the NPT Review Conference, spoken in side events there, and plays a leading role in organizing the annual August World Conference against A-and H-Bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The three Hibakusha will share with students and faculty their experiences and positions about nuclear weapons in the Heritage Room (add time). Community members, students and faculty are invited to a presentation and reception at (add place) from 400-530 pm.
The visit is organized by the Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security, Massachusetts Peace Action, Rotarians for a Nuclear Weapons Free World, the Bridgewater International City of Peace Council, and the Center for Nonviolent Solutions.
