The End of Childhood and the Legacy of Hiroshima
Keiko Ogura was just eight years old when she witnessed a scene that would forever change her life. She saw people with their skin peeling off, faces swollen beyond recognition, stumbling through a city in flames. For Ogura, the morning of 6 August 1945 marked the end of her childhood. She recalls the moment the bomb fell: Hiroshima flattened in an instant, as if a giant had stomped the city into the ground. Buildings were crushed, and fires broke out everywhere. That night, Hiroshima burned, and the entire city kept burning through the night.
Ogura’s family had moved a year earlier to the far side of a small hill just outside the city centre — a decision made by her father to avoid air raids, which ultimately saved their lives. The hill stood between their home and the bomb’s hypocentre, shielding them from the full force of the blast.
In the days after the bombing, scenes of horror surrounded Ogura. Survivors had leapt into Hiroshima’s seven rivers to escape the fires, but many drowned or died from their injuries. She remembers the waterways choked with bodies — some drifting downstream, others washing back with the tide, missing limbs and swarmed by flies.
Mass cremations became part of daily life. In front of her home alone, her father cremated around 700 people. “Even children like me had to help carry bodies on straw mats,” she recalled in a video published by the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.
Nearly eight decades later, those memories remain vivid — etched with scenes of unbearable pain and incalculable loss. For Ogura, they are more than personal recollections. They are warnings. Warnings that the world must never allow itself to forget.
The Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima
Hiroshima Day, observed each year on 6 August, commemorates one of the most devastating moments in human history — the atomic bombing of Hiroshima by the United States in 1945, during the final days of World War Two. That morning, a US B-29 bomber named Enola Gay dropped a uranium-based atomic bomb, nicknamed “Little Boy,” which detonated about 600 metres above the city.
The explosion unleashed a ferocious blast, scorching heat, and lethal radiation, instantly killing 70,000 to 80,000 people. In the days and months that followed, tens of thousands more died from injuries and radiation sickness. The city was flattened, and survivors — known as Hibakusha — endured long-term health effects and unimaginable psychological trauma.
Three days later, on 9 August, the US dropped a second bomb, “Fat Man,” over Nagasaki. These bombings marked the first and only use of nuclear weapons in war and led to Japan’s surrender on 15 August 1945, bringing World War Two to an end. The atomic bombings killed more than 210,000 people.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki stand as lasting reminders not only of the immense human tragedy that unfolded, but of the profound danger nuclear weapons pose to humanity in today’s fractured world. In the years since 1945, survivors, activists, and global leaders have repeatedly invoked the devastation as a stark plea for disarmament and a cautionary lesson for generations to come.
The Voices of Survivors
Last year, survivors of the bombings said that receiving the Nobel Peace Prize had renewed their determination to campaign for nuclear disarmament. Terumi Tanaka, who survived the atomic attack on Nagasaki, told the Associated Press at the time: “I felt like I needed to work even harder on what I had done so far.”
Tanaka, 93, spoke at a press conference in Tokyo last year following his return from Oslo, where he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of Nihon Hidankyo, the organisation of Japanese atomic bomb survivors. He added: “I believe it is important to focus on the next 10 years and strengthen the movement moving forward. I would like to lead a big movement of testimonials.”
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings — a poignant milestone for survivors and campaigners alike. Michiko Kodama, who survived the Hiroshima bombing, said: “We hibakusha (survivors) who saw the hell… within a decade won’t be around to tell the reality of the atomic bombing. I want to keep telling our stories as long as we live.”
Another survivor, Fumi Takeshita, 80, remembered: “I saw an extremely strong light coming in from the window. It was white, or shall I say yellow? So strong that I couldn’t keep my eyes open.” He also recalled hearing from his grandmother about the destruction in the Urakami area, where many people died.
A Growing Concern
Despite battling numerous health issues, 83-year-old survivor Kunihiko Iida has dedicated his retirement to sharing his story in the hope of advancing the cause of nuclear disarmament. Iida now volunteers as a guide at Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park, determined to raise awareness among foreign visitors, who he believes often lack a full understanding of the bombings.
As the hibakusha survivors grow older, their warnings also feel more urgent. As of 31 March 2025, Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare reported that there were only 99,130 people officially recognised as hibakusha. Their calls for a nuclear-free world have yet to be realised.
Instead, rising global tensions have brought back fears of a nuclear war. Recent developments include Russia deploying tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus and North Korea accelerating its nuclear programme. China is expanding its nuclear arsenal faster than any other country, while the United States and Russia continue to modernise their arsenals.
The Urgency of Disarmament
The SIPRI report noted that Russia and the USA together possess around 90 per cent of all nuclear weapons. The sizes of their respective military stockpiles seem to have stayed relatively stable in 2024, but both states are implementing extensive modernisation programmes that could increase the size and diversity of their arsenals in the future.
Tanaka of Nihon Hidankyo told the media: “There are 3,000 to 4,000 ready-to-use nuclear warheads that leaders can launch instantly. Accidental launches can also happen. That’s the world we all live in. If that happens, young people will lose their future. I want to tell young people to think about this.”
On 6 August, when the world holds events and talks of nuclear disarmament and a future free of atomic weapons, the question still looms: Have the powers that be deliberately made nuclear disarmament a distant dream in today’s world? Is the dream of a nuclear-free world further out of reach?
And in the process, are we beginning to forget the horrors that hibakusha like Keiko Ogura endured?