Hiroshima survivor remembers atomic bomb attack on 78th anniversary

Satoshi Tanaka was a baby living with his family on the outskirts of Hiroshima when the world’s first atomic bomb was dropped on August 6, 1945. By the end of the year, the nuclear weapon had killed an estimated 140,000 people living in the city. Among the dead were nearly all of Tanaka’s maternal family.

Like many other survivors, the 78-year-old grandfather has suffered long-term health problems due to radiation exposure.

He has also endured the social stigma that led many survivors to hide their scars. “Once I was with my friends at a university’s public bath in Tokyo. One of them asked me, ‘Are you sure you’re not contagious?’ I was speechless,” Tanaka said.

As the number of survivors dwindle, Tanaka feels a responsibility to speak out against the use of nuclear weapons. “We have the responsibility of not making the same mistakes. I’ll continue to tell my story even if I’m the last to do so.”