Remember Bikini Tragedy: 'Lucky Dragon' exhibition hall refurbished
With the 50th anniversary of the Bikini Tragedy approaching, a ceremony was held on February 14 to open the refurbished Daigo Fukuryu Maru (Lucky Dragon #5) Exhibition Hall in Tokyo.
Kawasaki Shoichiro, president of the Daigo Fukuryu Maru Foundation Inc., gave the opening address. He said "As the world faces difficulty putting a brake on attempts to use nuclear weapons, it is important to remember the Bikini Tragedy 50 years ago."
Amatlain Kabua, Republic of the Marshall Islands ambassador to Japan, said, "I will work together with you to not allow the same tragedy to be repeated."
Akiba Tadayoshi (Hiroshima Mayor), Ito Iccho (Nagasaki Mayor), Tomoto Takao (mayor of Yaizu City, home to the Daigo Fukuryu Maru), and Yoshinaga Sayuri (actress, also known as a narrator of the A-bombs poets) sent messages to the event.
On March 1, 1954, the Daigo Fukuryu Maru was exposed to radiation from a U.S. hydrogen bomb test explosion at Bikini Atoll in the South Pacific. Showered with radioactive fallout, all 23 crewmembers suffered from acute radiation syndrome. Six months later, crewmember Kuboyama Aikichi died.
The Daigo Fukuryu Maru had once been in danger of scrapped and disposed in Tokyo Bay. Akahata was the first to report about this danger, giving rise to calls throughout country for the Daigo Fukuryu Maru to be preserved.
The Daigo Fukuryu Maru Foundation Inc. is planning a variety of events marking the 50th anniversary of the Bikini Tragedy. For more information, call 03-3521-8494 (or +81-3-3521-8494 from outside of Japan). (end)
