Hibakusha and families of U.S. indiscriminate air-raid victims jointly call for state compensation

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Hibakusha and families of U.S. indiscriminate air-raid victims jointly call for state compensation

Hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors) and families of victims of U.S. indiscriminate air-raids during WWII jointly held a rally and marched in demonstration in Tokyo on October 21, calling on the Japanese government to provide state compensation for their suffering. About 200 people took part in this action.

The government has paid no compensation to civilians and foreigners who suffered from the atomic bombings and air raids. Only survivors and bereaved families of service members and the military's civilian employees with Japanese nationality have received compensation from the state.

Tokyo Air Raid Bereaved Families Association Vice Chair Hoshino Hiroshi in the rally stressed the need to jointly make efforts to make known to the general public the realities of the bombings as well as the fact that the government has not yet provided civilians with compensation.

Yamamoto Hidenori, who heads the Tokyo plaintiffs of Hibakusha collective lawsuit demanding recognition of their illnesses as A-bomb related, said, "Let us defeat the notion that the people themselves have to endure the costs of the sufferings caused by the atomic bombs and air raids."
- Akahata, October 22, 2006