March 11, 2023

The Hiroshima City Board of Education has decided that in addition to “Barefoot Gen”, the city’s peace education program will delete information on a Japanese tuna fishing boat, Daigo Fukuryu Maru (Lucky Dragon No.5), which was exposed to radiation fallout from the 1954 U.S. H-bomb test explosion in Bikini Atoll.

Nine organizations in Hiroshima City, including the Hiroshima Prefectural Council against A and H Bombs (Hiroshima Gensuikyo), on March 10 made representations to the education commission, submitting a written request calling for the decision to be retracted.

The nine organizations' document pointed out that the Daigo Fukuryu Maru tragedy has great symbolic significance as it clearly demonstrates that with the use of nuclear weapons, the human body will be affected not only by the heat rays and blast as evidenced in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but also by internal radiation exposure.

In the representations, Hiroshima Gensuikyo Secretary General Yoshida Fumikazu said that the term “Daigo Fukuryu Maru” represents a cause-and-effect link between nuclear arms and health impacts from internal exposure to radiation and thus the decision should be revised.

Paste related article:
> Ignoring Hibakusha's call, Hiroshima City will exclude 'Barefoot Gen' from peace study materials [February 22, 2023]