Date: 2019. Location: Japan
- Interviewee is translated.
Shimasaki:
In your testimony it said you were in junior college at the time of the atomic bombing. Can you please go over where you were and what you was doing when it happened?
Miyake:
I was in a streetcar and so all of a sudden the flash is coming up, up from top of my head and I thought that it was short circuit of electricity. For fear of an electric shock I jumped off from the streetcar. Just before I got to the ground, I was beaten up to the ground by a blast.
I thought that it is a type of bombing and not anything about, we don’t know, anything about A-bomb, just normal- ordinary bombing. Direct bombing. So he was afraid that he might be dead, due to the bombing.
Shimasaki:
Immediately after the bombing, what physical consequences did he suffer, if any?
Miyake:
Of course, when I jumped out from the streetcar it was… not major injury, about some wounds on the foot and also the finger here.
Shimasaki:
[Looking] The outside of the finger, on that point.
Miyake:
And he added that usually that’s kind, it’s not severe, its minor, however, when it is a normal wound then the wound would be recovered quite rapidly but it takes a week or so on the legs and on the fingers wounds, injuries, that up until the 10 years ago from now it is still suffering. Its small, small injuries.
Shimasaki:
Ok, so the injuries lasted a very long time. Going on from that, what were the longer-term impacts that you have faced since the bombing?
There are lots of passengers in the car but I am smaller than the usual person, so I was just buried [laughs]. The direct flash, I mean, I was escaped on the other persons height that is one reason for the blast, I mean the whole lightening of the ray damage I escaped- for that reason. And for the shockwave is concerned, I jumped already, I jumped from streetcar to the street so that most passengers got on the tram, and staggered, hit object, ray. And had substantial burns on the bodies and second, as far as the shockwave concerned, I just, I am very, very smart to act, or quick to act. I just jumped out first different from the elderly passengers, staying in the tramcars. The glasses of the tram hits the passenger still getting on the trams and he said, I don’t know why but I was lucky that there is no severe damage on the bombing, that most of the other passengers has severe impact.
Shimasaki:
In the years since, have you had any of the effects associated with radiation from exposure?
Miyake:
I forgot to mention that. I don’t have any direct effect of the radiation and also, I don’t know whether it is linked or not but I had diarrhoea for years after the bombing, but it may be an after-effect of the radiation…
Shimasaki:
Not sure. Being a teenager at the time, did the bomb have an effect on your social interactions in daily life as well?
Miyake:
Well, as you already know, that there were severe damage in Hiroshima and most of the houses were destroyed and burned and many victims suffered from the severe burns or broken legs, injuries, so on so forth, and I saw inferno on the Earth in Hiroshima. I did not want to be reminded of life in Hiroshima… After the A-bombing I just could not stay in Hiroshima any longer, however Hiroshima is my hometown where I was born, but after graduation of the junior college I just entered the University of Tokyo here and so moved to Tokyo from Hiroshima and I didn’t talk anything about my experience in Hiroshima.
Shimasaki
Ok.
Miyake:
Well, so that he just tried to forget the happenings in Hiroshima when I was a teen and however, about 1982 or so, when I was 53 years old or so, one woman who have worked for an A-bomb survivor group visited me. She invited me to join an A-bomb survivor group (named Toyukai), whose members were bombed either in Hiroshima or Nagasaki and now lives in Tokyo) and I joined Toyukai too. I knew that many, many person were suffering from the physical and also the mental agonies and I felt so sorry that I didn’t work for the movement, the Hibakusha movement and non-nuclear weapons world and I just had some kind of a guilty complex on that yeah, and I started to be active as one of the sufferers who shared the same experience with them.
Translator:
Aside from what he told, I just tell you that he is a very famous engineer, civil engineer and probably if he continued to work in that field he would be of course a professor or key person in that field however, what he said is he felt some kind of apology or sorry, bad feeling on what he did during the 40 years, maybe, 40 years, for the period, working period of the company, but in 1982, he said he is still on the company and also, he did start Hibakusha movement from that, for about he said, 40 years from that time, and he will continue to do the same thing until he stop breathing.
Shimasaki:
The first time he came across other Hibakusha, was that in his 50s that they actually started to talk about it, or before that had he also met people?
Miyake:
Ah well, first of all, after the bombing… and jumped out and probably, I wrote in testimony, I just asked the soldier who came to rescue to take my mother [Shimasaki- away?] yeah. But up until that time my memory is clear, but after that moment I have entirely blank, on that day. And the many Hibakushas that I met- that he had two points; one is I saw the damage of the bombing right after the actual bombing. I knows that Hiroshima is starts to get fires and so and forth but during the blank period of my memory, Hiroshima is totally turned, changed- that was explained by many Hibakusha- that one point, and I impress the most to you at least for me too. Before my memory has gone, I just sent my mother to the solider to take care of and he tried to go to the riverside to wash my face, dirt and the dust, but I noticed that lots of corpse floating on the rivers- that is one point. So that I was informed about the big change of the Hiroshima during the blank memory. The second is… how terrible experience that the sufferers, I mean the victims of the A-bomb, was received from two points of view: one is physical and two is just as I said, that troubles or matters of mental or life planning financially. So the, most, many, many Hibakusha here living in Tokyo has also suffered such damage- that what he heard from the person of Toyukai is that, initiate my motive to start to tell the experience.
I have a meeting with Toyukai people that after the bombing, that they suffered two points; one is physical damage, that is due to the radiations. There of course are lots of diseases like cancer but also the energy of, toward the working was substantially decreased and we call it bura bura disease (due to radiation you feel to do nothing, hanging out, or idle life) even company employees do not or cannot physically work…
Shimasaki:
So, the bomb impacted their ability to work as well?
Miyake:
Their employers made some kind of, so to speak, discrimination I would say. But anyway, one is a physical reason, two is the mental reason- I picked up the examples that fortunately my mother was rescued from the debris of the houses but there are lots of person who just cannot, could not rescue their wounded relatives; I mean parents, friends, partners- just buried in the debris and the fire is coming then the person who just alive could not help the other people and had to discard any feeling of the rescue and that makes the victim, I mean the victim means, living, alive people has some kind of a guilty complex. My most loved people and also as you know, that especially for ladies, the ladies who were ready to work to get married was refused by the families- the partner’s family just for the reason of Hibakusha. So that the rumour good or bad, any way it was prevailing, you know the press code? So that due to the press code that the US or Allies has published in Japan for 7 years, that accelerate some kind of a rumour good or bad and overvalue, overestimated or underestimated but especially female has a fear of abnormality of the new-born baby. So, such two physical and mental sufferings existed.
Shimasaki:
Intergenerational and concerns about babies. Can you speak more around that?
Miyake:
All the fathers or wives or mothers, the couples who get married has always have the same feeling that they wished healthy baby was born. Of course, we, they did not speak out loudly but at this, in his heart wishing that healthy birth and I have two sons and right now has grandchild so in my case, I was lucky. Just lucky.
Shimasaki:
Regarding the birth concerns, how did people hear about them if they weren’t speaking out about it? How did you know that was something that was happening?
Miyake:
Well in my case, I talked. I don’t know exact date or the years but when both of my sons grew up, I talked the details of my hopes and wishes. And, my elder son understand completely and my elder son supported my activity ever since then but second son lives outside Tokyo so that he feels that he can understand but for make sure that his last coming visit to Hiroshima on August 6th this year with sons and grandsons.
About 10 years ago [translator- now he is 90 but he said, about 80 years age that his second son were going to get married, new wife, and about that period he had a chance to make a kind of testimony on the tv and that tv programme is favourite, was favourite by the family of the expected wife and he was so ambitious… effect would be give to the families, but anyhow the second son was get married and now he, both of them, leading a quite happy life.]
Shimasaki:
That is really good. After the bomb was there any sort of social support or compensation that victims were given?
Miyake:
After the 10 years of the bombing the press code on other rumours makes the Hibakushas damage disclosed from the social society … Any compensation or any behaviour given from the government was nothing.
That some of the people who is very suffered from the poverty due to the lack of the [inaudible] or the actual physical reason and also the literally physical impact of physically worse person, that maybe limited number of the Hibakusha leaders tried to appeal to the government direct and of course I joined at the age of 50s but my main concern is the Hibakusha activity, movement, to give out some kind of a compensation and thanks to that most of the result came from the strenuous efforts from the, most of the leaders who are late was dead already, but such energetic Hibakusha leaders had just brought the, it is not enough, but still gives a compensation from.
Shimasaki:
Yes. The last area I would like to talk about is just what your view is on nuclear testing and weapons. What would you like to see in the future?
Miyake:
Of course, 9 countries has nuclear power countries and I hope that the nuclear abolition is achieved for that process that as you know, nuclear ban treaty was adopted and also is trying to get ratifications to enrol. Most of the countries, 122 countries out of 193 agreed to adopt the agreement… That weapons are quite a certain percentage of the countries thinks that if nuclear powers will protect that country from the social security point of view, but I do not believe because it is a real evil, evil weapons and I wish that… it will take more time so that I cannot see the completion of that nuclear abolishment but I still hope and try to work the nuclear power countries to agree nuclear free countries.
Shimasaki:
Agree to the signing of the treaty? [he nods]. Do you have any final remarks or questions?
Miyake:
I know that your research is concerning, to compare with the damage of the Christmas Island English nuclear testing, just on Christmas Island and damage of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I do not know much about Christmas nuclear test but I basically took to the Bikini Marshall Island and, I also went to the French test area of Tahiti so I know a certain part of the damage of each part island but I don’t know about detail but I believe there is a same damage and probably a different damage too. Your research on comparing the damage of the nuclear test in Christmas Island with that of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, must be very instructive and challenging.
Other than the usage of A-bomb, I mean the nuclear reaction in the field of the war, that means Nagasaki and Hiroshima, but we have this similar accident caused by the nuclear power generator in Fukushima and in that case I always speak about Fukushima’s accident when I talk to the, test, I made a testimony and I pointed out similar effect/ damage and different effects. So, I thought that same difference would be on the nuclear test too.
Shimasaki:
Yes, it is similar what I am finding at the moment- that there are lots of similarities and differences between the two and I think quite a lot of it comes down to the locality of the people to the bomb and what sort of protection they had and other factors.
Miyake:
He added, that as he repeated that there were, the attitude of the government to disclose the damage as smaller it’s same as Hiroshima and Nagasaki and also nuclear power generation is to generate electricity, and nuclear testing is to know the effects of nuclear weapons…
Translator:
He added one point and that is effect of the radiation. Therefore, the Hiroshima and Nagasaki is much smaller than the, I mean the radiation in generating by the nuclear power generation has substantial effect on the area or the human bodies… Why the bomb, nuclear weapon is concerned, actually they have a combination of ray, shockwave and radiation and so that three combination means big impact on the death of persons and radiation for the general nuclear power generation, radiation is unexpected and it is accident, and the effect of the radiation was prevailing the effect of the radiation is far much bigger than [inaudible word] that is what he would like to add as the last remarks.
Shimasaki:
Thank you very much for making the time to meet with me.