Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

For Hiroshima commemoration, advocates implore nuclear drawdown in Las Vegas

Nagasaki Atomic Bomb

AP

In this September 1945 file photo, a Japanese man pushes his loaded bicycle down a path that had been cleared of rubble after the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, on Aug. 9, 1945.

On Aug. 9, 1945, 16-year-old Sumiteru Taniguchi was riding his bike, delivering mail for the Nagasaki Post Office in Japan when an atomic bomb detonated about 1.5 miles away, killing more than 60,000 people.

Taniguchi was knocked off his bike, the mail flying all over the place. He was knocked unconscious, and when he awoke, he could not move. A stranger carried him to where other survivors were gathered, but when rescue crews came, they passed him over.

Three days later a rescue crew member found him and saw he was still alive, so they took him to the hospital, where he stayed for years. His back was burned, so he spent the next year and nine months lying on his stomach. After he was released, he still endured a lot of pain until he passed away in 2017, said Darrell Miho with the Japanese American Citizens League.

Taniguchi spent the rest of his life telling his story and urging governments to eliminate their use of nuclear weapons, Miho said at a commemoration of the bombings Tuesday at the National Atomic Testing Museum in Las Vegas.

The museum will host “Journey Through Japan'' 10:30 a.m. Saturday, a free event teaching and celebrating Japanese culture in honor of the 77th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The museum is also partnering with the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum on Aug. 18 from 6 to 8 p.m. for its third annual atomic bomb survivor testimonial, where a woman who was 12 years old when the bomb detonated in Hiroshima will share her story.

In 1945, the U.S. detonated two atomic bombs on Hiroshima on Aug. 6 and on Nagasaki on Aug. 9, killing an estimated 135,000 people in Hiroshima and 64,000 in Nagasaki, though an exact death toll is unknown.

“As we reflect on the weight of these tragedies, and honor the memory of those lost, we remain committed to realizing a world in which such tragedies are impossible,” said a teary-eyed Kathleen Blakely, honorary consul of Japan in Las Vegas, at the commemoration Tuesday. “Today is a solemn day for all Japanese people and myself included.

“This solemn commemoration also highlights how our nations, Japan and the United States, endured the horrors of war and have emerged with a shared commitment to a bright, peaceful future,” Blakely said.

Japan and its leaders are working toward a world without nuclear weapons, Blakely said. Earlier this month, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attended the review conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons at the United Nations headquarters in New York and stressed the importance of transparency with countries’ nuclear endeavors, Blakely said.

“As the only nation to experience the catastrophic consequences of wartime use of nuclear weapons,” Blakely said, “Japan strives to position itself as a bridge between all nuclear armed states. Japan is a peace-loving country and as a bridge between nations offers a shared vision of a world free of nuclear weapons.”

Miho said the U.S. should open its dialogue with countries like North Korea to assure them that it will not strike first and continue to discourage use of nuclear weapons.

“The U.S. and Russia have over 90% of nuclear weapons in the whole world,” Miho said. “And we can blow this world up many times over.”

Rep. Susie Lee, D-Nev., hosted the commemoration on Tuesday to discuss how the U.S. has worked to make amends with Japan, and to avoid a nuclear bombing in the future.

Lee highlighted her vote for legislation that would create a commission to study the creation of a National Museum of Asian Pacific American History and Culture, which would help educate the American public about the country’s history with nuclear war and issue that have affected the AAPI community.

She said the U.S. needs to continue to work with Russia to "denuclearize the planet" and to continue preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

“We can and must do everything to make sure such a horrific day never happens again,” Lee said. “Our strong relationship between the United States and Japan, I think it really is a testament for how we as leaders in humanity can repair and move forward. But we must never forget.”