After the bombs
Hibakusha is the word used to designate the victims of the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan by the United States. Many survivors witnessed the horrific consequences of the attacks, which shared their stories of the fateful day with the public. Some people saw the mushroom cloud in the air and some were trapped. Many people ended up with ragged or almost bare clothing, and were burned, swollen and blackened. They appeared as ghostly figures whose eyes were closed or some of whose eyes were suspended. The wounded in this attack had skin hanging like ribbons from their bones, and some even begged for water. It has been reported that nearly 140, 000 were killed in Hiroshima and almost 70,000 were reported in Nagasaki. People near the epicenter were vaporized into the air due to the extremely hot temperatures resulting from the explosions.
Health problems
Survivors of the explosion were faced with many health problems due to radiation poisoning such as prodromal syndrome, a kind of mental illness. The death of the bone marrow was caused by the level of radiation between 2 and 10 Gray (joules of radiation per kilogram of material) and, in this case, the production of white blood cells and red blood cells is interrupted due to the loss of blood. cells. As a result, the loss of platelets can cause fatal hemorrhage and white blood cells, a cause of infections, and a decrease in blood cells can cause anemia. With the loss of water and electrolytes from the body, damage is caused to the epithelial cells and, if combined with damage to the bone marrow, they prove to be fatal.
Discrimination
Due to the ignorance of people with radiation sickness, the Hibakusha people had to face discrimination from the general public, especially in the areas of work or marriage. By monitoring the statistics, the increase in birth defects or any other type of malformation has decreased, but people are even less aware. People do not marry the women of Hiroshima and Nagasaki because they think they are genetically damaged and fear that their children will become deformed.
The double survivors of Niju Hibakusha
The Niju Hibakusha are the double survivors of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In 2009, the Japanese government recently recognized Tsutomu Yamaguchi’s Niju Hibakusha (photo) because, at the time of the bombing, it was within 3 kilometers of the attack and had been seriously injured in Hiroshima. in his hometown of Nagasaki. He died shortly after receiving this recognition. In short, around 165, we thought we had survived the two explosions to obtain the nickname of Niju Hibakusha.
Official recognition
The government officially recognized these people as Hibakusha who were a few kilometers from the hypocenter and exposed to radiation due to fallout. These included those who were 2 km from the hypocenter (zero point) during 2 weeks, or the unborn babies who were transported in the womb at that time. These people received special allowances from the government, and there were many Korean survivors, Japanese Americans, and many other foreign survivors.