Other

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

The Documentary

Documentaries

Factual

The Documentary Podcast

Investigating global developments, issues and affairs.

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service

BBC World Service News Internet

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

BBC World Service East Asia

The Documentary: Hiroshima successors

Hiroshima successors

10/08/2021 GMT

BBC World Service - The Documentary, Hiroshima successors

As memories of the atomic bomb fade, an unusual practice keeps survivors’ stories alive

As memories of the atomic bomb fade, an unusual practice keeps survivors’ stories alive.

When photographer Haruka Sakaguchi set out to Hiroshima document atomic bomb survivors' stories, she discovered they were far more difficult to find than she expected. Stigmatisation and survivor’s guilt discourage many from disclosing their past, and with dwindling survivors left to tell their story, memories of the atomic bomb are fading. 

But a new generation has developed an unusual method of keeping those memories alive. Denshosha are the designated guardians of survivors’ memories. They act as storytellers, working with survivors to record their story and pass it down to future generations, embodying the survivor in a deeply personal way, so they do not permanently disappear. 

To understand the importance of remembering, Haruka speaks with Hiroshima survivor Setsuko Thurlow and Nagasaki survivor Yasuaki Yamashita, hearing what happened that day and how it stayed with them, along with Keiko Okinishi, a denshosha who now passes on her mother’s story - despite it being a secret for much of her life.

(Photo: Setsuko Thurlow, of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), and survivor of the nuclear attack on Hiroshima, poses with medal of Nobel Prize. Credit: David Benito/Getty Images)

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The Documentary

Hiroshima successors

Genres

Brand

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

About BBC World Service