Heritage of the Atomic-Bomb Experience: What needs to be conveyed？

Since the Atomic-bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the A-Bomb Survivors (hibakusha) have struggled through a myriad of trials and tribulations beyond our imagination. Overcoming their anger and animosity, they have chosen to shoulder the responsibility o f a dvocating f or a nuclear-free world, germinating a worldwide movement in the pursuit of universal peace. Their population, however, is fast declining, and the urgency of preserving and passing on the hibakushas’ Atomic-bomb Experience has been keenly felt in recent decades. Yet no holistic discussion has taken place as to what we can inherit and what we should pass on to future generations as the Atomicbomb Experience. This empirical study first examines the annual Peace Declarations from 1947 to 2017 to determine when the local government of Hiroshima began to raise this issue. Second, using a large database of nationwide hibakusha surveys, their authentic discourse is extensively analyzed to determine what comprises the A-bomb damage that forms the backbone of the A-bomb Experience. Based on the outcome of quantitative and qualitative analysis, four points are discussed: which aspects of the heritage of the hibakushas’ first-hand experience we should grasp, what we must convey to the next generation, what we must do now to ensure the inheritance and, lastly, drawing on examples from the ongoing initiatives of the Hiroshima’s local government and universities, the possibility of passing on the A-bomb experience.