An Examination of the Meaning of Atomic-Bomb Survivors’ Demands for State Compensation from the Japanese Government: Based on 2005 and 2009 Nihon Hidankyo Surveys

Even today, the institutionalisation of state compensation by the Japanese government for the Atomic-bomb damage remains one of the major goals of the Japan Confederation of A-and H-Bomb Sufferers Organisations, Nihon Hidankyo . Although the rationale for sustaining collective campaigns has been studied, there is limited knowledge about the meaning of individual hibakushas’ (Atomic-bomb survivors) demands for compensation by the Japanese state. Very little research has been done on this problem, especially after 1994, when the state finally enacted the Atomic-Bomb Survivors’ Support Law, which provides health, medical care, and welfare support for hibakusha. This study first provides an overview of hibakushas’ views on the need for the institutionalisation of state compensation. Second, using co-occurrence network analysis, this study examines the words that characterise the ways in which individual hibakusha frame their demands for compensation. The data used in this research are based on answers to open-ended questions collected in two nationwide Nihon Hidankyo surveys conducted in 2005 and 2009. The findings suggest that when advancing demands for state compensation, respondents refer to four main issues: the nature of the Atomic-bomb damage, responsibility for the damage, the need to prevent similar tragedies, and exigency to improve the existing support provisions to meet the needs of hibakusha.