Shigeaki Mori, Hiroshima Hibakusha Hugged by Obama, Dies at 88

Hiroshima, March 17 (Jiji Press)–Shigeaki Mori, the hibakusha survivor of the August 1945 U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima who was embraced by former U.S. President Barack Obama, died at a hospital in the western Japan city Saturday. He was 88. Scenes of Mori, a historian, and Obama hugging in May 2016, during Obama’s visit to Hiroshima as the first sitting U.S. president, were reported by many media outlets around the world. Mori experienced the atomic bombing at a point some 2.5 kilometers from ground zero when he was 8. He had attended an elementary school where all of the children in the school building were killed, but he survived because he had transferred to another school just before the bombing. He started research on U.S. prisoners of war killed by the atomic bombing after the end of World War II, having learned that the body of a U.S. soldier was found within the premises of the school he attended before the transfer. While working as a company employee, Mori collected materials and conducted interviews. He identified 12 U.S. prisoners of war who perished in the bombing. He found bereaved family members of the deceased U.S. soldiers, believing that family members would want to know about their last moments. Mori registered the names and photographs of the U.S. victims with the Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims. In a speech during his Hiroshima visit, Obama mentioned Mori as “the man who sought out families of Americans killed here, because he believed their loss was equal to his own.” Mori shed tears when he was hugged by Obama. In May 2018, he fulfilled his long-held wish to visit the United States. He joined screenings of a documentary film about him at the U.N. headquarters in New York. Mori also attended a memorial ceremony for U.S. soldiers and met with bereaved family members. He continued his research for many years. “I’ve dedicated my whole life to this, hoping to contribute even a little to peace, not to make money or seek publicity,” he said. “That’s because I am hibakusha.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]