Hiroshima Hibakusha Group Head Mimaki Steps Down

Hiroshima, May 30 (Jiji Press)–The Hiroshima Prefectural Confederation of A-bomb Sufferers Organization on Saturday decided the resignation of its head, Toshiyuki Mimaki, 84, at a general meeting to mark the 70th anniversary of its founding. Hiroshi Harada, 86, deputy leader of the group of hibakusha atomic bomb survivors and former head of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, will succeed Mimaki. Mimaki will assume the position of adviser at the Hiroshima organization while continuing to serve as co-chair of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, or Nihon Hidankyo, the 2024 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. “I will step down because of poor health,” Mimaki said at the meeting, held in the western Japan city of Hiroshima, which was flattened by a U.S. atomic bomb on Aug. 6, 1945, in the closing days of World War II. “I was glad to have been able to meet with many people.” he added. “I’m relieved,” he told reporters after the meeting, “I don’t think that I have done everything I should, but health is most important.” Mimaki was exposed to radiation from the U.S. atomic bomb at the age of 3 when he entered the city after the nuclear attack. He became head of the Hiroshima hibakusha group in 2021 following the death of his predecessor, Sunao Tsuboi. Mimaki attended the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony for Nihon Hidankyo, held in Oslo on December 2024. Harada was exposed to radiation at Hiroshima Station, about 2 kilometers from ground zero, when he was 6 years old. As an employee of the Hiroshima city government, he was in charge of administration related to peace promotion. During his tenure as head of the museum between 1993 and 1997, Harada engaged in a project marking 50 years since the atomic bombing. With the average age of the atomic bomb survivors exceeding 86, Harada said: “It would be very difficult for a hibakusha to succeed me (as the next leader of the Hiroshima organization). We must hand over the baton to the next generation.” After the general meeting, a gathering to look back at the past 70 years was held. Shizuko Abe, 99, who built the foundation of atomic bomb survivors’ activities, said in a video message, “I would like people to make a much stronger appeal to abolish nuclear weapons to the world.” The Hiroshima hibakusha group was formed in 1956 to demand government support for victims and the abolition of nuclear weapons. The number of its members stood at 3,200 as of July 2024, only about one-10th of the peak level of some 33,000 in the 1980s. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]