Japanese mourn A-bomb victims: 'NO WAR ON IRAQ OR KOREA'

August 10, 2003

Fifty-eight years ago--on the morning of Aug. 6, 1945--a B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay, flew over the city of Hiroshima, Japan. At 8:15 a.m., it dropped the first atomic bomb, innocuously called "Little Boy," on a civilian population. Within seconds, the entire city was incinerated. Over 150,000 people--nearly half the population--were either dead or dying, many from radiation poisoning.

A-Bomb Dome in Hiroshima--after bombing: heavily damaged by blast. All occupants in the building perished

On Aug. 9, a second U.S. weapon of mass destruction--"Fat Man"--was dropped on Nagasaki, where another 150,000 people were killed or injured. People are still dying from the radioactivity.

Among the casualties were tens of thousands of Korean slaves--conscripted factory workers and "comfort women" for Japanese soldiers; countless numbers of people from China and Southeast Asian countries; and some U.S. prisoners of war. Even today the tens of thousands of Korean victims are mourned separately from the Japanese at monuments in both Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Separate monument for Korean victims in Hiroshima

Separate monument for Korean victims in Nagasaki

For the anniversary of the bombings this year, a delegation from the Act Now to Stop War & End Racism coalition (ANSWER) in the U.S. was invited to Japan to join organizations in opposition to the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Sue Harris, co-director of Peoples Video Network (PVN), and Janet Mayes from the International Action Center joined in a week of protest activities in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

ANSWER activists join anti-war march in Nagasaki (credit: Kikuchi)

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