Sadao Hirano

I’ve had five heart attacks, the first one at the age of 62.  I had two coronary artery bypass grafting surgeries, and the third one was a thoracotomy.  When I had the third one at the age of 75, this thought suddenly came on my mind, “Is it right for me to die without telling anyone about my fear of the A-bomb?”  Until that moment, I tried not to remember that day.

Around that time, I met Mr. Keisaburo Toyonaga at our community cleanup.  Seeing my keloids, he asked me to join Speakers from Hiroshima, which he had organized, to tell my A-bomb experience.  At first, I didn’t accept his request; however, seeing him tell his experience in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park persuaded me, and I thought I could talk about what I had experienced.  Since 2009, I’ve told my experience 284 times [as of May, 2024].

Two times, while telling my story in front of many people, I started crying, because the pain and agony that I’d held for a long time suddenly came surging up.  That pain and agony were caused not only by A-bombing directly, but also by my hard experience surviving after the A-bombing.  I said, “I’m so sorry,” but I couldn’t control those emotions. 

I tell my story standing for one hour in small meetings or large groups of 300 or 400 people, and I don’t use any prepared script.  I keep telling my story even in a bad physical condition, because I think that these people who come from far away won’t have another opportunity to listen to a survivor’s experience.  I’ve testified to people all over Japan, from Hokkaido to Kyushu, and to people from abroad.  The number of the survivors who can testify is decreasing, so I’m committed to continue testifying, even though my physical condition is not so good.