Censorship was widely imposed by the American authorities during the occupation and affected information about the atomic bombing and its aftereffects. Because nuclear weapons had never been used before, no one knew exactly what their long-term effects would be. Reassuring statements from American authorities in 1945 turned out to be misleading, as they were based on insufficient information. Elevated risks of cancer, for example, were not properly understood. Even when information did exist, some of it was withheld. Many aspects of the atomic bomb were military secrets, and Japanese news media and other publications were subject to censorship. The Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission was established by President Truman to study the health effects of the two atomic bombs, but its first general report was not published until 1947, and detailed studies did not appear until years later. Secrecy and Censorship News stories filed by Japanese journalists were previewed and rubber-stamped by U.S. military censors. From Establishment and Conduct of Field Press Censorship in Combat Areas, published by the U.S. Army. Guidelines restricting public statements about atomic weapons were distributed internally among high-level Navy personnel. From the National Archives. Front cover and two pages from the Japanese tanka poetry collection titled Sange by Ms. Shinoe Shoda, secretly published in 1947 to evade occupation censorship. The poems are based on her personal experience at home in Hiroshima, 1.7 kilometers (1 mile) from where the bomb fell. She was 35 years old. “The censorship was so strict,” she recalls, “and I was told that any violation would almost certainly lead to the death penalty. But with a strong determination, even if it meant facing the death penalty, I published this book underground, compelled by a force inside myself, though my family tried to stop me.”—Quoted from Sange. Photograph courtesy of Nihon Hidankyo.
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