International Symposium on the Effects of Atomic Bombs In 1977 the United Nations sponsored an international symposium in Tokyo, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki summarizing the effects of the two bombs that were dropped in 1945. This symposium responded to requests by Japanese anti-nuclear activists who pointed out that definitive data had never been officially presented by either Japan or the United States. The conference presented results of a survey of hibakusha which found that by the end of 1945, 140,000 bomb-related deaths had occurred in Hiroshima and 70,000 in Nagasaki, with a margin of error of 10,000 in each city. In a closing statement during a symposium entitled “Life or Oblivion,” Philip John Noel-Baker said, “Hibakusha of the world Unite! We are the people of a glorious future yet to be.” Thus, the word “hibakusha” entered the international vocabulary. Arthur Booth making the opening statement at the symposium. Photograph courtesy of Nihon Hidankyo. Philip John Noel-Baker, baronet, winner of the 1959 Nobel Peace Prize, speaking at the symposium. Photograph by Ittetsu Morishita.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDU4ODgz