Keiko Ogura was 8 when the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Afterwards, her relatives and friends told her to hide her status as a hibakusha (blast survivor) or nobody would marry her. She kept her past to herself for decades, until her husband, a peace activist, died, and she decided to continue his efforts. She set up a group of interpreters for peace.
Her relatives don't want her to mention them in her speeches. "Why? Because people are still suffering," Ogura, 83, said in a recent online briefing.
"The impact of radiation, the fear of it and the suffering were not just felt at the moment of the blast -- we still live with it today."
Survivors are frustrated by their inability to see a nuclear-free world in their lifetime, and by Japan's refusal to sign or ratify a nuclear weapons ban treaty enacted in 2017.
"But no matter how small, we must pursue our efforts," said Ogura. "I will keep talking for as long as I live."
--GreGen
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