2nd generation hibahusha still worried about health

July 30, 2015

Survey: 61% of 2nd-generation hibakusha feel anxiety over parents' radiation exposure

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201507300072

By AZUSA ITO/ Staff Writer

More than 60 percent of second-generation hibakusha still feel anxiety over their parents’ exposure to radiation from the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 70 years ago, a survey showed.

The Tokyo Federation of A-Bomb Sufferers Organizations released its study report on July 29, the first in Japan covering children of those exposed to the 1945 nuclear attacks.

The group sent questionnaires to 2,391 residents of the capital who are children of atomic bomb survivors in Nagasaki or Hiroshima. It received 660 responses.

Analysis of the data by Yoshihiro Yagi, a sociology researcher at Ehime University, revealed that 61 percent of second-generation hibakusha feel anxiety about problems and issues related to their parents’ exposure to atomic bomb radiation.

About 20 percent of the respondents said they suspect that any health problems they may suffer could be associated with the 1945 atomic bombings.

According to the results, around 20 percent are worried about diseases related to radiation, while another 20 percent are also concerned that the effects of radiation exposure could appear in their children and grandchildren.

“It is difficult for people to find effective ways to address problems if their causes are unclear,” Yagi said. “The central government needs to carefully examine the mental conditions of second-generation hibakusha and provide some care.”

The survey also asked the children of hibakusha to specify their health problems.

The results showed the largest group, or 12.3 percent of the respondents, cited blood-pressure problems, while 6.5 percent have developed cancer or leukemia, and 6.2 percent have diabetes.

Sixty percent said they do not know if their conditions are related to the U.S. atomic bombs dropped 70 years ago.

But 20 percent said they believe their health problems are a result of their parents’ exposure to radiation because they could find no other reason why they develop those conditions. They also said they feel more vulnerable to diseases compared with those around them.

Toyoko Tasaki, 47, who heads a group of second-generation hibakusha in Tokyo, said her mother was exposed to radiation in Hiroshima in 1945.

“Many second-generation victims cannot talk about their anxieties in fear of prejudice,” Tasaki said. “The latest findings could be a good way to represent the silent voices of those people.