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Hiroshima court recognizes atomic bomb 'black rain' victims

41 Comments
By MARI YAMAGUCHI

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About time.

17 ( +19 / -2 )

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters that the government will closely examine the ruling and respond after consulting with related government agencies and Hiroshima officials.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Sounds fair to me, except that it's way too late.

the government has saved itself a lot of money now that their older than 70

20 ( +21 / -1 )

@That Peson

yes, way too late. They should get retroactive pay.

they deserve to live comfortably for the rest of their life

13 ( +14 / -1 )

The government should have recognized all people (as victim) exposed to black rain decades ago. It seems to me nobody lies if they have been felt some kinda sick for decades since.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Even with radiation they still manage to live this long. I guess the court is tired of fighting them anymore concerning this subject and might as well just grant them this final wish.

-5 ( +1 / -6 )

It’s taken 75 years for them to gain recognition and compensation. That’s disgusting!

14 ( +16 / -2 )

From the invasion of China in 1937 to the end of World War II, the Japanese military regime murdered near 3,000,000 to over 10,000,000 people, most probably almost 6,000,000 Chinese, Indonesians, Koreans, Filipinos, and Indochinese, among others, including Western prisoners of war, is very sad that 140,000 Japanese civilian died, but the beast had to stop.

3 ( +12 / -9 )

A little too late for compensation don't you think? All the victims are basically on their deathbed already.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

better late than never but ... :/ they should have done this a long time ago ...

2 ( +3 / -1 )

The reason why Suga responded the way he did is because in certain interpretations the ruling indirectly implicates the government's role in the war and the subsequent way it ended. The bombings were horrific, yes, but Japan always wants to play the victim card to diminish the war crimes it perpetrated on both combatants and non-combatants.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

Our desire to announce to the World in the most dramatic way possible that America was now THE BOSS gives us a lesson in picking competent Vice-Presidents. Truman was a hayseed stooge who was bamboozled by his psychopathic scientists (Teller) and conscienceless generals into okaying what they all knew was not a tactical or strategic need (Japan had been trying to surrender for months as we ignored them) but a 'test' of not one but two different weapons, one made of enriched Uranium and the other Plutonium. Hiroshima-shi received the Uranium bomb. The cities were picked NOT for their strategic value but because they were surrounded by mountains which would concentrate the blast and give good data. In fact, all of the deaths, both Nihonjin and American, on Okinawa were completely unnecessary had we not wanted to try out our new toy. And Mark13, regarding the Imperial Army's kill record in the first half of this Century, America has way more and way more cruelly made up in the second half of the Century for any casualty count excesses the Japanese may have achieved. We killed a million people in Iraq alone. And we continue, every day, to kill people in places all around the world who are not obedient to us. I have come to think that a Japanese dominated world might have been a better place eventually than this American dominated world has turned out to be.

0 ( +10 / -10 )

asdfgtr

not sure what are you trying convey here. When it comes to war, there is no good army. I know it very well because I came from country caught up just in the middle in the both ww.

japanese army was as brutal as Germany and SU. If Japan had the atomic bomb what do you think they would do at that time? I think we all know...

feel sorry for all victims hope they can live as comfortable as possible for the rest of their lives.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

It is a travesty that it has taken this long and most of the survivors have died by now. Even the lousy excuses for human beings who held this back have mostly died by now. The only way we can punish them now is by naming them in history books and on plaques to shame them for posterity.

We killed a million people in Iraq alone. And we continue, every day, to kill people in places all around the world who are not obedient to us.

There is no "we" and there is no "us". I refuse to accept a drop of responsibility for the actions of evil people that acted without my input or consent. Nope. That was a definitely a "them". And if I had my way, those Americans would be treated as every other war criminal.

0 ( +8 / -8 )

Japan was largely the instigator the of the war in the Pacific, but you have to recognise the quest for mineral resources (coal, steel, oil) was made even more intense by crippling sanctions imposed by the US in the 1930's after the invasion of China etc.

On the other side, the US went out of it's way to study the effects of a new and untested weapon in a theatre of war against a target with a heavy concentration of civilians.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not defending Japan, nor am I deriding the US actions. It's just the reasons for war and the actions taken during it are never as clear cut as XXXX side is wrong or deserved it.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Well, that was quick!

Only seventy-five years to recognize exactly where the black rain actually fell, outside the city limits, and even then deciding that it stopped abruptly, respecting the Hiroshima border.

I have elderly friends in Kasaoka in Okayama who tell me they saw black rain falling there shortly after the bomb exploded.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

@Takara

Just sayin'. There is no GOOD country. America is just greed and power. We are all structured socially the same way and none of us seem capable of seeing their own identities in any realistic light, mostly because that is highly prohibited by that group's rulers who must keep their sheep believing that they are the one true civilized society. If any society begins to doubt their communal identity and moral certainty, the society next to them will eat them in a heartbeat and a drumbeat. "Know thyself" includes 'knowing' your own identity and facing its warts with possibly a desire to mitigate a few. But don't speak those warts out loud or the rulers' goons will sequester you either for your full reproductive period or, more simply, just sequester you in eternal sleep. Nothing has changed in our general behavior in the entirety of written history. Please don't condemn what you approve of and tolerate in yourself. Children do that but they have the reason of self-ignorance. If one cannot face themselves honestly with the same standards they apply to others, they must be morally committed to keeping their mouths shut. If one wants to condemn the Japanese, an American of all people, had best pause and read of the so many atrocities we have committed against others including Genocide and Slavery. Americans, really, should be the quietest people in this Human Reality that we all collectively create from our perceptions and with our behaviors.

1 ( +8 / -7 )

@InspectorGadget, technically the war of the pacific was not one which Japan wanted to enter but had to because the US cut off the supplies of oil. Japan navy was waiting to die if the oil stop coming in. The attack on the US was actually not sanction by the Emperor but instead decided by the military leaders at that time. They were hoping to knock the US navy out and secure the pacific. Plus during that time Germany had taken a great deal of Europe and Japan had to chose which side to join if they wanted to survive.

I wouldn't say Japan made the right decision in the war but no nation deserve to be nuked. To drop two nukes and wipe out two cities population isn't something any man should do or ever try to do again. Is literally go way beyond any war crime that someone can ever commit. This kind of weapon should have never be invented. Is humanity greatest tragedy that even now still control the fate of the world.

-9 ( +8 / -17 )

Let's wait till almost all of them gone or are nearing the end of their lives before passing this decision.

What a nasty govt. this is.

7 ( +9 / -2 )

Would you look at that? Just yesterday people were telling Korea and Korean “comfort women” to “move on” because a statue remembering the victims was erected in botanical garden.

I said, “Should Japanese victims of war do the same thing and just move on?”

I said it before and I’ll say it again.

Today the war may be over, but for some people and their families it never really ended. They have to live with it every day mentally, physically or both.

We help those that have suffered regardless of race, creed or the side they took. We learn to move forward in hopes we do not repeat past mistakes.

The real issue here is why did the Japanese government choose to wait so long to help the very people they got into this mess? Probably greed.

5 ( +8 / -3 )

“Black” rain, eh? Why’s it gotta be black?

0 ( +5 / -5 )

technically the war of the pacific was not one which Japan wanted to enter but had to because the US cut off the supplies of oil. Japan navy was waiting to die if the oil stop coming in. 

Oil was embargoed because Japan started a colonial military campaign to invade Asian nations under the lie of the greater east asia co-prosperity sphere. They weren't an innocent nation being targeted by the US. This is an example of the revisionist history that some cling onto in an effort to make the world forget what Japan did and paint themselves as victims. Naturally, it incites a response from asian nations that were invaded by Japan resulting in millions of deaths.

It's so easy to say the Japan military forced Japan but really.....how many Japanese at the time do you think opposed what the military was doing; invading sovereign nations under the lie of helping them and starting a war with the US.

Most historians will agree that no matter how repugnant it was to use nuclear weapons, militarily taking Japan would've resulted in far more deaths on both sides. Japan was asked to surrender numerous times yet they refused even after the first bomb in Hiroshima.

Japan allied with Nazi Germany, committed atrocities, and invaded sovereign nations solely to improve their own economic and political situation. That is part of Japan's legacy no matter how much some want the world to forget.

*
10 ( +13 / -3 )

"Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters that the government will closely examine the ruling and respond after consulting with related government agencies and Hiroshima officials."

Why does this require further examination, whose pockets is he protecting and under. The ruling was made fairly and decisively case closed. Now real world comes to TEPCO and its Fukashima victims. Perhaps I just answered my own question?

“Black” rain, eh? Why’s it gotta be black?

Well because it surely wasn't red, white, green, brown, purple, orange or yellow, nor was it fusia, maroon, gray, it became black with slightly darkish grays.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

william bjornson

if you didn't understand my response to different comment I guess I can't help you. I did nothing you mentioned in your extremely long comment. All I said as a citizent of country what suffered US army, German army, Austria army, SU army is that during the war plenty tragedies happened and victims were everywhere all around the globe. Being neutral doesn't mean to be ignorant.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

To drop two nukes and wipe out two cities 

Uhm...you forgot the fire bombing of Tokyo that burnt 500,000 women and children to death.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

This very late acknowledgement is typical of the process in Japan where the govt is involved.

Simply they can never, ever be seen to be wrong. They still cling the old adage of admission of guilt / failure / or wrongdoing is perceived as a weakness. Witness the crazed no surrender - suicide ethos the leaders indoctrinated their forces with.

The Japanese govt - read LDP - has fought tooth and nail to deny rights and benefits to it's citizens when atrocities have occurred. Minamata Disease - they took the side of Chiso the poisoning company. The HIV blood tainted scandal they took the side of the bureaucrats and Inc including Green Cross (what a diabolical history). Many similar cases abound.

The govt dragged out procedures for so long unwilling to pay recompense to the suffering citizens for fear of a admitting guilt hence weakness.

The plight of the Hibakusha has been terrible.

What kind of govt, what kind of politicians would declare someone who was outside the official blast zone - 2kms - not to be recognized as Hibakusha and entitled to aid? Do they think the radiation stopped at some kind of invisible wall?

Science has simulated the weather patterns on that day and the Black Rain certainly rained down on a much greater area than the Official Zone. How lacking in compassion could such a govt be.

And to add further woes to the horrors of the Hibakusha, was they were rejected by their own society. They suffered - as did their children and grandchildren - from widespread discrimination in employment, marriage and normal social life.

And we've got that muppet Suga saying quote ,

"Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters that the government will closely examine the ruling and respond after consulting with related government agencies and Hiroshima officials."

For god's sake, just say you're sorry and pay what is due.

Just do it.

7 ( +9 / -2 )

Half a century later, after most people are already DEAD.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

While the atomic bombs thankfully only happened twice, I think the same dividing lines between people who get assistance or qualify for something and people who don't, relative "winners" and "losers" if you prefer, exist all over society. I guess it's part of the Human Condition, but someone in Hiroshima had to come up rules that divided people into "bomb victims (hibakusha)" and "non-hibakusha". Whenever something else happens, a natural disaster, a nuclear accident, a pandemic, an economic downturn, it doesn't matter what it is, other lines get drawn between the people who get help or qualify for something and the people who don't. Let us hope these lines are drawn with more care and empathy than the one in Hiroshima.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

William which country is not about greed and power? Isn't this a human thing?

Humanity is about greed and power.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@mark13Today  08:48 am JST precisely

From the invasion of China in 1937 to the end of World War II, the Japanese military regime murdered near 3,000,000 to over 10,000,000 people, most probably almost 6,000,000 Chinese, Indonesians, Koreans, Filipinos, and Indochinese, among others, including Western prisoners of war, is very sad that 140,000 Japanese civilian died, but the beast had to stop.

@GrungeHamsterToday  10:04 am JST

Would you look at that? Just yesterday people were telling Korea and Korean “comfort women” to “move on” because a statue remembering the victims was erected in botanical garden. I said, “Should Japanese victims of war do the same thing and just move on?

8 ( +8 / -0 )

Would you look at that? Just yesterday people were telling Korea and Korean “comfort women” to “move on” because a statue remembering the victims was erected in botanical garden. I said, “Should Japanese victims of war do the same thing and just move on?

While South Korea have forfeit the ability to continue asking for financial compensation from Japan, they have every right to commemorate comfort women in their own way. Should Jews just forget about the holocaust, Armenians about the Turkish genocide, Chinese about Nanjing, native people all over the world about being exterminated, etc. There's actually a right wing organization connected to the cult Happy Science which includes a current Japanese cabinet minister who go around defacing comfort women memorials all over the world.

*
3 ( +6 / -3 )

It is unbelievable that it took this long to do what I would have thought was obvious! Is the government so tight that they can't afford to look after their own citizens? Forget the stupid Abenomasks, look after this people who have been suffering for over 50 years!!!

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Most historians will agree that no matter how repugnant it was to use nuclear weapons, militarily taking Japan would've resulted in far more deaths on both sides. Japan was asked to surrender numerous times yet they refused even after the first bomb in Hiroshima.

These are the facts.

And the fanatical resistance of the Japanese army on Okinawa etc (and the Japanese army forcing the local populace to commit suicide) plus the message the kamikaze planes were sending, plus the fact that the Japanese government was mobilizing every available civilian - men women and children - to fight a land war in the Japanese mainland, oh, and plus the fact that the Japanese govt still did not surrender even aftet the first atomic bomb was dropped necesditating the dropping of the second one.

3 ( +6 / -3 )

Has anyone seen the movie, with American and Japanese actors, "Black Rain"?  About a Yakuza affected by the bombing of "Hiroshima".  It is one of Michael Douglas' better,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BlackRain(1989_American_film)

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

The surrender terms changed after the bombs were dropped, crucially to protect the Emperor. The Soviets also ended the war as agreed at Yalta, were routing the Japanese, and were about to invade Hokkaido in August 1945 itself. As Eastern Europe proved, being invaded by the USSR was completely different prospect to being invaded by the Western Allies.

So it is incorrect to say that the bombs alone made Japan surrender. This was all known at the time.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

@bugle boy, “Black” rain, eh? Why’s it gotta be black? because it probably was.

why has it took so long for this to be passed? it should have been done years and years ago. and will there be any back compensation?

And will Nagasaki do the same now? is there an ongoing case in the court?

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Plus during that time Germany had taken a great deal of Europe and Japan had to chose which side to join if they wanted to survive.

Hiro - your laughable revisionist view has already been debunked by others above. However, you make a bizarre claim that Japan had to chose which side to join in the war.

Japan didn't need to "choose" - they could have stayed neutral.

But this choice was not a last minute decision - Japan had nailed its colours to the mast long before. It signed the anti-commitern pact with Germany in 1936 and formally joined the German-Italian axis in September 1940.

Japan was a facist country in every sense of the word, so it could only ally itself to the axis powers.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

“Black” rain, eh? Why’s it gotta be black?

Bugle Boy - why not try Google? That way you can learn about the chemical forces that turned the rain black.

Of course, you weren't asking a genuine question, but a sarcastic one. Presumably you were unaware that the rain was actually black, and thought that "black" had been added to describe the harmful effect on people. And if that had been why, it would be completely valid. So what's your problem?

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Oil was embargoed because Japan started a colonial military campaign to invade Asian nations under the lie of the greater east asia co-prosperity sphere. They weren't an innocent nation being targeted by the US. This is an example of the revisionist history that some cling onto in an effort to make the world forget what Japan did and paint themselves as victims. Naturally, it incites a response from asian nations that were invaded by Japan resulting in millions of deaths.

Japan was doing exactly what Europe and the US had been doing and those countries want you to forget that they genocided and did the same thing. And when it comes to other Asian nations it depends. Many were under control by foreign powers and murdered for pushing for the idea of being a free nation.

Hiro - your laughable revisionist view has already been debunked by others above. However, you make a bizarre claim that Japan had to chose which side to join in the war.

But at the same time you are being a bit dishonest and only looking at part of history instead of the whole. Japan was allied with the UK until a certain other country came in and told them to break their treaties with Japan or else they wouldn't help them anymore. Also, when the Japanese petitioned to be seen as equal to whites, although they had the majority to pass the notion, that same country vetoed the result. The lines were being drawn in the sand well before Japan joined the Axis. A certain country wanted to be the main power in the Pacific and was willing to do what it had to for it.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Robotron

Really? What sovereign nations did the US or European countries invade militarily? This isn’t to excuse colonial expansion in the past like the Americas or Australia. Japan militarily invaded sovereign nations. Korea, China, etc were not ruled by primitive indigenous people at the time.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

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