Hibakusha Mori Attends Film Screening in 1st U.S. Visit

May 27, 2018

San Francisco- Shigeaki Mori, a hibakusha, or atomic bomb survivor, and historian from the western Japan city of Hiroshima, attended a screening here of a documentary film on his life's work on Thursday, during his first visit to the United States.

Mori, 81, spent some 40 years researching on 12 U.S. prisoners of war, all troops, who died due to the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, in the closing days of World War II and finding out their bereaved families.

At the screening of "Paper Lanterns," Mori said that he was backed by the spirits of the 12 U.S. victims. Mori was exposed to radiation from the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima.

Mori's research has been praised by the U.S. government. On May 27, 2016, then U.S. President Barack Obama hugged Mori during his historic visit to Hiroshima, and the scene was featured in news media across the world.

"I'm glad that I didn't stop my research," Mori told the audience at the screening event. "Let's make the 21st century (an age for) a peaceful world."

Mori is also slated to attend a memorial ceremony in Massachusetts for the U.S. atomic bomb victims and screening events for the documentary film, including at the U.N. headquarters in New York. Jiji Press