TOKYO, Japan –
Shigemi Fukahori, a survivor of the 1945 Nagasaki atomic bombing, who dedicated his life to advocating for peace, has died. He was 93 years old.
Fukahori died in a hospital in Nagasaki, southwestern Japan, on Jan. 3, the Urakami Catholic Church, where he prayed almost daily until last year, said on Sunday. Local media reported that he died of old age.
The church, located about 500 meters from ground zero and near the Nagasaki Peace Park, is widely seen as a symbol of hope and peace, as its bell tower and some statues survived the nuclear bombing.
Fukahori was just 14 years old when the United States dropped the bomb on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, killing tens of thousands of people, including his family. That occurred three days after the nuclear attack on Hiroshima, which killed 140,000 people. Japan surrendered days later, ending World War II and nearly half a century of the country’s aggression throughout Asia.
Fukahori, who worked in a shipyard about 3 kilometers (2 miles) from where the bomb fell, was unable to talk about what happened for years, not only because of the painful memories but also because of how helpless he felt at the time.
About 15 years ago, he became more outspoken after meeting, during a visit to Spain, a man who experienced the bombing of Guernica in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War when he, too, was 14. The shared experience helped Fukahori open up.
“The day the bomb fell, I heard a voice calling for help. When I approached and held out my hand, the person’s skin melted. I still remember how it felt,” Fukahori told Japanese national broadcaster NHK in 2019.
He often addressed students, hoping they would take up what he called “the staff of peace,” in reference to his advocacy.
When Pope Francis visited Nagasaki in 2019, Fukahori was the one who presented him with a wreath of white flowers. The following year, Fukahori represented the bomb victims at a ceremony and made his “pledge for peace,” saying, “I am determined to send our message to make Nagasaki the last place where an atomic bomb will be dropped.”
A wake is planned for Sunday and a funeral is planned for Monday at Urakami Church, where his daughter will represent the family.
