TSS-TV Co., Ltd. is a broadcasting station in Hiroshima, the first place in human history to be hit by an atomic bomb. Ever since the start of its operation, the station has been broadcasting programs with the objective of abolishing nuclear weapons and realizing peace. The TSS special documentary “Those Entrusted to Us: 79 Years After the Atomic Bombing: A Time of Promise” (broadcast on August 6, 2024) will be distributed to the world as the ninth installment of the Hiroshima Peace Program TSS Archive Project.

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As the years progress, we are faced with a difficult reality: the aging and eventual death of all atomic bomb survivors. In this program, we focus on “legacy successors” – people who did not experience “that day” 79 years ago, but who pass on the message in place of the atomic bomb survivors.

At the end of March 2024, the number of atomic bomb survivors stood at approximately 106,800. This is a decrease of 130,000 from 15 years prior, and the average age of the survivors is now over 85 years old. The truth is that even the survivors still with us who have shared their stories of the atomic bomb horror, and the reality of the bombing, are finding this effort to be increasingly challenging due to their deteriorating physical condition.

Hiroshima City began a training program in 2012 to train “atomic bomb survivor successors” who inherit and pass on the experiences of the survivors and their thoughts about peace. In addition, since 2022, the city began training “family member successors” who pass on the experiences of their parents and grandparents. The activity of passing on the baton of peace to the next generation is expanding year by year, and as of April 1st, 2024, there were 226 active atomic bomb survivor successors and 38 family member successors. After about two years of training and receiving certification, the successors give talks at the Atomic Bomb Museum and schools in and outside the prefecture.

Yo Hosokawa is a member of the first class of family member successors. He worked as a high school teacher in Hiroshima Prefecture for about 40 years and retired as principal in March 2021. As a second career, he applied to be a family member successor and became active, saying, “I want to pass on the experiences of my father, who was an atomic bomb survivor.” Yo’s father, Koji, had spoken out for world peace both domestically and abroad about his own experience of the atomic bombing, and the sadness of losing his 13-year-old sister. Koji passed away in November 2023 at the age of 95. Koji’s death occurred shortly after Yo began his full-fledged activities as a successor. Later, Yo would visit places where his father was exposed to the atomic bomb. “There are so many things I wish I had asked him,” Yo says, as he follows the path his father took “that day.”

Keiko Yagi inherited the atomic bombing experience of her 95-year-old mother Kiyoko. “It's painful to remember. I don't want to talk about it, but I need people to understand,” her mother says. It was the daughter’s strong desire for peace that opened the door to the memories that her mother had kept hidden. “I was happy that my daughter said she would study it.” After repeatedly talking to Kiyoko and preparing a manuscript for a lecture, Keiko was certified as a family member successor. In January 2024, she gave her first lecture at the Atomic Bomb Museum. Her mother, Kiyoko, was also there. Keiko passes on her experience and thoughts of the atomic bombing that she had inherited from her mother. This mother and daughter work together to pass down the message of peace to the next generation.

This spring, Natsumi Masumoto became the youngest atomic bombing legacy successor, at the age of 20. “I was born and raised in Hiroshima. I want to make an effort to convey the message.” Her thoughts on peace, a reflection of the voices of survivors she heard when she was a child, have gradually turned into a sense of mission. She will be passing on the experiences and thoughts of 84-year-old atomic bombing survivor, Hiroko Kishida. The more than 60-year age difference is apparent. For instance, there are words Kishida regularly uses that Masumoto has never heard, leaving Kishida feeling uneasy. Masumoto herself sometimes wonders, “Is it right for me to talk about this, that I never experienced?” But still, she wants to pass on the message. Hoping she can be a catalyst for peace, as small an influence she may be, she expresses her thoughts on peace in front of about 550 students of her generation who attend the same university.

Through the stories of these three people who, while each with their own thoughts and worries, have begun their activities as legacy successors, we look into the meaning of conveying peace to the next generation.

Shin-Hiroshima Telecasting, Co.