Special program commemorating the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing: “The Reason She Speaks to the World”
[Broadcast Date and Time] Wednesday, August 6, 2025, 9:50-10:45 AM
As a broadcasting station based in Hiroshima, the first city in human history to be hit by an atomic bomb, Television Shin-Hiroshima (TSS) has been broadcasting programs aimed at the abolition of nuclear weapons and the realization of peace since its founding. As the 10th installment of the “Hiroshima Peace Program TSS Archive Project” TSS Special Programs, the English version of the special program on the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing, “The Reason She Speaks to the World,” which aired on August 6, 2025, will be streamed worldwide from February 10, 2026.
As we marked the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing on August 6, 2025, one of the challenges facing us is passing on the experience of the bombing.
Since 2021, TSS has been covering Keiko Ogura (age 87 at the time). She is one of a few survivors of the atomic bombing who speaks English, and she attracted attention as the only person to meet with world leaders alone at the 2023 G7 Hiroshima Summit.
In December 2024, she attended the Japan Confederation of A-bomb Sufferers Organizations’ Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony, a sign of how her testimony has expanded to international venues. She speaks directly to people around the world in English, a language she learned on her own. What kind of resolve does this ordinary citizen have to stand there? Behind her lies the thoughts she has woven throughout her life.
Ogura was eight years old when the atomic bomb was dropped on her home, 2.4 kilometers from the hypocenter. While she only suffered minor injuries, the daily sight of people dying in front of her eyes left her traumatized, and she buried her experiences deep in her heart. A turning point came at the age of 42, when her husband, fluent in English and director of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, suddenly passed away. In the midst of her grief, she received a request to serve as an interpreter in her husband’s place, and, in keeping with his wishes, she began to convey the voices of atomic bomb survivors to people overseas. Although she initially focused on interpreting, she later began sharing her own experience of the atomic bombing, and for the past 40 years has continued to talk to people about the reality of the bombing both domestically and internationally.
“Will I be in good health on August 6th next year?” As Ogura herself grows older and continues to sow the seeds of peace in the time she has left, a certain encounter showed how her seeds were beginning to blossom.
In 2022, Ogura, who believes that education is an important place for passing on her legacy, visited the University of Idaho in the United States. There she brought out a kamishibai (picture story) called “Keiko’s August 6th.” It was a kamishibai created independently by students from Hiroshima Municipal Motomachi High School based on Ogura’s experience of the atomic bombing. Hearing Ogura’s story of the bombing completely changed the perspectives of the American students. Witnessing the devastation of the atomic bombing, something they had never learned about before, the students, moved by Ogura’s passion, began translating the kamishibai into English.
The completion of the English picture book by the students is clearly a key to passing on Ms. Ogura’s message to the world. Her message has influenced many, and continues to spread. What motivates Ogura to speak to the world? Ogura says she will continue to convey her message as long as she has a voice. We focus on how her message and her “baton of peace” is being inherited to the future of the world.
[Comments from Masao Kusakari (Narration)]
I am from Kokura, Fukuoka Prefecture, and Kokura was the primary target of the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki on August 9th. The target was changed due to bad weather, but if the bomb had fallen on Kokura as planned, my mother would have been affected and I might not have been born. I have not had the opportunity to work on peace-related topics until now, but I feel that this is not unrelated to me, and there were times when I was moved to tears while narrating. I believe there is truth in Ms. Ogura’s words, “Education and media are most important for passing on the message.” This is a program that I hope many people choose to watch.
[Comments from Director Momoe Ishii]
I first met Ms. Ogura while covering an event news story. Fascinated by her humanity and the power of her words, I continued to cover her. Whenever I was around Ms. Ogura, people would gather around her and things would happen one after another. I couldn’t help but follow what would take place. Ms. Ogura would say, “My role is to light the candle in the hearts of young people and inspire them to take part,” Before I knew it, I was one of those whose candle had been lit, and in 2023, a documentary was made. The young Americans I met during my coverage continued to take action, carrying the “baton of peace” that Ms. Ogura had handed to them. I followed them with my camera, and now this documentary has been completed.
The average age of atomic bomb survivors is currently 86.13 years old (as of the end of March 2025). During the five years of coverage, Ms. Ogura repeatedly referred to this as her final job. It is the mission of the media in the atomic bombed areas to connect the survivors’ thoughts to future generations, creating a world where past tragedies are never repeated. The people we met during this interview may have given us some clues. We hope that through this program, the thoughts of Ms. Ogura and other atomic bomb survivors will reach many people, and the seeds of peace will blossom.
