Nagasaki bombing survivor, who devoted his life to promoting peace, dead at 93

Shigemi Fukahori, a survivor of the 1945 Nagasaki atomic bombing who devoted his life to advocating for peace and campaigning against nuclear weapons, has died. He was 93.

Fukahori died at a hospital in Nagasaki, southwestern Japan, on Jan. 3, according to a statement on Sunday from the Urakami Catholic Church, where he prayed almost daily until last year. The church, located about 500 metres 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 14 when the U.S. dropped the bomb on Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 1945, killing tens of thousands of people, including his family. It came three days after the nuclear attack on Hiroshima, which killed 140,000 people. Japan surrendered days later, ending the Second World War and the country's nearly half-century of aggression across Asia.

Fukahori, who worked at a shipyard about three kilometres from where the bomb dropped, couldn't talk about what happened for years, both because of the painful memories and how powerless he felt at the time.

About 15 years ago, he became more outspoken following a visit to Spain where he encountered a man who experienced the bombing of Guernica in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War when he was also 14 years old. The shared experience helped Fukahori open up.

Fukahori often spoke to students

"On the day the bomb dropped, I heard a voice asking for help. When I walked over and held out my hand, the person's skin melted. I still remember how that felt," Fukahori told Japan's national broadcaster NHK in 2019.

He often addressed students, hoping they would take on what he called "the baton of peace," in reference to his advocacy.

When Pope Francis visited Nagasaki in 2019, Fukahori handed him a wreath of white flowers. The following year, Fukahori represented the bomb victims at a ceremony, making his "pledge for peace," saying: "I am determined to send our message to make Nagasaki the final place where an atomic bomb is ever dropped."

A wake is scheduled for Sunday, and funeral services on Monday at Urakami Church, where his daughter will represent the family.