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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 May 2025
On March 1, 1954 a Japanese tuna trawler was at sea in the Marshall Islands. Quite unexpectedly grey ash began to fall like snow and covered the boat and crew. It was not snow; it was radioactive fallout from a nuclear test that had been conducted by the United States hours earlier 90 miles from the exclusion zone proclaimed by the US. This nuclear explosion, known as the Bravo Test, was the first detonation of a deliverable hydrogen bomb. The 15 megaton bomb, approximately 1,000 times greater than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, was the largest explosion in human history at the time. It would render several of the atolls that make up the Marshall Islands uninhabitable. March 1st is now called Nuclear Victims and Survivors Remembrance Day in the Marshall Islands. However, for the crew members of the trawler it was a mystery.
1 See Ōishi Matashichi, The Day the Sun Rose in the West. Bikini, the Lucky Dragon, and I translated by Richard H. Minear, (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2011). See also “A dialogue about nuclear-related issues” between Ōishi Matashichi and Oe Kenzaburo.
2 Mick Broderick, “Topographies of Trauma: Dark Tourism, World Heritage and Hiroshima,” Intersections: Gender and Sexuality in Asia and the Pacific Issue 24, June 2010.
3 Nick Allen, “Japan: the ‘Nuclear Refugees’ Who May Never Go Home,” The Telegraph (March 23, 2011).
4 “Iitate Holdouts Find Nuclear Refugee Option Hard Choice,” Japan Times (June 15, 2011).
5 “Evacuees Lose Welfare Benefits / Cash from TEPCO, Donations puts 150 Households Over Income Limit,” Yomiuri Shimbun (June 17, 2011).
6 Martin Fackler and Matthew L. Wald, “Life in Limbo for Japanese Near Nuclear Plant,” New York Times (May 1, 2011).
7 Henry Ridgwell, “Ordeal Continues for Japan's Nuclear Evacuees,” Voice of America (April 2, 2011).
8 Nakagawa Masami, Honda Masakazu, Hirako Yoshinori and Sadamatsu Shinjiro, “Bikini: 50 Years of Nuclear Exposure,” translated by Kyoko Selden, The Asia-Pacific Journal.
9 “Radiation Fears Fuel Abuse of Fukushima Fuzoku Gals,” The Tokyo Reporter (June 22, 2011).
10 Rick Wallace, “Discrimination Increases Torment of Fukushima,” The Australian (June 11, 2011). The writer Hayashi Kyoko has vividly captured the emotional and physical torment of Nagasaki hibakusha. See, for example, “Masks of Whatchamacallit,” in Kyoko Selden and Noriko Mizuta, eds., More Stories by Japanese Women Writers. An Anthology. Armonk. M.E. Sharpe, 2011, pp. 52-75.
11 Dana Kennedy, “Chernobyl Cleanup Survivor's Message for Japan: ‘Run Away as Quickly as Possible‘” AOL News (March 22, 2011).
12 “Nuclear Accident Disclosure,” The Japan Times (July 8, 2011).
13 Hisae Sate and Fumikazu Asai, “Radiation-contaminated area spans 800 square km, new map shows,” Asahi Shimbun (May 12, 2011).
14 Danielle Demetriou, “Radioactive Iodine Found in Breast Milk of Japanese Mothers,” The Telegraph (April 21, 2011).
15 Say-Peace, “Protecting Children Against Radiation: Japanese Citizens Take Radiation Protection into Their Own Hands,” The Asia-Pacific Journal, Volume 9, Issue 25, No. 1, June 20, 2011.
16 “Japan's Radiation Dilemma: Leave or Live in Fear,” CBS News (June 28, 2011).
17 Deborah Dupre, “Japanese Parents: ‘Test Everyone! ‘Children 60km from Fukushima Irradiated Urine,” The Examiner (June 30, 2011).
18 “Survey Shows Disappointment, Anger Among Fukushima Evacuees,” Asahi Shimbun (June 25, 2011).
19 “Radiation in Japan: Nosebleed, Diarrhea, Lack of Energy in Children in Koriyama City, Fukushima,” EX-SKF (June 15, 2011).
20 Ted Thornhill, “Japan's suicide rates soar by up to 39 per cent in areas hit by the earthquake,” The Daily Mail (June 24, 2011); John Glionna, “Japan fears post-quake rise in suicides,” Los Angeles Times (April 24, 2011); Kyung Lah, “Farmer's Suicide Note Shows Japan's Disaster Impact,” CNN (June 14, 2011). See also “Elderly Fukushima woman kills self ‘to evacuate to grave‘”, Mainichi Shimbun July 11, 2011.
21 Chisa Fujioka, “Japan Priest Speaks Out on Spiritual Toll of Nuclear Crisis,” Reuters (June 9, 2011). On priests cleaning up non-contaminated graves in Miyagi prefecture see “As reconstruction progresses at a crawl, priests help rebuild graveyards,” Mainichi Shimbun July 10, 2011.
22 Karl Huus, “Japan faces another dilemma: Radiation-contaminated bodies,” MSNBC.com (April 6, 2011).
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