1945 is a multimedia project that documents the stories of atomic bomb survivors—or "hibakusha"—from Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The project gathers letters and testimonies from over 50 hibakusha and descendants, preserving firsthand accounts of the bomb’s aftermath. Sitters were invited to handwrite a letter to future generations, reflecting on their experiences ranging from radiation sickness and survivor’s guilt to the lesser-known struggles faced by descendants, including the effects of intergenerational trauma and ongoing discrimination.
The project was exhibited at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo from 2017-2018. It has been featured in:
TIME.com (August 5, 2017)
Newsweek Japan (August 6, 2019)
Smithsonian Magazine (August 5, 2020)
National Geographic Magazine (September 2023 issue)
View the full project here.
Yoshiro Yamawaki
Nagasaki
Mr. Yoshiro Yamawaki was 11 years old and just 2.2 kilometers from the hypocenter when the atomic bomb was dropped. He and his younger brothers survived the blast, but later discovered their father’s body near the factory where he had worked. Nearby, they witnessed the harrowing sight of bodies being piled into mass cremation pits. Though none of them were older than 16, the brothers summoned the strength to cremate their father themselves, determined to give him a proper farewell.
An excerpt from his letter reads: "I have resigned to the fact that nuclear weapons will not be abolished during the lifetime of us first-generation hibakusha survivors. I pray that younger generations will come together to work toward a world free of nuclear weapons.”
Read the full story here.
Taeko Teramae
Hiroshima
Ms. Taeko Teramae was a high school student when she was exposed to the atomic bomb, losing sight in her right eye from the blast. Her 20-year-old homeroom teacher made multiple trips between the bomb site and a nearby evacuation center, carrying her injured students—Ms. Teramae among them—to safety. She died of her injuries 15 days later. Deeply moved by her teacher’s sacrifice, Ms. Teramae dreamed of becoming a teacher herself. However, the injuries to her face led her to change course. “I couldn’t bring myself to show my injured face every single day to the public for the rest of my life,” she says. "It seemed all I ever could do was fight one radiation disease after another. I thought, perhaps, that I should just disappear."
An excerpt from her letter reads: “I have been diagnosed with ovarian cancer, thyroid cancer, and breast cancer. But I hope to live a healthy life.”
Read the full story here.
Yasujiro Tanaka
Nagasaki
Mr. Yasujiro Tanaka was three years old when the atomic bomb was dropped. Buried alive beneath the rubble of his home, he was miraculously pulled to safety by his uncle. Though he survived, his face was left misshapen and he lost hearing in his left ear, likely due to the blast. More than a decade later, his mother began to find shards of glass emerging from her skin—debris from the bombing, still surfacing. His sister suffers from chronic muscle pain and kidney failure, requiring dialysis three times a week. “What did I do to the Americans?” he recalls her asking again and again. “Why did they do this to me?”
An excerpt from Mr. Tanaka’s letter reads: “You are only given / One life / So cherish this moment / Cherish this day / Be kind to others / Be kind to yourself”
Read the full story here.
Michiko Yagi
Nagasaki
Ms. Michiko Yagi and her family endured a decade of extreme poverty after the bombing. She recalls going “shopping” with her mother—not to buy goods, but to beg for food from nearby farms in exchange for her mother’s cherished kimonos. In one memory, they approached a farm to trade the silk garments for a few potatoes. When the farmer refused, her mother quietly folded the kimonos back into a cloth bundle, bowed deeply, and said, “Thank you for your time. I will return at a later date.”
An excerpt from her letter reads: “I long for a peaceful society where everyone can live with dignity, and die with dignity.”
Read the full story here.
Masaharu Abe
Hiroshima
Mr. Masaharu Abe is a descendant of hibakusha. At age five, doctors discovered three holes in his heart—an inexplicable condition likely tied to his family’s exposure to nuclear radiation. He was told he probably wouldn’t live past twenty.
Soon after, he was recruited by the U.S.-funded Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission (ABCC) for annual medical research. Each year, he was brought to their clinic—treated to sandwiches and a ride on a wooden horse, but never given medical care. The visits continued for years, conducted solely for research.
It wasn’t until just before his tenth birthday that a pioneering Japanese doctor intervened, performing a risky, 12-hour open-heart surgery. Against all odds, Mr. Abe survived—and went on to live for decades beyond what doctors had once predicted.
An excerpt from his letter reads: "May there be no more war… How long must one pray for this?"
Read the full story here.
Seishi Morikawa
Hiroshima
Mr. Seishi Morikawa is a descendant of hibakusha. Since childhood, he has suffered from recurring health issues—including high fevers and gastrointestinal problems—likely tied to his parents’ exposure to the atomic bomb. “Minor scratches and cuts took a long time to heal and often became infected,” he says. “One of many symptoms that left doctors perplexed and were marked down as ‘cause unknown.’”
Mr. Morikawa faced stigma throughout his life. He struggled to find a marriage partner and was frequently asked during job interviews whether he was connected to the bombing—employers wary of hiring someone they feared might be sick or a burden. After marrying, he and his partner had difficulty conceiving. “I held back tears when I learned that my child was unable to enter this world as a solid life form,” he says.
An excerpt from his letter reads: “On the one hand, there are healthy second generation hibakusha who never experience complications – however, there are a substantial number of us who are sickly like me, those that pass away from diseases such as cancer, leukemia, and cardiovascular diseases, and unborn second and third generation hibakusha who never even enter to see this world. In modern day Japan, there is a pronounced tendency—deeply rooted in our custom, culture, and value system—to censor, manipulate, and look away from these realities.”
Read the full story here.
Kumiko Arakawa
Nagasaki
Ms. Kumiko Arakawa was 20 years old when she was exposed to the atomic bomb, just 500 meters from the hypocenter. She lost both of her parents and four siblings in the blast, and was left to raise her surviving younger siblings on her own. She has no memory of the day of the bombing, nor can she recall how she managed to put her siblings through school.
When asked to write a letter for future generations, she quietly replied, "Nani mo omoitsukanai" ("I can’t think of anything").
Read the full story here.
View the full project here.