Hibakusha-atomic bombs survivors in Japan: Survivors’ issues in human rights, government recognition and social segregation

This article first describes the background for the atomic bombings in Japan, and then the detailed hierarchy or organization of hibakusha recognition in Japanese society.Then it introduces an analysis of specific cases that reveal how hibakusha have been marginalized in Japanese society by politics, for almost a century.As a result of radiation exposure, the hibakusha suffered from multiple cancers and various other clinical symptoms known as 'atomic bomb disease,'1 Hibakusha is a Japanese word literally meaning 'bomb-affected-person' which was exacerbated by the poverty suffered by hibakusha in Japanese society.