PM Takaichi Urged to Recognize More Hibakusha

Nagasaki, Aug. 9 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi was urged on Sunday to officially recognize more hibakusha survivors of the Aug. 9, 1945, U.S. atomic bombing of the southwestern Japan city of Nagasaki.

Some people who were exposed to radiation from the bomb have not been official recognized as hibakusha because they were outside locations designated as atomic-bombed areas by the government.

On Sunday, Takaichi met with representatives from groups of officially recognized and unrecognized hibakusha at a hotel in Nagasaki.

"Time is limited for us, so we seriously ask you to make a cabinet decision on support measures for both" recognized and unrecognized survivors, Shigemitsu Tanaka, 85, head of the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivors Council, told the prime minister.

In response, Takaichi said only that the government "has been providing unrecognized hibakusha with medical expense subsidies on par with aid to recognized hibakusha and will continue steadily implementing such support."

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]