An Evening With: The Nagasaki Friendship Association

Members of LANL and the Los Alamos community are invited to a unique and historic opportunity to hear from and speak with two survivors of the atomic bombing (Hibakusha) from Nagasaki and their families. This year marked the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and today, only a few survivors are still living and can share their first-hand accounts of these events. The opportunities to pass on their memories and lessons to future generations is becoming ever more precious and limited. Their goal is to initiate a dialogue of understanding and hope to achieve a safer, healthier world for generations to come.

In this seminar, Chiyoko Motomura, who was six years old when the atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, will describe what happened on the 9th of August 1945, along with her memories of the aftermath.

Dr. Masao Tomonaga was only two years old at the time of the bombing and devoted his career to studying the medical effects of the atomic bombs. He will be speaking on the lessons to learn from those events and how to move forward in more constructive ways of peacemaking and diplomacy.

It is our deepest hope that community members will attend and engage in meaningful dialogue about the implications of living in a world that continues to build and arm its nation states with nuclear weapons and what we can do to build a stonger sense of trust, reconciliation, and hope in our relations.