Sumiteru Taniguchi

The Atomic Bomb on My Back: A Life Story of Survival and Activism Sumiteru Taniguchi

Released for the 75th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima & Nagasaki




"I am determined to keep telling the reality of nuclear war...to realize a world without wars and nuclear weapons." -Taniguchi Sumiteru




As a hibakusha (atomic bomb sufferer/survivor), Taniguchi knew the horror of nuclear weapons. The Nagasaki A-bomb is estimated to have killed 73,884 people by the end of 1945. At age 16, Taniguchi was badly burned by the blast, and spent ten years in recovery. This account of his life, during which he lived with "the atomic bomb on his back," is a moving tale of survival and activism, as he dedicated his life to the abolition of nuclear weapons. He struggled against war and fought for peace until he died in his eighties. Seventy-five years have passed since that August day and the agonies of the past seem to be falling into oblivion. We cannot allow such a lapse of memory.