Masao Tomonaga

Dr. Masao Tomonaga is Director Emeritus of the Japanese Red Cross Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Hospital. He was born in Nagasaki City in 1943, where he experienced the second atomic bomb on August 9th, 1945. He was just two years old at the time, and survived in a half destroyed Japanese wooden house, located around 2.5 km from ground zero. The house was reduced to ash within 30 minutes. He grew up healthy and became a physician specializing in atomic bomb-related medical care for Hibakusha. He studied for over 50 years on the ability of radiation exposure to induce leukemia and cancers.

Recently, he published a paper based on 76 years of evidence that the radiation exposure experienced by the Hibakusha have life-long consequences and have led to radiation-induced genetic effects. His observations proved that the atomic bombs were DNA-damaging and eventually induced malignant diseases, proving the anti-humanitarian nature of the weapons. His paper concluded that these weapons should therefore be abandoned entirely, or they will continue to threaten humanity. The Hibakusha have long contributed indispensably to this cause by providing valuable medical evidence to specialists and researchers.