NHK WORLD to broadcast programme on Hiroshima Devastation

NHK WORLD TV will present a program on the Japanese-American man, Kaoru Ogura, who had devoted himself to convey Hiroshima’s devastation abroad. Ogura spread episodes, including the girl exposed to atomic bomb radiation in Hiroshima. The girl now-famous, Sadako Sasaki folded origami paper cranes right up to her death from leukemia.

Ogura was the son of Japanese immigrants in the United States. He settled in Hiroshima after the war and worked for the city. His duties included providing interpretation for visiting dignitaries and journalists. Ogura was passionate about communicating the tragedy of the bombing. He interviewed survivors, conducted research, and sent more than 800 pages of findings to an Austrian journalist, Robert Jungk. Jungk’s reports reached countless readers and encouraged Ogura to maintain his activities.

The program “My Small Steps from Hiroshima”, scheduled for broadcast on August 6  from 09.10 to 10.00 (JST) examines recently discovered records and diaries in Ogura’s own hand as well as recollections of his meetings with people from many countries. Dramatizations depict how the agony of Hiroshima was conveyed.

NHK WORLD programmes in August will include:

• NHK NEWSLINE Atomic Bomb Memorial Day Special: Message from Nagasaki
  August 9th (Tue.) 10:45～11:30 (JST)
  Nagasaki’s message for world peace will be broadcast from the Peace Ceremony along with reports on the challenges to nuclear disarmament and the abolition of nuclear weapons.

• HIROSHIMA LOST The Day the Nuclear Arms Race Began
  August 7th (Sun.) 08:10～09:00 (JST) etc
  Testimony and computer graphics augment a documentary made by survivors, telling the world about the horror of the atomic bomb.