Peace campaigner who survived Nagasaki atomic bomb dies age 93
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A survivor of the 1945 Nagasaki atomic bombing who turned his horrifying experience into a foundation for peace campaigning has died aged 93. Shigemi Fukahori passed away at a hospital in Nagasaki, south-western Japan on Friday, the Urakami Catholic Church said today.
![[The mushroom cloud from a nuclear explosion over Japan in 1945]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/GettyImages-636132296-9237.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
Local media reported that Shigemi died of old age. Speaking about the bombing to Japan’s national broadcaster NHK in 2019, he said: ‘On the day the bomb dropped, I heard a voice asking for help. ‘When I walked over and held out my hand, the person’s skin melted. I still remember how that felt.’.
![[Shigemi Fukahori is interviewed at the Urakami Cathedral in Nagasaki, southern Japan, on July 29, 2020. Shigemi Fukahori, a survivor of the 1945 Nagasaki atomic bombing, who devoted his life to praying for peace and the souls of the victims, has died. He was 93. (Kyodo News via AP, File)]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_235014239-b647.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
As part of his efforts to encourage global goodwill, he often addressed students, hoping they take on what he called ‘the baton of peace’. Up to 246,000 people are estimated to have died after the US dropped atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the only time such weapons have ever been used outside of military tests.
The Catholic church that announced his death is about 500 metres from the spot where the bomb fell on on 9 August. This sits near the Nagasaki Peace Park, widely seen as a symbol of hope and peace as its bell tower and some statues survived the blast. Mr Fukahori was 14 when the US dropped the bomb which killed tens of thousands, including his family.
Japan surrendered days later, ending the Second World War and the country’s nearly half-century of aggression across Asia. At the time, Mr Fukahori worked at a shipyard about two miles from where the bomb landed. For years he was unable to talk about what happened, not only because of the painful memories but also because of how powerless he felt.
