Trans-Pacific Studies
On Air
Robert Jungk, a Jewish immigrant from Austria, was a journalist in the United States. He visited Hiroshima in 1957, where he met a Japanese American from Seattle, Kaoru Ogura. Ogura returned to his ancestral land, Hiroshima, before the war started. With Ogura's help, Jungk wrote the book, “Children of the Ashes,” published in Switzerland in 1959. The book caught people's attention in Europe. It described how the atomic bomb survivors, hibakusha, were falling seriously ill and discriminated against in their communities.
It also introduced how 12-year-old Sadako Sasaki suddenly died from leukemia 10 years after she was exposed to radiation. Sadako would later become known for her paper-folding origami cranes. The book was quoted in various outlets. It later led to a meeting between Sadako’s brother, Masahiro, and Clifton Truman Daniels. Daniels is a grandson of Harry Truman, who was the US President at the time of atomic bombing in 1945. The work of Jungk and ensuing exchanges serve as an example of how former enemy countries can overcome hatred and work together for peace.
