Resilience Among Japanese

Atomic Bomb Survivors

Amy Knowles, PhD, RN, MPH, CIC, COHN-S
Background and Significance
August 6,1945
Little Boy
August 9,1945
Fat Man
Unprecedented
destruction
Potential threat for
nuclear attack
Research Design
A qualitative, descriptive study
Narrative Analysis and Oral History
Research Questions:
1) What was the experience of surviving an
atomic bomb release?
2) For participants in utero, what stories
were they told about the event?
3) What impact did the atomic bombing
have on survivors?
Data collected in San Francisco, CA
Participants (n=8)
Name/Pseudonym Gender Age Age ATB Location
Ms. Seiko Fujimoto Female 67 3 years Hiroshima
Mr. Yonokura* Male 64 8 months Nagasaki
Ms. Eda* Female 62 In utero Hiroshima
Mr. Takeshi Thomas
Tanemori
Male 71 7 years Hiroshima
Mr. Grant Fujita Male 68 5 years Hiroshima
Mr. Jack Dairiki Male 78 14 years Hiroshima
Ms. Sonoko Brown Female 71 7 years Hiroshima
Mr. Makoto Ota Male 78 14 years Hiroshima
Leiningers Sunrise Enabler
Cultural Context
Kinship and Social
Language
(metaphors, sensory
descriptions)
Worldview
Educational
Religious and
Philosophical
Cultural values and
lifeways
Political and Legal
Economic and
Technological
Resilience
Surviving perspective
1945
Anxiety
Stigma
Mistrust
Overcoming
Forgiving
Peace
Activism
Cultural Context
Destruction
Thriving perspective
2009
Destruction: Physical
The four square miles of the city of
Hiroshima turned into an inferno.
(Mr. Tanemori)
Everything destroyed. Nothing there.
(Ms. Brown)
We were told that for 50 years, we wouldnt
have anything in Hiroshima. (Ms. Eda)
A total scene of hell, if there is a scene.
(Mr. Dairki)
Physical Destruction on
Individual Level
I started getting some blisters from
my burns. (Mr. Ota)
I was so skinny, I could not even move.
(Mr. Fujita)
I remember a lot of worms on my legsyes,
worms because of the flies. They would lay
eggs on my legs. They would eat so many
things. At first, they eat up the pus, and I dont
feel anything. But, they started eating my flesh,
oh boy, I screamed. I remember. (Ms. Brown)
Destruction: Psychosocial
It was hush-hushso we didnt talk about it.
(Mr. Yonokura)
And even til this day, I can not take
the guilt of surviving. (Ms. Fujimoto)
I [was] injured so much, so people stare at
mewhen I was young, really truly, I
suffered. (Ms. Brown)
We are the ones carrying the heavy
burdenIf people died, sure its hard,
but no suffering there. (Ms. Fujimoto)
I attempted suicide, and I failed. (Mr. Tanemori)
Surviving
The ability to exist, despite adverse
conditions.
Strong association to past orientation.
Routinely live with memories of bombing,
exhibit signs of anxiety, mistrust, and focus
on stigma
Anxiety
Even now, when my kids get sick, I think
about it. (Mr. Yonokura)
I really, didnt want my daughter to have a
baby. Til I see it I could notyou know, easy
feeling. Is he okay? Is she okay? How its
going to work. Now he looks so healthy, but is
he really well? Those kinds of fears, I dont
think you can take that away. (Ms. Fujimoto)
Stigma
There was prejudice against the survivors. Instead of
sympathy or compassion, they avoided us.
(Mr. Yonokura)
Some people who are survivorsthey get kind of
prejudice because they dont know what is survivors,
or survivors sickness. They think it kind of
contaminates through touching or through marrying.
(Ms. Eda)
But I can relate it with AIDS[they said] Why dont
you go home [describing phone call she received
when her son was sick, in the time when the AIDS
epidemic was just beginning and people were worried
about contagion]. (Ms. Fujimoto)
Mistrust
We dont know! Because nobody tell us
whats gonna happen. (Ms. Fujimoto)
In spite of the assurance the US government
has been giving us, they still dont know what
to do [regarding nuclear waste disposal].
(Mr. Yonokura)
Thriving
The ability to prosper or flourish, despite
adverse conditions.
Present or future orientation, often
hopeful.
Possess traits of overcoming, forgiveness,
and focus on peace activism.
Overcoming
I went through a experience, but still, I can talk about
it and laugh about it now. (Mr. Fujita)
I just tried to lead a normal lifeI felt I had to make
my own life, and I do the best I can. And that is the
way I approached everything. (Mr. Ota)
I say the past is the past. The only thing you have to
deal with is the future. You dont, you know, take with
you everything from yesterday, or 10 years ago. So
you know, I went through a lot. I lost the whole family,
my wife passed away because of leukemia. But like I
say, they are gone and I am here. (Mr. Fujita)
Forgiveness
Learning to forgive, that is the
greatest gift I have found. Its a
relationship I find with the Divinewe
can choose to forgive; the ultimate
demonstration of love is forgiveness.
(Mr. Tanemori)
Peace Activism
I personally dont want any other human to have to
go through what I went through. Mine is enough. So
thats one reason, you know, thats the main reason I
tell you my story. (Mr. Fujita)
We just hope and try to get the message out that the
atomic bomb is just horrible, its just like a poison
gasand its really sad that they cant realize the
harm they do. (Mr. Dairiki)
I would not want anyone to go through what we went
throughIt was a pretty horrible experience. (Mr. Ota)
Acknowledgements
Funding grant by Sigma Theta Tau Gamma Chi chapter
Gatekeepers:
o Dr Kazuo Neriishi, Radiation Effects Research Foundation
o Ms. Geri Handa, Friends of Hibakusha
Questions?
For further information:
Amy Knowles PhD, RN, MPH
Assistant Professor, King College
alknowles@king.edu