A survivor of the Hiroshima bomb learned English to share her story

Teruko Yahata is an octogenarian. However, she might have passed away as a young girl. On August 6, 1945, she was in Hiroshima, Japan, when the US launched an atomic bomb on the city. Tens of thousands of people perished instantly, and countless more had chronic illnesses and injuries. Yahata is referred to as a hibakusha, or atomic bomb survivor. Yahata is one of the persons that visits the city’s memorial sites to educate others about what occurred almost eighty years ago. She converses with visitors at the Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima, which was established in remembrance of those who perished in the explosion.

She can still clearly recall the bombing day. She described the sky turning “bluish white,” adding, “I fell to the ground and lost consciousness immediately.” Yahata began touring the globe in 2013 to share her tale. However, she only spoke Japanese. She would have someone who speaks both Japanese and English narrate her narrative as an interpreter. However, she enrolled in English classes in the next years so she could narrate the incident in her own words. She was able to deliver her talk in English in 2021. She claimed that being able to “communicate in my own words, my own voice” about what transpired that day was her dream reason for learning the language. She described what she witnessed as “tragic” and “miserable” while speaking in Japanese.

Yahata reads from a script as she gives her presentation. The Japanese text was translated by her. She uses a voice clip of a fluent English speaker for practice. On the paper, there are little comments to assist her in pronouncing words correctly. Although she can not speak English fluently, she can understand the language well enough to share her experience with others from around the globe. Denise Hickson heard Yahata speak during a recent visit to Hiroshima. She remarked, “It feels very real still.” “She brings it like it’s happening today when she speaks.” Hiroshima is receiving more foreign tourists than not. Fumio Kishida, the prime minister of Japan, was born and raised there.