Program: Hibakusha Stories

Hibakusha is the term given to those people who survived the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

The term Hibakusha is also used to include all those who have suffered from ionizing radiation exposure, a hazardous byproduct present throughout the nuclear fuel chain. As the major focus of Youth Arts New York since 2009, the mission of Hibakusha Stories is to pass the legacy of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to a new generation and to empower them with tools to build a world free of nuclear weapons. Hibakusha Stories offers relevant educational resources for high school students. Resources include:

Each year Youth Arts New York conducts a day of professional development at UN headquarters in with high school teachers in coordination with the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs. The UN Curriculum Resources Guide links to articles on a range of nuclear issues: 

Articles by and about our Hibakusha Stories Fellows, including Shigeko Sasamori, Clifton Truman Daniel, and Setsuko Thurlow, 2016 Arms Control Association Person of the Year and 2017 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

For over thirteen years, Hibakusha Stories brought history into the classroom to inform youth about the dangers of nuclear weapons, nuclear power, and the long-lived ionizing radiation that results from these twin technologies. Nothing is more profound than the first hand witness of the hibakusha to help students find the motivation to work for a world free of nuclear weapons. Hibakusha Stories provides resources for students to pro-actively respond to the real dangers of nuclear weapons through art, science and culture.

Hibakusha Stories director Kathleen Sullivan, PhD, continues to work independently with hibakusha in educational institutions, the United Nations and Non-Governmental Organizations. You may reach her through our Contact page.