Japanese campaigner Sunao Tsuboi dies at 96

A highly regarded Japanese campaigner against nuclear weapons has died at the age of 96. He survived the first atomic bomb attack in the world. Sunao Tsuboi was on his path to college when he experienced the blast at Hiroshima on the 6th August of 1904. He had suffered from burns all over his body.

Some 140000 got killed due to the blast. Tsuboi further dedicated his life to campaigning to further eradicate nuclear arms.

The Japanese campaigner met Barack Obama on his historic visit to Hiroshima as the president of the US. They shook hands and shared some chats for about a minute during the meeting in 2016.

It was the first visit of any US president to the city since the attack took place. The attack came to launch towards the end of World War II as the Allies tried to push back Japan.

He died of anemia on Saturday. On the day of the bomb that went off, the engineering student was nearly 20 years old.

While picking up a stone, he wrote on the ground that “Tsuboi dies here” before he passed on and woke up several weeks later.

He was weak enough and scared. He had to start up with his recovery through the practice of crawling on the floor.

Tsuboi further continued to teach mathematics at the schools of Japan. He told youngsters about his experiences during the time of war. People gave him the name Mr. Pikadon.

He advised other anti-nuclear campaigners not to give up.

“We must not only mourn the death of a great leader for our cause, but we must also continue in his path, undeterred, and always remember his words,” Akira Kawasaki of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, a coalition of non-government organizations, said.

Tsuboi had developed cancer and many other illnesses. He had seen a long period of his life in the hospital to receive treatment for anemia. Some 127000 survivors from the nuclear bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki are still in living conditions. Sunao Tsuboi had two daughters and a son.

Credits: BBC