Stains of black rain from Hiroshima nuclear bombing still remain

At 8:15 am on August 6, 1945, the bomb dropped by the Enola Gay exploded over the capital city of Hiroshima Prefecture, killing and maiming hundreds of thousands of people. Although most of the deaths and injuries were due to the burns from heat rays and the explosive blast, another factor has continuously afflicted survivors who witnessed the lightning-like bomb on the day: black rain.

What is “black rain”?

Black rain is nuclear fallout or radioactive blackened rain that fell after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Prefecture. As a matter of fact, these are not the only instances of black rain observed in history. Several cases of radioactive rain were observed in the Chernobyl disaster as well as in nuclear testing sites around the world. The violent bomb blast creates an updraft current immediately after impact, winding up dust, carbon and soot into the sky. Radioactive rain follows approximately 30 mins after the bomb. In Hiroshima, it fell for hours across a vast range from ground zero to a place more than 10km away from the center. It was so thick and sticky that people wondered if it was crude oil, a fact depicted in the Japanese film “Black Rain (1989)” by director Shohei Imamura.

The film was based on the novel of the same name by Masuji Ibuse. It portrays vividly the aftermath of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima Prefecture. People wander the city seeking water, a boy has burns so severe that even his brother can hardly recognize him, and a woman loses her mind due to shock. The scene is so dreadful that it makes me turn away from the screen. Regardless, the black rain fell over the ruins, the survivors and the corpses.

Not all survivors qualify for “hibakusha certificate”

What makes black rain so controversial and terrifying is that the radioactive rain not only stained skin and walls, but also was ingested through drinking water, consuming contaminated food and even breathing the air, all causing internal radiation exposure. However, some of the victims were exposed to black rain and suffered from radiation-caused diseases but had not been recognized as hibakusha, or atomic bomb survivors, until recently. This is because survivors are required to meet certain requirements in order to receive “hibakusha certificates,” enabling them to have their medical expenses covered by the Japanese government. Indeed, the government had long been passive in granting survivors free access to health care due to financial concerns, but recently they finally decided to widen the eligibility of hibakusha to those who didn’t qualify previously. The following are recent developments concerning hibakusha.

Court recognizes more survivors as “hibakusha”

On July 29, 2021, the government stated that they wouldn’t appeal a Hiroshima High Court decision that grants radiation victim status, or hibakusha, to those who were exposed to the black rain on August 6, 1945 but didn’t qualify previously, meaning that they would be entitled to the government aid. Although after the bombing, the government offered support to survivors exposed to black rain within a government-designated boundary, it hadn’t officially recognized those who were outside of the boundary as hibakusha for a very long time. This winning case was welcomed as a victory for those who suffered from radiation-caused diseases but weren’t able to receive free health care previously.

Widened “hibakusha” eligibility

In the NHK interview, lead plaintiff Masaaki Takano shared what was on his mind. At seven years old, he was exposed to black rain 20km away from ground zero. Shortly after that, he started experiencing persistent fever and diarrhea that would have been treated for free if he had been inside the boundary. The government classified the area into three groups: heavy rain area, light rain area and others, and they issued certificates to only survivors who were in the heavy rain area. However, the interview survey and scientific research by the local authority recently found that the black rain fell in a much larger range than the previously designated boundary, resulting in expanding the compensation area.

New development for Hiroshima survivors

In April 2022, the government established a new eligibility system, in which applicants have to meet two requirements regardless of where they were when they were exposed to the black rain: those who were, or may have been, exposed to the black rain; and those who have developed 11 specified diseases such as cancers and cataracts.

Moreover, on October 11, 2022, the government notified the local authorities of new guidelines to assess hibakusha, widening the eligibility to babies still in the wombs when the black rain fell and those who died while still seeking to be recognized as hibakusha. According to the Asahi Shimbun, from April, when a new system was introduced, up until September, 2,522 people applied to the Hiroshima city government, and 16 of them died in or after April. Fifty-one of them said that they were in the womb when their mothers were exposed to the black rain.

No change for Nagasaki survivors

Considering all this, recognition for hibakusha seems to have improved recently. However, much has stayed the same for survivors in Nagasaki Prefecture, another atomic bomb-attacked city. A newly adapted system, which qualifies those who may have been exposed to black rain as hibakusha, doesn’t cover those in Nagasaki Prefecture on the grounds that no objective evidence of the black rain has been discovered and that the previous ruling on black rain indicated a low possibility that those outside the government-designated boundary were affected by radiation.

It’s been nearly 80 years since the atomic bombs destroyed the cities. And there are still people seeking their right to national health aid. It’s not their fault they were exposed to black rain, but their decades of unrecognized suffering reveals a political and sociological failure of that time. In the novel “Black Rain,” a soldier says, “We wish we could be born in the country without the government.” I wonder how many survivors would think this way even now. There are still many things the government can do to better support these innocent victims and it is up to us to hold government accountable to make up for so many decades of neglect.