The 2024 Nobel Peace Prize was presented to Nihon Hidankyo, a grassroots movement of Japanese atomic bombing survivors who have worked for nearly 70 years to end all nuclear weapons (“Discrimination haunts atomic bomb survivors,” Star-Advertiser, Focus on Japan, Oct. 31).
Why wasn’t it covered widely in America? My ancestors were demolished in Hiroshima, so I’m taking your silence very personally, America.
In wars, there are two sides to history. In the U.S., Dec. 7 is recognized for Americans killed at Pearl Harbor in 1941. What about the internment camps for Japanese Americans, or the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and 100th Battalion made of Japanese-American soldiers?
Here are excerpts from my poetry books, “Echoes of Kapoho” and “Can I Have Your Pearl Bracelet”:
“Over the ashes of Hiroshima
Our victory was hailed.
Beneath, my ancestors lay buried.”
And:
“Under the rising sun
The enemy came
Wearing my face.
And my face was changed forever.”
Frances H. Kakugawa
Sacramento, Calif.
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