Nobel laureate Kenzaburo Oe and others will form a group to collect personal experiences and artifacts from the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and preserve them for future generations.

“The nuclear accident in Fukushima has brought home to people around the world that they may become hibakusha,” Oe, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1994, told a news conference on Nov. 25. “It is important to listen to the voices of A-bomb victims in Hiroshima and Nagasaki once again.”

Members of “No More Hibakusha Kioku Isan wo Keisho suru Kai” will interview A-bomb victims to record their experiences and also gather personal artifacts left with bereaved family members.

The group plans to ask the government to set up a facility to display those records and artifacts in a few years for peace education.

The inaugural meeting will be held in Tokyo on Dec. 10. Organizers include Shuntaro Hida, a doctor and A-bomb victim. The public is invited to join.

The group plans to work with the Japan Confederation of A- and H-bomb Sufferers Organization (Hidankyo).

Asahi Shimbun