Mitchie Takeuchi is a Japanese filmmaker, writer, and social advocate based in New York. Born in Japan and educated in both Tokyo and the United States, she is the daughter of a Hiroshima hibakusha and former Red Cross doctor. Her father survived the bombing and later dedicated his life to medicine and healing. Mitchie has long carried the intergenerational weight of her family’s experiences and has devoted much of her creative career to peace advocacy and storytelling.
In 2020, Mitchie released The Vow from Hiroshima, a feature-length documentary that centers on the life and testimony of Setsuko Thurlow, one of the most widely recognized hibakusha in the world. Mitchie co-wrote and produced the film, drawing on her personal connection to the atomic bomb legacy and her friendship with Thurlow to tell an intimate, intergenerational story of survival, resistance, and hope.
The film follows Setsuko Thurlow’s journey from the devastation of Hiroshima to the global stage of disarmament advocacy. A survivor of the atomic bombing at age thirteen, Thurlow has spent her life working to ensure that the world does not forget what happened on August 6, 1945. She was instrumental in the founding of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), which received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017. That same year, she delivered a powerful acceptance speech in Oslo on behalf of the hibakusha and those who lost their lives to nuclear weapons.
Mitchie’s role as both filmmaker and narrator in The Vow from Hiroshima emphasizes the continuing impact of the bomb on second-generation survivors. Her perspective bridges the personal and the political, highlighting the emotional inheritance of trauma as well as the resilience and responsibility carried by descendants. Through her work, she has helped to make Thurlow’s story accessible to younger audiences and international communities far removed from Hiroshima.
Although Setsuko Thurlow resides primarily in Canada and has lived much of her adult life abroad, her message has reached countless audiences in New York and around the world. She has appeared at the United Nations and worked with global advocacy networks, always grounding her message in the lived truth of what she witnessed as a teenager in 1945. Her testimony has moved diplomats, students, activists, and policymakers, and has become foundational to the modern anti-nuclear movement.
Mitchie Takeuchi continues to reside in New York and remains active in educational outreach, interfaith dialogue, and storytelling projects related to nuclear disarmament and postwar history. Her collaboration with Thurlow reflects a powerful model of intergenerational testimony, rooted in family memory and global responsibility.
Together, their work invites reflection not only on the horrors of nuclear warfare but also on the enduring hope for a peaceful future.
Reference:
The Vow from Hiroshima. Directed by Mitchie Takeuchi. 2019.
https://thevowfromhiroshima.com/
