Witness and Memory: A-Bomb and WWII Testimonies in New York/New Jersey
This exhibit brings together the voices of Japanese and Japanese American individuals whose lives were forever altered by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan and by the broader experience of World War II as residents of New York. Some were survivors of the a-bombs, or hibakusha, who later made their way to the United States. Others experienced growing up in the internment camps and migrating to the east coast. All joined the Japanese diaspora in New York and New Jersey and have carried those histories forward.
Each story shared here is a personal one, shaped by war, migration, and remembrance. Through interviews, photographs, and family recollections, this exhibit seeks to preserve these testimonies not only as historical records but as calls for reflection and peace. The individuals featured include Hiroshima survivor Tomiko Morimoto West and Nagasaki survivor Akiko Mizuta Seitelbach, whose life story spans continents, generations, and cultural worlds.
This project is a collaboration between the Digital Museum of the History of Japanese in New York and scholars, family members, and community partners. Our goal is to honor these histories and create a platform for continuing dialogue across generations and borders.
This is a living exhibit. As we continue to gather testimonies and community contributions, we invite you to revisit, reflect, and share.
See also our special exhibition Unforgotten Stories, about the lives of Japanese and Japanese American New Yorker’s during WWII.
Hiroshima & Nagasaki Survivor Testimonies
The uranium bomb detonated over Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 had an explosive yield equal to 15,000 tonnes of TNT. It razed and burnt around 70 per cent of all buildings and caused an estimated 140,000 deaths by the end of 1945, along with increased rates of cancer and chronic disease among the survivors.
A slightly larger plutonium bomb exploded over Nagasaki three days later levelled 6.7 sq km. of the city and killed 74,000 people by the end of 1945. Ground temperatures reached 4,000°C and radioactive rain poured down.
By the end of 1945, the bombing had killed an estimated 140,000 people in Hiroshima, and a further 74,000 in Nagasaki. It is estimated that of those killed, 38,000 were children. In the years that followed, many of the survivors would face leukemia, cancer, or other terrible side effects from the radiation. (Source: ICAN website)
Tomiko Morimoto West
Discover Tomiko’s story in this award-winning short documentary
A documentary from Life Stories; visit LifeStories.org for more interviews, films, and lesson plans.
Tomiko Morimoto West was born in Hiroshima in 1932 and was just thirteen years old when the atomic bomb was dropped on her hometown on August 6, 1945. At the time, she was working at a military factory located about two miles from the epicenter. She recalls seeing a blinding white flash, no sound at first, before being thrown to the floor. A wall shielded her from the full impact, but the building collapsed around her.
Akiko Mizuta Seitelbach
Click on the image to explore Akiko’s life and her story of survival in StoryMap
Akiko Mizuta Seitelbach was born in Shanghai on October 25, 1922, to a Japanese family, and was adopted in infancy by her aunt and uncle. Her formative years were spent in Nagasaki, Japan, where she enjoyed a stable and privileged upbringing and graduated high school in 1938. Her life changed irrevocably on August 9, 1945, when the United States dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki. Akiko, then working for Mitsubishi Electrical Works, was just 1.5 miles from ground zero. She survived the blast, an experience that would shape the rest of her life.
Mitchie Takeuchi and Setsuko Thurlow
Watch the trailer for Mitchie Takeuchi’s documentary on Setsuko Thurlow
The Vow from Hiroshima. Directed by Mitchie Takeuchi. 2019.
https://thevowfromhiroshima.com/
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. 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.
Shigeko Sasamori and the Hiroshima Maidens
In the 1950s, twenty-five young women disfigured by the atomic bombing of Hiroshima were brought to the United States to undergo reconstructive surgery at the Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York. Known publicly as the “Hiroshima Maidens,” they became a symbol of postwar reconciliation and humanitarian care at the height of the Cold War. One of the Maidens, Sasamori Shigeko, pursued a nursing career in the U.S. She later moved to New York and remained involved in community and peace-related activities for many years
Tak Furumoto
Click on the image to learn about Tak Furumoto in this documentary by the NHK
Nakamura, Mayu, dir. Raised in Hiroshima, Fought in Vietnam. NHK World-Japan. Aired March 2025.
Born in 1944 at the Tule Lake War Relocation Center during World War II, Takeshi (Tak) Furumoto spent his early childhood in Hiroshima, where his grandparents and classmates were hibakusha. After returning to the U.S. in 1956, he served as an Army intelligence officer in the Vietnam War, earning a Bronze Star Medal in 1971. Despite enduring PTSD upon his return, he has channeled his experiences into a lifelong commitment to social justice, community engagement, and cross‑cultural understanding. In 2025, Furumoto’s story was featured in the NHK World documentary “Raised in Hiroshima, Fought in Vietnam”, directed by Mayu Nakamura
Seabrook Farms
Seabrook Farms was a large-scale agribusiness in southern New Jersey that became a critical site of Japanese American resettlement after World War II. At its peak in the 1940s and 1950s, the company employed thousands of workers from diverse racial and national backgrounds, including Japanese Americans who had been forcibly incarcerated during the war. Their experience at Seabrook offers a compelling story of survival, labor, and community rebuilding in the face of wartime trauma and postwar displacement.
Masaru Nakawatase
Masaru Edmund Nakawatase (b. 1943) is a Japanese American civil rights organizer, educator, and advocate for peace and justice. Nakawatase was born in the Poston War Relocation Center in Arizona during World War II, and his family relocated to Seabrook Farms towards the end of the war. Though still a child, the experience of living among people displaced by war and injustice profoundly shaped his political and moral outlook. His later commitment to racial justice and nonviolent activism would be rooted in the early lessons of solidarity and resilience learned in this unique environment.
Darlene Mukoda
Darlene Mukoda is a Japanese American educator and oral historian whose work has focused on preserving the histories of Japanese Americans affected by wartime incarceration, postwar resettlement, and community rebuilding. Born and raised in Bridgeton, New Jersey, Mukoda is a third-generation descendant of Japanese American families who resettled at Seabrook Farms during and after World War II.
Community Organizations and Peace Initiatives
Hiroshima–Nagasaki Memorial Events in NYC
Since the early 2000s, three Japanese and Japanese American organizations in New York—the Hiroshima Kenjin-kai, the Battenkai / Nagasaki Kenjin-kai, and the Heiwa Peace and Reconciliation Foundation of New York—have collaborated annually to organize public events commemorating the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
This is the video of 2024’s memorial ceremony.
Student Testimonials
Coming soon!
